Windbags and Verbal Dodgeball at AMF

So, the Arab Media Forum concludes tonight - a multi million dirham extravaganza held at the (tasteless) Atlantis hotel on the Palm. They flew in eminent journalists from all around the world, and the audience was a great mix of prominent Arab journalists with pressing questions to discuss. What could possibly go wrong?

Well...

First - what went right. As Seymour Hersh said, the simple fact that the forum was being held, and the eminence of the VIP's (Shk Mo opened it, the Arab League Consul General did the keynote, and the Crown Prince was there today) are all positive signals that the topics on the table are being taken seriously, and that the media is no longer seen as a gramaphone on which you can blast propaganda at people, but a tool for conversation, education, development and growth.
Well, he said something like that. Along with a sterling comment about investigative journos being the equivalent of a dead rat at a cocktail party- unequivocally hated.

The agenda was great, there was simultaneous translation to allow seamless discussions in two languages, and seemingly, the gloves were off.

The problem is, in this region, when the gloves come off, we get cold fingers and stick our hands in our pockets. Every single spokesperson, without exception (of the ones I saw - which was 60%) dodged questions and stuck to generalizations. There were some interesting discussions, but the envelope was barely nudged. It sat firmly on the table.

Basically, one of the main issues, and the HUGE white elephant in the room was that the new draft media law is becoming reality any day in the UAE, and it states that individuals can be imprisoned or fined upwards of two hundred thousand dollars for writing anything which may negatively impact the economy of Dubai. Which is pretty damn wide reaching. Hersh touched on the fact that governments need to welcome independent voices, and accept criticism as a part of development, but when asked what he thought about investigative journalism being held back by government retaliation he responded: Look, what do you want me to say? You tell me, I'll dig the hole, and I'll jump right in!

He was joking, and the audience laughed, but it was true. He couldn't sit on the stage and call on the UAE Government to repeal the ridiculous media law and welcome investigative journalism with open arms. Even though the Dubai Press Club (part of the Government) had ok'd an agenda which had him speaking to the audience on the importance of investigative journalism and the development of the same in the UAE.

Generally, the fear factor was high across the audience, as people who don't understand new media, and are just getting to grips with the concept of a free press, were faced with discussions on the death of traditional media.

One audience member asked Hersh - "We can all see what is happening in afghanistan, iran, and we have our own truths, or interpretations of these events. What can the media add to this - why should they just show us one of these truths and what does it matter, what difference does the media make?"

Hersh answered succinctly - "I reported on Abu Ghraib, and the reporting of that story contributed to stopping atrocities. That is what I mean by journalism making a difference"

I think that summed up one of the key issues which faces the development of the Arab media - it is very hard to introduce world class reportage when your readers don't want to read it - they want pictures of dignitaries receiving flowers and shaking hands. The idea that the next generation will get their news from YouTube (amusingly noted as U-Tube in the program), Twitter and blogs, was literally shouted down by angry audience members, furious that fellow Arabs should be espousing such nonsense.

So, windbags aside who think question time actually means "free-for-all speech time", freezing conference rooms decorated with orange dolphins in the style of Finding Nemo, translators with accents straight out of The Fast Show, and the inevitable frustrations of how slowly the arab media is developing.... It was a great conference.

And I tweeted the whole way through, partly to prove a point, but have also gained loads of followers because of it. Bonus!