Daily Times

Globally, the media has been at the forefront of bringing an element of transparency to national and international politics. Wikileaks, Panama Leaks and on a more localised level Dawn Leaks — all blew the lid on the inner workings of governments. And yet, in most countries, the media is still susceptible to material interests and stubborn biases which make it a very relevant question to ask precisely how ‘independent’ our media is.

In October 2015, the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper revealed how the UAE had hired a British Public Relations (PR) firm Quiller Consultants to lobby in London against Qatar and its support of the Muslim Brotherhood — labelled as a terrorist organisation by the UAE. The UAE government was paying the PR firm 60,000 pounds sterling (US$93,000) per month to also brief journalists on Qatar’s alleged role infunding terrorist activities. Quiller reached out to The Telegraph, which in a space of two months published 34 articles — including several front page stories — highlighting Qatar’s funding of terrorism. The firm’s lobbying efforts also resulted in David Cameron’s government initiating a ‘review’ of the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation that the British government had previously claimed it could work with.

The UAE’s clear influence over public and governmental opinion in the UK highlights how the very future of the media and news outlets is at stake. The UAE views Qatar as its main regional rival, and tensions have now skyrocketed in the form of the ongoing diplomatic crisis gripping the Persian Gulf. The Mail’s revelations show that the crisis was in fact the culmination of years of efforts by the UAE to tarnish Qatar’s reputation. By choosing to do this through paying journalists and influencing public officials, the UAE has shown that the unfortunate phenomenon of ‘alternative facts’ is a sombre reality of today’s news world.

At the very least, all media outlets who claim a commitment to independent journalism and freedom of the press ought to condemn the steps taken by the UAE in this context. In fact, public scrutiny will have to be focused on all entities which use monetary benefits to influence the workings of independent journalism.

Today more than ever, an independent media is essential for democracies to thrive, and public opinion must not be misled through the vested interests of certain powers and their narrow geopolitical interests. *

Published in Daily Times, July 21^st, 2017.