Bahrain Press One of the Freest...

...in the ARAB world...(sorry to burst your bubble)

Ok first and foremost....Geoffrey Bew of the GDN says the following:

THERE were 154 violations of Press
freedom in Bahrain last year, according to an independent study......Kuwait was
top of the list with a Press freedom percentage of 88.38, notching up 58
violations, while Yemen was bottom with a rating of 34.87pc thanks to 325
violations.

-(Study Conducted by Amman Centre for
Human Rights Studies)

http://gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=177085&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30019

Can I just say one thing?....Everything is relative and this "independent study" has not taken population into account. Rating these countries based on violations does not take size into account. A small country like Bahrain, where nothing much goes on really, cannot be compared with Kuwait of Yemen straight off the bat. Not that much is going on in those two places either...its just that they are bigger countries and that should be taken into account. This is like comparing violations by the press in Bahrain and the US. There are several ways to manipulate statistics and this is a rather weak one....

Secondly, I would be elated at this news if Bahrain's press or media was one of substance. When our local leading English news paper {the Gulf Daily New} carries headlines such as "Filipina Fun with Nikoty" it really gets me thinking....don't we have anything more important to report than a group of people who couldn't even make it in the Philippines performing at some whore house...oops I mean Hotel..yes, that's it....the sad truth...probably not...Not only is it reported...its a headline...I mean seriously, maybe the GDN should just change its name to What's On In Bahrain {For Indians and Filipinos} The "media" in Bahrain is laughable...so before we celebrate the great freedom enjoyed by the press...(disregarding the fact that several foreign sites have been blocked [now possibly unblocked]) lets establish an actual media first....