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Dubai: There is a need for quality journalists and the Emirati journalists in the UAE's media, said editors of major UAE English language dailies at a media forum on Tuesday.
"There is a need to hire and try to keep Emirati and Gulf journalists in the UAE's newspapers," said Francis Mathew, Editor at Large of Gulf News, on a panel shared with the Editor in Chief of Abu-Dhabi based The National organised by the Public Relations Congress.
Mathew also criticised the draft Press and Publication Law, arguing that some of its clauses did not meet the needs of the local media. He mentioned the lack of a reference to online media, and a clause dealing with criticising "brotherly nations" as well as that dealing with causing damage to the country's reputation.
He said it was unclear what constituted both criticism and "brotherly nations", adding that such ambiguous terms left editors unable to determine where the red lines lie.
"The front page of Gulf News has had dramatic coverage of the [stock market crisis] in the past few days. Does reporting on the stock market damage the country's reputation?" he questioned. Mathew said that the law would also give courts the power to suspend newspaper licenses "which are granted by the cabinet".
Another essential step to developing the region's media, was to establish a government press office. There is a need for a point of contact and to make it an obligation of the authorities to give information.
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