
As ridiculous as it may sound, all that is needed is a lick of black nail polish and fourth hand hearsay for it to be “proven” that high school kids in Bahrain practice Satan Worship.
And all you need is a girl with short hair to confirm that not only is she a lesbian, but a flaming bull dyke on the prowl to indulge the most depraved of her sexual fantasies in the school’s bathrooms.
Or at least this is what the likes MP Mohammed Khalid, MP Abdulla Al-Dossary and the other traditionally sensationalist press want us to believe. But for Al-Wasat – an erstwhile respectable paper – to succumb to this too is rather disappointing.
What level has Al-Wasat descended to exactly with its second page today dedicated to absolute crap? Based completely on unsubstantiated rumours, fear mongering, discriminatory allegations and all based on fourth hand accounts. They give this rubbish the second page in one of the largest circulating papers in the country?
That is not “investigative journalism”, Mr. Ali Al-Olaiwat, what it is simple sensationalism that is not becoming of Al-Wasat, a paper that we have come to respect for factual reporting. What you and your editors have done to allow this kind of unsubstantiated rubbish to be printed reveals the desperation that the paper must be in.
You and your paper should be ashamed of yourselves. You have betrayed the trust placed in your paper and your readership.
If we do have a problem with sexuality and teen-angst, those issues should be investigated properly and presented in a professional and unbiased manner, supported by well researched facts so that people can benefit from your well-intentioned research and you then be part of the solution, rather than exacerbating a perceived problem.
I expect that should Al-Wasat wish to keep its credibility, they should at least offer a retraction and censure the “journalist” who dared put his name on that piece of rubbish. Then it is their duty to mount a proper and full investigation in which they present the facts as they are, fully supported and substantiated, in order for people to choose what they want to do about the problem should it exist in the first place.
This is not journalism. This is not what we expect from Al-Wasat.
This is just pandering to a baser instinct.
Comments
Pingback: Dave Lucas
Pingback: Global Voices Online
Pingback: BahBlog
total bullcrap man, i was in about every rock gig for the past 2 years, its just kids showing their talents and having fun… the enxt day i read the news and its like, “whoomg satanists in bahrain”… i mean come on its ridiculous, just because i listen to rock music im a satanist? dancing half naked in discos is religously ok but playing rock music isnt.
Just read the entire article :
Indeed, what a load of bullcrap.
Articles like these shouldn’t be published.
At least they didn’t publish a list of “school names” :/.
If you remember, Al-Wasat did something like this before if I remember correctly – although in a more general manner….
Thing is, there was a lot of bullcrap in that previous article about Ahmed Al Omran Secondary School.
It was published 2 years ago and the sum of it was like this :
Ahmed al Omran school :
1. Weed smoking inside classes.
2. Homosexual buttrape inside classes during recess.
3. Selling and buying of drugs inside the school.
4. Teachers uh.. molesting students.
And more of the same ilk, rephrased in different ways.
They also said just about the same thing about “lesbian groups” in girl schools.
Since it was my first year in Ahmed Al Omran School when I read that (hell, everyone in the school told me to read the newspaper on that day since in the photo they took outside the school had me in it, running off to get in the car as fast as possible to avoid traffic – they had blurred the faces but it wasn’t hard recognizing me due to my hair / clothes) I was a bit terrified.
The newspaper also claimed that those were all “student’s words”.
They musta been real school-hating, smart bastards to come up with the idea of giving away all of that bullshit eh?
Of course, sooner or later – it turned out all to be 100% pure bullshit, the closest thing to all of that crap was students sometimes smoking CIGARETTES – NOT WEED – in the bathrooms – they’re occasionally caught though :P.
However, the bad press had hit our school pretty hard – we can’t go on any field trips or anything – all organizations simply reject the idea as soon as they hear the name Ahmed Al Omran School.
Sorry for ranting.
Pingback: Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Bahrain: Satan Worshippers Rock at Concerts
Al Wasat needs to pull its self together!, thats either comeplete bull or a girl so naive that she thought the Metallica or linkin park song that girls love to sing is some satanic song.
I bet even Satan is disappointed by Alwasat , [Satan is innocent this time] give the guy a break
if you remember we had a conversation about this newspaper before. although some of their articles are good, and they have provided a kick to the other newspapers, a lot of what they publish is pure C**P. based on unsubstantiated hearsay, one or two sources who may have an axe to grind or are simply ignorant and voila, they have filled themselves a page.
very tabloidy and very unprofessional.
same goes for the biased surveys they used to print on the last page. until another newspaper printed that they were the most popular, etc. and they jumped to refute the results. all of a sudden they knew how not to do a survey?
i stopped subscribing when i read their biased report on the crime that took place at a restaurant on Budaiya road.
which is precisely why speech cannot be completely free. there must be laws to regulate the media so that the media understands what is publishable news and what is hearsay. otherwise innocent people and organisations can end up losing their livelihood and/or their reputation.
Yesterday’s Political Development Institute’s workshop on journalism touched upon this subject. There is a good report in today’s Al-Waqt in which 4 of the 7 editors-in-chief attended.
I loved this quote most by Bashmi and I think it hits the nail very much on the head with a 4-pound hammer!
You know my views on Anwar, and now someone else publicly agrees with my estimation of the gentleman in question! 😉
Newspapers should always write the truth, they should question or sack the writer for this crap. a waste of page that could be utilized in something more usefull. :wassat:
Ajib: We wonder why this rubbish was written? It has the footprints (hoofs more likely), fantasies (and the BDs) of the honorable and bearded gentlemen who want to stay in the press.
I was a member of the Lesbian Satanist Heavy Metal Society at school and I turned out just fine.
Just wait till punk hits Bahrain …
90% of the Rock music out there is Satanantic music and it makes no sense 90% of the time. Who cares about rock stars???? Christian music rules!!!!!