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These are some headlines from Gulf News

-Baby found dumped near garbage container
-Decomposed body found in apartment
-Anger and bewilderment is mounting in Rul Dhidna after news broke that the husband of the woman found murdered and dumped in a well is now the prime suspect in the murder case.
-Technician jailed for three months for molesting female patient

Its all bad news, bad news, bad news,
But all leaders think its more important to attend a wedding and safegaurd camels.

People are being crushed out here, economically and socially.
Bahrain comes up with new policy to stop the slavery system of sponsorship and here we still live in the past.

Building a few buildings, theme parks and luxury hotels does not do any good for the majority. If the same money was invested in hospitals, schools and universities,(my brain just cant process this image)

I like the OLD UAE the new one is much rougher.

Have you never heard the old news mantra, "If it bleeds, it leads"? This isn't anything to do with how things have changed, just that newspapers have caught on to the fact that bad news sells.

Well there is for sure some increase in crime, due to the much increased population and the economic problems lower paid people are facing since last year. It comes naturally with the territory. But also the newspapers are also being allowed to print more negative news now which before would have been blue pencilled. It's a combination.

deadlife wrote:These are some headlines from Gulf News

-Baby found dumped near garbage container
-Decomposed body found in apartment
-Anger and bewilderment is mounting in Rul Dhidna after news broke that the husband of the woman found murdered and dumped in a well is now the prime suspect in the murder case.
-Technician jailed for three months for molesting female patient

Its all bad news, bad news, bad news,
But all leaders think its more important to attend a wedding and safegaurd camels.

People are being crushed out here, economically and socially.
Bahrain comes up with new policy to stop the slavery system of sponsorship and here we still live in the past.

Building a few buildings, theme parks and luxury hotels does not do any good for the majority. If the same money was invested in hospitals, schools and universities,(my brain just cant process this image)

I like the OLD UAE the new one is much rougher.

don't try to scandalize this now.. this happens everywhere in the world..
n its not tht it is happening in dubai for the first time.. its just tht the newspapers feel the need to sell more as the advertizing revenues have dried upp n property classifieds have disappeared..

Speedhump wrote:But also the newspapers are also being allowed to print more negative news now which before would have been blue pencilled. It's a combination.

I don't find this true one bit. Negative news has always been allowed on some level. As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea. Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

gamercowboy wrote:I don't find this true one bit. Negative news has always been allowed on some level. As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea. Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

Lets break down what you said

gamercowboy wrote:Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

For power all you need is good publicity. That comes through advertising!

gamercowboy wrote:As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea.

True. But why is North Korea a barometer for anything? Kuwait has a higher ranking on the
Freedom of Press Ratings

gamercowboy wrote:

Speedhump wrote:But also the newspapers are also being allowed to print more negative news now which before would have been blue pencilled. It's a combination.

I don't find this true one bit. Negative news has always been allowed on some level. As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea. Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

do you want that freedom of press to be written bcz you want to know it or just want the country to look bad ?

let me put it in another way :
what news did the country hided from you and it was of your concern or effected you directly as a local or expat ?

not that I'm approve of such thing but I just wana know if you personally believe in it or just saying so bcz everyone else is saying it.

gamercowboy wrote:

Speedhump wrote:But also the newspapers are also being allowed to print more negative news now which before would have been blue pencilled. It's a combination.

I don't find this true one bit. Negative news has always been allowed on some level. As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea. Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

Sorry it's true, the newpapers are threatened with 'muzzling' far less now than several years ago, according to a features editor that I know.

uaekid wrote:

gamercowboy wrote:

Speedhump wrote:But also the newspapers are also being allowed to print more negative news now which before would have been blue pencilled. It's a combination.

I don't find this true one bit. Negative news has always been allowed on some level. As oppressive as the UAE government is when it comes to freedom of the press, we don't live in North Korea. Besides, I think our "benevolent leaders" realize that if they stifle expression too much, they'll actually end up with less power.

do you want that freedom of press to be written bcz you want to know it or just want the country to look bad ?

let me put it in another way :
what news did the country hided from you and it was of your concern or effected you directly as a local or expat ?

not that I'm approve of such thing but I just wana know if you personally believe in it or just saying so bcz everyone else is saying it.

Personally I hate the UAE to look bad, and a lot of people here will say exactly the same. I don't believe in the supression of stories which show people or places in a bad light if the stories are true and highlight something which needs to be corrected. It's a basic tenet of any civilised society that people may (generally) speak their minds without fear. In time of war unfortunately it's true that 'truth is the first casualty' and media are not allowed to speak truthfully much of the time, but for all other times it's important for the progress of any country to look at its problems.

As you said 'not that I approve of such thing' about press censorship, maybe means you also can see that it is a useful if sometimes painful thing to have press freedom?

Uaekid, I think your contributions to these forums have been more interesting and useful recently, and I think some others should re-appraise their way of talking when they reply to you. I know you have views which are often very different from others here, but discussing conflicts is a large part of discussion, and you are free to air your views in a reasonable way, which I think you surely have been doing recently. Thanks.

While it's true that ignorance is bliss, I don't personally subscribe to that line of thinking and so I insist on having access to a free press. I also don't see any need to make the UAE look good through deception, which is exactly what it would be if potentially damning information were to be withheld. We'd just be lying to ourselves and everyone else.

As for newspapers printing more or less bad news, I actually agree with Speed that newspapers may be muzzled less now but my point was that they have always been allowed to print enough bad news daily for as long as I can remember. The sensitivity of the articles may have changed ever so slightly but I haven't noticed any change in quantity.

thanks speedhumps...

Again if someone (gamercowboy) would just gives me an example of UAE decepiting anyone in a matter that effected the society in any way!

Or is it you just want UAE to be like your country period? I personally likes it nice and quite

And again (gamercowboy) who is dening your access to the free press, I mean lets be realistic here, you have the internet, anything more?

what I wana say is that the bad news you are looking for and for no reason is just important to you bcz of your curiosity, nothing more !

The real issue is with every one being treated fairly. I have heard stories that locals will always get preference and thus do not think twice about breaking rules. This is directly reflected in young locals leading in the death toll due to accidents. This effects the Nation and government needs to ensure that rules are strictly followed.

Media is allowed lot of freedom, but issue with UAE is that information is not correctly presented. Key example is number of people leaving. It is stated that about 200 thousand + people have come in UAE. This is the difference of people going out vs. coming in. Yet, we all know and doubt these numbers. Transparency is the key as business and investors investing in UAE will take qick decisions. I know of about $1 billion waiting to invest into UAE, only if there was more transparency and clarity.

The news stories mentioned are nothing new, and in the UAE there still seems to be less violent crime than in many other cities in the world. Check newspapers from other countries with much more open media and you can find a huge number of depressing stories about murder, molestation etc. I just think the original poster wants to blow off steam about the depressing headlines recently.

uaekid wrote:thanks speedhumps...
Again if someone (gamercowboy) would just gives me an example of UAE decepiting anyone in a matter that effected the society in any way!

Ok, here's a relatively easy one that just about everyone has heard about by now: that guy who allegedly got tortured by a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Besides, you ask a sort of loaded question because if they're deceiving people, then how are we to know what's true and what's not? Because the information that we receive is filtered, it's hard to know what the real story is until it just happens to pop up from a more trusted source.

Case in point: a few years ago, kids were often used as jockeys in camel races despite a ruling that no children under 16 be permitted. Yet none of the local media broke this story. We had to rely on outside pressure before this practice was looked into seriously.

Anyone who has lived in the UAE for some time should recognize this pattern. There are problems all around us but it's not until international pressure steps up that we actually bother to do anything about it.

uaekid wrote:Or is it you just want UAE to be like your country period? I personally likes it nice and quite

I would like to think that the UAE is also my country. I haven't been to my *actual* home country in years because I grew up here. Alas, many people, maybe even you, will point out that this is *NOT* my country and I suppose that's fine. Personally, I criticize the UAE not because I hate it, but because I want it to be better. Unfortunately, I have grown jaded these past few years as I see barely any progress outside of the shiny towers and roads.

uaekid wrote:And again (gamercowboy) who is dening your access to the free press, I mean lets be realistic here, you have the internet, anything more?

I can access the blocked sites just fine since I know how but I'm in the minority. What do you suggest for the rest of the populace who thinks the little blue E is the Internet?

uaekid wrote:what I wana say is that the bad news you are looking for and for no reason is just important to you bcz of your curiosity, nothing more !

That's an extremely simplistic way of looking at it. It's also a little bit offensive to all those who continue to suffer in the UAE. But I suppose you can blame that on my curiosity as well =/

Agree with you “deadlife”. I also miss the good old Dubai, even compared with 4-5 years ago. I hear a lot of people will go back to their own countries this summer because of job lose or high cost of living. Maybe it gets back to what it was 5 years ago: a nice place for vacation with reasonable cost. And not so overcrowded, less traffic and crime.

bezor wrote:Agree with you “deadlife”. I also miss the good old Dubai, even compared with 4-5 years ago. I hear a lot of people will go back to their own countries this summer because of job lose or high cost of living. Maybe it gets back to what it was 5 years ago: a nice place for vacation with reasonable cost. And not so overcrowded, less traffic and crime.

I'd sacrifice a virgin or two if it could make that happen