About the MSI
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IREX designed the MSI to measure the strength and viability of any country’s media sector. The MSI considers all the factors that contribute to a media system—the quality of journalism, effectiveness of management, the legal environment supporting freedom of the press, and more—to arrive at scores on a scale ranging between 0 and 4. These scores represent the strength of the media sector components and can be analyzed over time to chart progress (or regression) within a country. Additionally, countries or regions may be compared to one another. IREX currently conducts the MSI in 80 countries, and produced the first Middle East and North Africa MSI in 2005.
MSI Overview [9] | Africa [10] | Asia [11] | Europe & Eurasia [12] | Middle East & North Africa [13]
MSI Methodology [14]
Download the Complete Bahrain MSI Chapter (PDF): 2009 [15] | 2008 [16] | 2006/7 [17] | 2005 [18]
MSI Bahrain - 2009 Introduction
Overall Country Score: 1.87
Rapid and unexpected events witnessed in late 2008 influenced media sector performance in 2009. The bottom line result was considered by some as a setback to the freedom of expression. Meanwhile, the severe global financial crisis that started in the last quarter of 2008 continued to impact the media as stifled business activity in turn contracted the advertising market, which is the main source of revenue for most media.
Media circles were suprised when Information Minister Jihad Bu Kamal was fired from his post after only one year following the broadcast of a television program where the secretary general of the liberal National Democratic Action Society (Waad) criticized the failure of the Financial Audit Bureau to report the Royal Court's budget in a live interview. The weekly program that hosted Waad's secretary general was also changed from a live to a recorded program.
The Minister of Culture and Media, who succeeded Bu Kamal, issued a decree to block a number of politically oriented websites beginning in the second quarter of 2009. This decree obliges all telecommunications companies and Internet service providers to block more than 60 designated websites.
Journalist solidarity declined in the face of the sectarianism that beset the country since last year. The website launched in August 2008 that established a code of ethics for anti-sectarian websites in the wake of journalists' enthusiasm and desire to fight sectarianism was closed. Among other issues, the founders of the website attributed this failure to the fact that the Ministry of Information declined to sign on as a supporter after having initially blessed the initiative.
Bahrain's launch of a Freedom of the Press award and a Social Press award represented two of 2009's positive initiatives. The King of Bahrain gave special attention to World Press Freedom Day, giving an address on the importance of the freedom of speech on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Bahrain's first newspaper.
On the legal level, the year did not witness the passing of any of the draft laws aimed at improving the Press Code and laws on broadcast media; these have been shelved since 2006. Without better laws in place, the unfavorable media conditions have resulted in a number of veteran journalists changing to more professionally and financially satisfactory careers. This exodus jeopardizes the storehouse of skills in the profession and the ability to transfer those skills to a new generation of journalists.
The media also suffered from the prevalence of political and sectarian affiliations to the disadvantage of professional standards and neutrality. The preoccupation of media outlets with competition and failed attempts to overcome unstable financial conditions further prevented them from improving professionalism.