|
Can DO
Practice Fair Journalism?
The Maldivian Ahmed Mohamed 07/04/05 -
There is an old adage in journalism that there are two sides
of a hand. This refers to the fact that there is more then one
angle on which we can write a story. But also more importantly
that there are two sides to a story. It is only ethical
journalism and the duty of every reporter to see that both
sides are equally presented in the story lest the story
becomes a work of propaganda rather then a worthy piece of
news.
DO has perfected this craft to an art form. Not only are their
article designed to obscure the truth but they are also
manipulated in such a way that the defamed does not have a
chance to defend themselves.
First because DO is a clandestine internet newspaper here is
no way we can refute and reply to any of their articles.
Because even if we send a reply they either do not publish it,
or publish a doctored version of the reply. And even if they
publish the reply in another newspaper they cannot target the
same audience as the original one.
Being a clandestine one which is not subjected to any law of
the country there is no way that the aggrieved can sue and
take DO to the courts. So DO can go on publishing highly
inflammatory personal articles against respected individuals
as openly admitted by its editor Shafeeg (Sappe) in his
interview with the Hinnavaur news.
Not only did DO take advantage of the fact that they are
beyond the reach of the Law but they do not take any chance of
any body refuting the lies they publish on their site. A
rather vivid example of this is the recent editorial of DO on
4th April 2005. Here the editor Shafeeg describes an informal
talk he took of Superintendent of Police Abdulla Riyaz in
1997. It is very uncanny and odd that Sappe decided to wait
almost eight years before publishing a quote by Abdulla Riyaz.
Because this quote found its way to the press just three days
after Riyaz left on a two month long course to the States. So
naturally there is no one to refute Sappe’s sayings which he
oddly remembered for eight years before publishing. Hurrah to
Shafeeg’s super power memory.
We are also missing the larger picture. Shafeeg, as a
journalist and an editor have flaunted all ethics concerned
with the discipline of journalism when he went to print with
an off the record informal discussion he had with a colleague.
That is of course in the best case scenario where we would
assume that he was telling the truth. But for all we know
Riyaz might have never said that cause Sappe had taken an odd
time 8 years past to go public with this. A time when Riyaz
was unavailable to refute his claims or to comment on it.
It is this one sided journalism and their campaign of
personnel vendetta against highly respectable people that have
earned DO its present notoriety. Sure enough there are lots of
people reading DO. But we read DO the same way we would read a
scandalous tabloid without much in the form or truths. DO can
never be considered even a serious newspaper let alone double
up as a mouth piece of a political party.
Ends |
