BYSHR’s Electronic Journalism Freedom and the Role of Blogs in Supporting Human Rights Workshop

Mohammed Al-Maskati and myself participated in the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights’ Electronic Journalism Freedom and the Role of Blogs in Supporting Human Rights Workshop last night at the Bahrain Human Rights Society’s premises in Adliya.

The inaugural session was presented by the Al-Wasat columnist Mohammed Al-Othman in which he discussed the ethics of journalism, the repercussions of the Press & Publications Law 47/2002 and how it impacts journalism and blogging. He outlined the Journalists Union analysis on that law and outlined their recommendations on what should be changed and why. Al-Othman’s session was enriching to say the very least. I was not aware of the analysis done on such a law nor its background before his presentation.

Although I make it a point to read his column daily, I have never met him before, so last night was a very good opportunity to shake his hand and exchange cards. I also discovered that we have somethings in common, one of which is having the pleasure of having some tea with the public prosecutor!

Mohammed Al-Maskati took over in the second session in which he presented the trials and tribulations of blogging in general and the impact of the law and restrictions of freedoms of expression in Bahrain on blogs and forums. He also listed the times where moderators and bloggers have been presented to the legal system as well as the list of blocked sites in Bahrain.

Mohammed’s excellent presentation could be downloaded (pdf) from here.

I was the last to go and my presentation was the Ethics of Blogging. I took the time to translate them into Arabic. I gave examples of how implementing these ethics would not only protect the blogger legally, but would also make the content of the blog much more professional and credible.

My presentation including the handouts in Arabic and English could be downloaded (zip) from here.

The workshop continues over the next three days and I think if the first day is anything to go by, it is certainly worth attending. I have enjoyed spending some time with so many enthusiastic people who I hope will start blogging or continue blogging if they already have a blog and implement the ideas that were discussed at the workshop.

I would like to thank the BYSHR’s Mohammed Abdulnabi Al-Maskati for inviting us and for their hospitality. I hope that we can contribute more to the community by being involved in more of these activities.