tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30534499.post115297863230567529..comments2024-03-22T15:51:27.101+04:00Comments on A Word A Day (in the UAE): CensorshipB.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03604898558343997616noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30534499.post-1153052798464789982006-07-16T16:26:00.000+04:002006-07-16T16:26:00.000+04:00But oddly the real culprits are never named. For e...But oddly the real culprits are never named. For example, when the workers at the Burj Dubai protested, the only company named and questioned was the subcontractor -- as opposed to the overall developer, Emaar. What tends to happen here is that a subcontrator doesn't get paid and so the subcontractor's workers don't get paid. But the subcontractor isn't allowed to go after the real culprit -- the big developers, so those guys are conveniently left out of the news stories. Same with other developers, not just Emaar.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30534499.post-1153042946081150242006-07-16T13:42:00.000+04:002006-07-16T13:42:00.000+04:00Thanks for the insight, Lizzie. My own observation...Thanks for the insight, Lizzie. My own observations come as a "layman" and an amateur, as far as blogging goes as a medium of public expression. I would take your comments to suggest that even we bloggers run the risk of probing in ways the powers-that-be might not be ready to accept. <BR/><BR/>I have to say that one thing which has suggested to me an admirable degree of openness in the press is the continual, often critical coverage of labor issues. Almost daily there are news reports on the bad conditions such workers face. Perhaps there are a few issues, like labor, that the government is prepared to let play out in the public arena.B.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03604898558343997616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30534499.post-1153039645535264912006-07-16T12:47:00.000+04:002006-07-16T12:47:00.000+04:00BD, I am afraid I must disagree with your post, to...BD, I am afraid I must disagree with your post, to a degree. While, overall, in general, the press is freer to write about topics that were once off totally limits, there is a lot of censorhsip that goes on behind the scenes that only us journos will ever hear about. I have friends at all the dailies here and the type of censorship they face is, in some cases, worse and more deep-seated than silly stuff like sexual content. It's the kind of censorship that protects the powerful who are often engaged in some sort of exploitation of the weak. The publishers here ALL bow down to the pressure, even our beloved sparky expat tabloid. Most readers will never know these stories. Just look up certain investigative pieces from the dailies from a year ago or so and you will see that they were never written about again. Or you may sometimes wonder why the international press has better stories about the UAE than the local press...who do you think tips off the international press? Anyway, the UAE has a very long way to go in becoming a society than embraces free speech.LizzieDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02597453111534623264noreply@blogger.com