I have omitted any background information from the following interview out of a personal request from the interviewee, Charles Mackey**. He was stationed in Dubai in UAE in 2002 and spent a significant amount of time in Qatar for his profession. He was an expatriate in Qatar.

 

"Teaching people how to use the Internet effectively when it was relatively new, especially journalists, was a non threatening way to reach them without sounding like we were preaching or trying to defend U.S. policies in the region.  Also, as a result many of them would contact us later for information about policies or things our government officials said about policy.  It was a way to partner with them.

 

 In order to organize training at Al Jazeera I first had to visit it a couple of times to talk to their senior management and journalists.  This was at a time when our President was talking about bombing Al Jazeera because of their unfavorable coverage of our invasion of Iraq.  Al Jazeera (AJ) and other Middle East media showed a very different perspective on the war than our media including grizzly pictures of what our bombing did to civilians.  When I visited AJ I was frequently harangued about our what our military was doing and I would explain I was not a policy maker and just wanted to offer to train their media to use the Internet effectively.  That approach almost always worked.  The first group of journalists we trained were all English speakers, mostly from Britain and Palestine, and after the training I noticed they started using State Department sources and reported our policies accurately although they did not agree with them.  We also did other training in Arabic.

 

I recall visiting AJ’s English language webpage offices where their senior management showed me the thousands of emails they received from the U.S. and other English speaking countries lauding their news coverage which differed considerably from the U.S. media.  At that time they were also talking about starting an English language news channel, which they did shortly afterwards.

 

AJ was funded by the Qatari government and had a profound impact in the Middle East media that up to that time offered little more than staid state run radio and television stations that espoused the party line of the ruling parties.  AJ offered much wider news coverage but was careful not to criticize the Qatari government. Other rich Gulf countries started their own media such as the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, MBC, funded by the Saudis.  AJ would criticize the Saudis and they in turn used MBC to criticize the Qataris.  Shortly after 2002 the USG started Al Hurra and Radio Sawa to reach Arabic speaking audiences in Arabic and English. Both were based in Dubai’s Media City and while they were viewed as propaganda tools many Middle Eastern journalist applied for jobs.

 

Concurrently, the UAE was developing Media City as well as Internet City and Dubai quickly became the media hub of the Middle East since it offered unfiltered broadband Internet (however for its own population the Internet was filtered for political and sexual content) and economic incentives as well as being a major transportation hub."

 

Q: How do you think Qatar's media landscape has changed and shifted in recent years? Do you think the Arab Spring had a significant impact on Qatar's media?

 

Actually, it was the other way around.  AJ helped foster the Arab Spring by offering a much wider and deeper international news coverage than was possible before.  Like here everybody has TV and satellite dishes and being able to watch non State TV was quite a change in the Middle East and North Africa.

 

I’m not sure about recent years but AJ has remained a leader in the region and covered the Arab Spring much to the dislike of the Egyptians.  I was based in Cairo during the Arab Spring (we were evacuated but I returned after four months).  Egyptian authorities hassled and arrested AJ journalists.  Personally, I think the trend AJ started in the Middle East of covering a wide range of news for the most part accurately, helped spark the Arab Spring because they offered a strong alternative to the state run media.  AJ and later other Middle Eastern media changed the media landscape dramatically and of course the Internet and social media did as well.  Its impact was noted when at the height of the demonstrations in Cairo the Egyptian government shut down the Internet, cell phone coverage and arrested journalists including those from AJ.

 

 

Q:Qatar is a nation that is developing rapidly. How does the contrast of traditional values in an increasingly Western culture play out in every day life?

 

A: It’s not just Qatar where the contrast exists.  It is all throughout the Middle East and North Africa.  The UAE is a much more extreme case of modernization vs traditional values.  This is a complex question but all one had to do was walk around these countries to see how multiculturalism that was changing the social, economic and political landscape.  The local populations of Qatar and the UAE are very small and they rely on hundreds of thousands of guest workers from unskilled labor to professionals to develop their economies and support their lavish lifestyles.  Exploitation of labor exists throughout Arabia and much of it was and remains ugly.  At the same time people from all over South Asia, Asia, and the Middle East sought employment in the UAE and to a lesser extent in Qatar and created a sort of melting pot of cultures and idea with English being the common language.  I heard many Emirates say they resented being a minority in their own country but because none of the countries are democracies there wasn’t much they could do about it.  When oil development allowed rapid economic development staring in the early 1960s these countries went from rather impoverished backwaters to super economic powers almost overnight.  It was common to see dramatic generational change in families on the streets.  You could see an illiterate grandmother in hijab with a covered face walking with her daughter in hijab but not a veil, and the college educated granddaughter in expensive designer hijabs, two or three cell phones, and tons of make up, shopping in very upscale malls.

 

Q: How is Qatar similar to or different from UAE? Do you think Doha has the potential to become "the next Dubai" for business and technology?

 

A: There was a lot of competition among the Gulf countries to outdo each other.  Each built huge Mosques, State Libraries, (few books though!) gigantic shopping malls, colleges and universities, state of the art airports and airlines and much more all to compete.  Dubai built the first palm island and Doha was building theirs the last time I visited.  Dubai started Emirates Airlines, Abu Dhabi Al Etihad Airlines and Qatar started Qatar Air and all three are among the best in the world.  I’m not sure how Doha is developing but I doubt it can catch up to Dubai.  Qatar is rich in natural gas but is not much more than a city state while Dubai has far more resources and has diversified dramatically partly because they do not have the oil (that is mostly in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi).

 

Dubai has benefited from the visionary leadership of Sheik Mohammed al Maktoum who diversified the economy and insisted his people work despite having so much foreign labor.  He was known for actually dropping unannounced to see if Emiratis he had appointed to jobs were actually working.  Dubai has a huge deep water ports, major international airports, is the international banking leader in the Middle East, media hubs and much much more.  They also invested heavily in higher education (not so much in primary and secondary) and emphasized higher education for women – see Zayed University.

 

 

Q: The press repeatedly covers similar stories about Qatar--the world cup in 2022, the booming economy, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifah Al Thani, traditional values in contrast with modernity, etc. Do you think there are elements left out of the press coverage of Qatar? How do you think this coverage frames international beliefs about the country?

 

A: Al Jazeera tends not to criticize the hand that feeds it.

 

Q: Al Jazeera is a prominent news source nationally and globally. What is the reputation of Al Jazeera in Qatar?

 

A: I think I covered that above and I’m sure you can find a lot of research on AJ.  It certainly had a great impact on the development of media in the Middle East in general and is widely watched throughout the Arab world.  I used to watch the English language version during my time overseas but unfortunately it isn’t available anymore.  Basically, I think Qataris are proud of AJ.

 

 

Q: Are there any important cultural, economic, racial, or political rifts/tensions within Qatar that you have experienced?

 

A: Not that I experienced but certainly the reliance on foreign labor and the tendency to exploit it is an ugly side to the Gulf countries.  The reliance on foreign labor also impedes the development of a work culture for the locals.  Modern life style also brings increasing health problems like diabetes.

 

 

Q: How do you think media and technology impact Qatari culture?

 

A: Television and the internet have dramatically changed Qatar, the Middle East and most of the world.  Social media, chat rooms and other Internet based tools such as proxy servers prevent or at least impede censorship in Qatar and all of the Middle East and North Africa.  Tons of research on this.  While English is a minority language on the web it is still the second language of choice in the Middle East, and the language of commerce and education.

 

 

Q: Do you have any interesting, humorous, or thought-provoking stories that reveal aspects of Qatari culture that you would like to share?

 

A:Sorry, not really.  I met a few Qataris and always found them engaging and polite.  Same of Emiraties, Omanis, Kuwaitis and Saudis.  Virtually, every person I met who studied in the U.S. loved their experience and went home hoping to reform their respective educational systems and parts of their culture.  Most referred to their time in the U.S. as the best days in their lives.

 

As for the attitudes towards the U.S. during the invasion of Iraq I don’t think it had much impact on the desire for an English language education whether in the U.S. or at home.  There are many U.S. universities in the Gulf including Qatar and they are thriving.  What does impact is the perception that the U.S. government is anti Islamic.  Travel restrictions are taken very personally and our continuing and unquestioning support of Israel is viewed as proof we are anti Islamic.  I’m sure recent political developments only make matters worse.  As I mentioned above most Arabs who have been to the U.S. see things in a better light.

 

Overall I really enjoyed my time in the Middle East and North Africa...The Middle East is changing rapidly and is different from the stereotypes we see on the news.  I think the Arab Spring turned out to be very disappointing for the countries that experienced it.

 

Some free advice:  There are many opportunities to teach in overseas American schools and if you are interested in living and working overseas I would highly recommend it.  International schools are really fantastic, pay well and they provide housing and plane tickets home every year.  Teaching English as a second language is also a way to see the world.

 

**Name has been changed.

Priya D'Souza has been described as a "bridge between Qatar and the world". With over twenty years of experience in media in Qatar, she provides consultancy on how to navigate media in Qatar. She also runs a website about the media and business environment in Qatar.

 

Q: How much time have you spent in Qatar, and to what capacity?

 

 

 

A: I was born in Qatar in 1972 but moved to India when I was seven years old, visiting Qatar twice a year to keep my residence permit. I returned to Qatar when I was 24. I worked mainly in media, corporate communications and education in Qatar. I was editor-in-chief at a publishing house before I moved base from Qatar.

 

Q: What inspired you to start a blog about Qatari culture?

 

A: Qatar Untold isn’t just a blog about Qatari culture; it encompasses the various aspects of life in Qatar – from business, politics, education, to the laws in Qatar. There is a lot about Qatar, people living in Qatar for even five years don’t know about the country. The blog was created to help people better understand the country they live in, or plan to move to, or do business with.

 

Q: Why are people attracted to Qatar?

 

A: Qatar has a small population of nationals – comprising less than 12% - so is dependent on an expatriate workforce. People from the developed West come to Qatar probably to earn better (also tax-free) money, like white- and blue-collar expats from the developing world; some are there because they believe they can make a contribution to and learn about the region along the way; some like the location – it’s easier to travel to a lot of the world from Qatar as opposed to, say from the US or Brazil. Then there are those who see a cultural similarity but an easier way of life than in their own countries. It is an incredible place to meet people from all over the world.

 

Q: How do you think Qatar's media landscape has changed and shifted in recent years? How do you think the Arab Spring had a significant impact on Qatar's media (or vice versa)?

 

A: Qatar definitely has more media outlets today than it did say in the 1980s, but that does not mean there is freedom of press or expression. On the contrary it gets more restrictive with every passing year – maybe it doesn’t fare as badly as those countries where journalists are murdered, but then again many of those countries do have a “free press”.

 

Qatar had, for the longest time, focused on traditional media – newspapers and magazines – that are censored and need to go through approvals before being released. Digital media had somewhat of a freehand – they aren’t among the countries that block access to the internet (though some sites are blocked) – because old-school authorities tended to think that the written (printed) word had more power than articles on the internet, since a lot of that they could dismiss as hearsay, fake news (even before Trump coined the term), etc. But Doha News changed that. The authorities saw the influence it had, not just with expatriates but also with nationals, and they were clamped down on last December. They still try to publish news, but by making them move to ‘medium’, the authorities have ensured they have no source of revenue, hitting them where it hurts the hardest. Doha News has been told to get a proper media license, which is also a joke of sorts, since the country no longer issues them. (They say they do in theory if a deposit of QAR 1 million is set aside and the committee at the ministry approves it, but that hasn’t happened since the media laws changed in 2012. Also this law dealt with print media, don’t even know if there are laws in place for digital media licences considering there are several other outlets in Qatar that do call themselves “online news” but haven’t been asked to close operations for lack of a digital media license).

 

Again, you need to keep in mind, besides some publishers and perhaps a couple of Qatari editors, almost all media professionals in Qatar are expats. They don’t really have the power to affect change; they don’t have the freedom to affect change; and the English media doesn’t even talk about anything that could be perceived as criticising the ruling family, the government or the authorities  (the Arabic media are a bit more vocal, but there is a very obvious line they don’t cross). Look at the case of Qatar’s ex-Minister of Justice Dr Najeeb Al Nuaimi, who was slapped with a travel ban in February this year. No reason was given but it is obvious it is because of his political stances. And the message is clear if this can happen to somebody as influential as him. Even Qatari pro-democracy activists based in Qatar, like Dr Ali Al Kuwari, are not overly critical.

 

As for the impact of the Arab Spring on media, there was none (not talking about Al Jazeera). The article (link below) sums up Qatar’s role, and impact on its citizens. “Qatar played a vital role during the frenetic opening months of the Arab Spring. It shaped the emerging narratives of protest through the Doha-based Al Jazeera media network. And it also mobilized Arab support, initially for the international intervention in Libya in March 2011 and later for the diplomatic isolation of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. At a time of significant regional uncertainty, Qatar presented a compelling image as an outpost of stability and prosperity, even as the protests reached neighbouring Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states.

 

“With per capita levels of GDP among Qatari nationals at approximately $440,000, the country’s extreme wealth (for its citizens, at least) provided powerful insulation from the spread of Arab Spring unrest. It also led inevitably to a degree of political apathy and a stifling of democratic aspiration as few Qataris felt inclined to rock the boat by challenging the status quo. The results of an annual Arab Youth Survey found that the proportion of respondents who ranked democracy as important dropped by more than half from 68 percent in 2008 to just 33 percent in 2010. Once again, there was a clear contrast even with neighboring states such as the UAE, where the proportion of respondents who stated that democracy was important increased substantially, from 58 percent in 2008 to 75 percent in 2011.” (http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/09/24/qatar-and-arab-spring-policy-drivers-and-regional-implications-pub-56723).

 

Q: The global press repeatedly covers similar stories about Qatar--the world cup in 2022, the booming economy, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifah Al Thani, traditional values in contrast with modernity, etc. Do you think there are elements left out of the press coverage of Qatar? How do you think this coverage frames international beliefs about the country?

 

A: There are several elements left out of press coverage of Qatar, that probably don’t interest or are of no concern to the international media or reader. They very likely affect the resident population more. They are legal issues, financial issues, societal issues as well as cultural issues. And the international media doesn’t cover many of them. But there are some glaring oversights from both local and international media. For instance when the recent new controversial sponsorship law came into effect. Media outlets did speak about how little the law had changed – unskilled and semi-skilled labourers wouldn’t really be protected, and their plight has been highlighted in the international media and Qatar has drawn criticism for the same, especially with world cup-related projects. But what international media completely overlooks is the role of expat bosses, managers and foreign companies. And not just when it comes to those involved in construction. But in general how they treat their staff, not just blue-collar but also white collar workers.

 

I know of several Western, Arab as well as Asian multi-national companies, and several CEOs who have taken advantage of the “laws” and denied their employees their rights – from not issuing no objection certificates (for them to change jobs), to withholding of salaries and benefits, because the law in Qatar unfortunately protects the corporation/owner more than the employee. You wouldn’t see a European or American CEO behave that way back home, but in Qatar it happens so many, many times. The worst perpetrators, of course, are the owners or managers of companies where majority resident nationalities hail from – the Indian sub-continent and the Pan-Arab regions. They commit the worst labour violations. Legal recourse or going to the Labour department, more often only gets the employee into even more financial trouble, and there are so many loopholes companies and their lawyers can take advantage of that employees have no recourse to. Ironically, very few Qataris are guilty of labour violations. The sponsorship and labour laws meant to protect the minority Qatari population are so flawed, unscrupulous expat bosses continue to exploit them.

 

People who go to Qatar, so often, don’t know about this. And this is only getting worse given the low price of oil, where now companies think they can actually go without paying staff on time. It isn’t funny how many people in Qatar working for the private sector are currently owed salaries despite the implementation of the Wage Protection System. And things just go downhill from here for these people if they have loans, etc. I was chatting with a Qatari friend recently, who works for the Ministry of Justice, and he was telling me that people being owed salaries for up to three months was now a norm. This may not happen in the really big corporations but most expats in Qatar work for medium or small businesses in the private sector.

 

The societal issues: Qatar is also full of people who are happy in their “bubbles”. Most highly-paid expatriates (a minority) are disconnected from the reality of what’s happening in Qatar with the population that is middle-class and below (national and expat). These expats work for organisations implementing all the changes in Qatar. Change is good, progress is good, but it has to be organic, it has to be by the people. In Qatar it isn’t.** In Qatar it is forced, and it is rushed, residents who have lived there long can’t even wrap their heads around it. And then frustrated Qataris are angry with the entire expatriate population who they see as changing their country, their traditions. They are a minority in their own country and they didn’t ask for it. Expats who have come to Qatar with a three- or five-year plan don’t feel invested enough to even make friends with a national, and nationals are wary of foreigners who they know are not really invested in their development because the latter are there for the short-term only.

 

And the one misconception I really hate to have to clarify – all Qataris are rich. Not true. Qatar may be a rentier state but not every Qatari family is entitled to state allowances, nor are they equally divided among the nationals.

 

I could go on and on with the list of elements overlooked by media.

 

Oh and Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani is the current ruler of Qatar, has been since June 2013.

 

Q: Al Jazeera is a prominent news source nationally and globally. What is the reputation of Al Jazeera in Qatar?

 

A: I think the majority of the population would agree Al Jazeera does a pretty good job of reporting and covering global news and events, but they fail on the domestic front. I think the biggest problem with Al Jazeera’s editorial policy is how it impacts local media. Al Jazeera doesn’t do enough Qatar-specific coverage. It defends this stance by stating that it is a global news source focusing on global events and is not Qatar-focused media. That is just unfortunate. Because when Al Jazeera doesn’t touch issues in Qatar, how are smaller media outlets expected to. Then there are those controversial Wikileaks cables as well as statements by former staff that claim the Qatar government manipulates Al Jazeera coverage to suit political interests. Doesn’t really speak of unbiased, objective journalism now, does it.

 

Q: How do you think media and technology impact Qatari cultural attitudes?

 

A: The same as they would in other developing countries that are more traditional. The younger generation is keen to embrace them, but want to also preserve their culture and traditions.

 

Q: What are the prominent media technologies on which Qatari people spend their money? Is there a dominant media technology in Qatar?

 

A: The younger generation is very social media savvy and is very active on twitter, Instagram and snapchat.

 

Q: To what extent do you trust Qatari media?

 

A: Having been part of the media scene in Qatar for close to two decades, I would say there is nothing to trust. They don’t touch controversial issues, they cannot, or the editors risk prison terms; nobody want to go to jail in Qatar because most media professionals are expats anyway, and no publisher wants his newspaper or magazine closed. Print media is already suffering in Qatar because of low oil prices anyway. We need to wait for Qataris to play a more prominent role in their media and then see how this plays out.

 

Q: What television programs, music genres, films, and general forms of entertainment are the most popular among residents of Qatar?

 

A: That is a very hard question to answer because Qatar has people from all over the world, all walks of life. As long as it is not controversial, doesn’t insult Islam, doesn’t criticise or ridicule the ruling family or the government, isn’t porn, doesn’t support the LGBTQ community, it should be available in Qatar. Qatar doesn’t have an active film industry or theatre scene, it’s still very nascent, but Qatar does host concerts, musicals, has Netflix, anything else you would see in the “free world” that fits the criteria.

 

Q: How do media habits differ between Qatari people and the huge population of expats in the country?

 

A: Again, this is just too broad to define – you are asking me to compare one nationality against a hundred plus others where people come from all walks of life and hold all kinds of beliefs. The rich obviously have more advantages than the not-so privileged, like everywhere else in the world. Qatar is no exception to this rule.

 

Q: Do you find that there are any barriers to media freedom and/or media development in Qatar?

 

A: Of course there are! Read all of the above. Doha Centre for Media freedom might as well be called ‘The Onion’.

 

Q: Anything else you would like to share?

 

A: I could write a book on Qatar – probably will some day.