IREX
International Research & Exchanges Board

Media Sustainability Index (MSI) - Middle East & North Africa (MENA)

MSI MENA

E-mail this pageE-mail this page

The Republic of Yemen

Introduction

Emerging victorious from Yemen’s relatively competitive presidential elections in September 2006, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was confronted by a number of challenges. The most daunting was dealing with the armed rebellion that started to threaten stability in the northern province of Sa’ada. The growing threat of terrorism had reached alarming levels, particularly after authorities failed to arrest Al-Qaeda prisoners who had escaped from a jail in Aden. However, growing public discontent with the government because of a failing economy was perhaps the topic that the media were more interested in. Strikes, protests, sit-ins, and other activities demanding improvements in the income of citizens became regular events that found their way into the headlines of most opposition and independent newspapers. To tackle these problems, President Saleh assigned Dr. Ali Mujawwar to lead a new Cabinet with the main objective of reviving the economy and implementing the many ambitious promises the president had made during his campaign.

The opposition and independent media steadily raised their level of criticism of the regime. Subjects that were once taboo became headlines, including singling out the president for criticism. Newspapers also challenged the grooming of the president’s son, Ahmed, to be his successor. This new openness in turn led to an unprecedented wave of intimidation and attacks against the press, according to media freedom advocates. Crimes against journalists increased in number, and journalists became frequent visitors to police stations and courts.

The 2006-2007 MSI delivered an overall score of 1.12, a slight decline from last year’s score of 1.27. The panelists determined the most worrisome objective was plurality of news sources, which received a score of 0.75. Many panel members said they believe the information vacuum that resulted from limiting access of journalists to the Sa’ada war was to blame for this poor ranking. Journalists were warned not to give rebels a voice and not to report about civilian casualties caused by or to army forces. The government’s measures to manipulate news reports on the war, some panelists felt, scarred the Yemeni journalism profession.

On the brighter side, the period witnessed a boom in the number of new news websites. There are currently more than 50 websites representing various political and cultural news and opinion pieces. But with the rapid increase in the use of the Internet in Yemen, the government resorted to blocking some of the opposition websites, triggering protests by local and international advocacy organizations. Activists were also wary of governmental attempts to “regulate” electronic news sources through a new press law, the first draft of which was introduced in 2004. MSI panelists expressed their concern that a law hampering press freedom even more could be presented.

Panelists concluded that the government needs to do more to reverse deteriorating media conditions and implement necessary reforms to raise the standards of journalism in the country. They underscored the fact that without political will from the highest post in the regime, no important changes could happen.

Objective 1: Free Speech

Like the previous year, free-speech protections continued to get poor scores from MSI panelists. Giving the objective an overall score of 0.98, compared with 1.11 during the previous year, panelists underline the lack of political will to ease restrictions. Despite the regime’s pledges of the past to liberate television and radio, both remained under the strict monopoly of the state. Several crimes against journalists were reported and various lawsuits were filed, resulting in some convictions. Meanwhile, attacks and violations reported the previous year remained uninvestigated. This, according to panelists, demonstrated an ongoing state of impunity for the attackers who, in some cases, were alleged to be affiliated with the security apparatus. 1

Fear in the journalism community hindered the level of press freedom in general, the panelists said. However, reports in the opposition and independent press reflected increasing criticism of the regime, possibly due to the relatively competitive presidential elections. While panelists acknowledged an alarming rise in the number of violations against journalists, they noted that many journalists crossed the presumed “red lines” and hence exposed themselves to the wrath of the authorities.

MSI panelists argued that despite the constitution’s explicit mention of the right of citizens in the freedom of thought and expression in Article 41, it constrained this right through the Press and Publications Law 25 of 1990, which most panelists view as highly restrictive. Dr. Abdulmalik Al-Motawakkil, a writer and academic at Sana’a University, said the constitution does grant the right for press freedom but that laws are to blame for the restrictions. He, along with the other panelists, concluded that the current laws do not protect journalists but are used by the authorities to restrict press freedom.

In contrast, panelist Mohammed Al-Ariqi, secretary editor of the official Al-Thowra daily newspaper, said it is not the laws but their implementation on the ground that should be corrected. He noted that the Ministry of Information and others use the law articles selectively to restrict journalists. “Everyone is trying to exploit the press law to serve his interests,” Al-Ariqi said.

Most panelists said the public is generally unaware of the value of the freedom of expression and hence does not care much about it. Some panelists went further in claiming that at times it is the society itself that hinders press freedom. On some occasions, for example, the society calls for the punishment of journalists, who may intentionally or accidentally tackle sensitive religious issues. After Yemeni newspapers republished cartoons of Prophet Mohammad that had become highly controversial in the region, some prominent religious figures called for the execution of the journalists and editors-in-chief who were responsible. Among the journalists who were prosecuted for republishing the cartoons was Mohammed Al-Asaadi, editor-in-chief of the English-language Yemen Observer. He said the government-run media introduced him and his newspaper to the public as offenders. As a result of this action, “mosque preachers and religious fanatics launched severe attacks against us. Many of our relatives and friends boycotted us, believing we really were offenders,” Al-Asaadi said in an article he published in Yemen Observer.

However, panelist Tawakkul Karman, a writer and chair of Women Journalists without Chains, said there is an enlightened segment of the society that is aware of its right to information. She said that when the government suspended her mobile news service, Belaquood Mobile, citizens who had benefited from the service staged protests and sit-ins demanding its resumption.

Panelists rated media licensing procedures poorly, mainly because of the government’s monopoly of the broadcast media and for its allegedly selective treatment of applications filed for print publications. Broadcast media are of particular influence in Yemen due to the high illiteracy rate, which is estimated to be about 50 percent. Article 42 of the constitution says, “The state shall guarantee freedom of thought and expression of opinion in speech, writing, and photography within the limits of the law.” However, because the constitution itself limited the right to speech, writing, and photography, which is different from video, it could be interpreted as also depriving citizens of the right to establish their own broadcast media. Hence, the constitution as well as laws may need to be amended to allow privately owned broadcast media to emerge, panelists noted.

Although the law does grant citizens the right to establish print media, some restrictions are not mentioned, according to panelist Tawakkul Karman, who contended that licenses need to be approved by the security apparatus before they could be granted. She said the Ministry of Information rejected her application for a license of a newspaper but only because “the security apparatus refused to grant approval.” The Ministry said the license was rejected for not meeting the requirements according to the law. Article 78 of the 1990 press law gives the right for an applicant whose request is rejected to appeal to the courts, though in this case Karman chose not to do so.

When it comes to entering the market, media outlets do not have to be commercial corporations. There are no profit taxes on media, unlike all other industries. Although these exemptions would appear to be encouragement to private media, panelist Khaled Al-Anisi, a lawyer and director of the National Organization to Defend Rights and Freedoms, saw this as a maneuver to ensure that privately owned media remain weak in the market and unable to compete strongly with the governmental media because management teams are not compelled to grow their companies to meet tax demands.

The number and level of crimes committed against journalists, particularly against those critical of the state, witnessed an increase over the period. In its “Attacks on the Press in 2006” report, the New York–based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described legal and criminal acts against journalists, ranging from beatings to illegal detention and a host of other means of pressure.

Describing the situation facing journalists, panelist Jamal Amer, editor-in-chief of Al-Wasat independent weekly newspaper, said in accepting the CPJ 2006 International Press Freedom Award: “Sadly, in my country, Yemen, assaults against journalists have become commonplace while journalists are constantly terrorized and prevented from doing their jobs by corrupt sheikhs, politicians, and military officials.”

Several statements and appeals were sent to President Saleh urging him to order the authorities to bring press attackers to justice and to put an end to the escalating state of intimidation against journalists. Despite those calls, attacks and legal cases against journalists continued to occur frequently, the panel members said. Furthermore, crimes committed against journalists prior to 2006 were not investigated, resulting in a widespread belief that anti-press attacks enjoy impunity by the state. Despite promises made to international advocacy organizations, the state refused to denounce the attacks, let alone investigate them or bring the attackers to justice.

Panelists also noted the high number of lawsuits filed against journalists and their media institutions. Most of those cases were filed by the authorities or those closely affiliated with them against opposition or independent newspapers, citing violations to the press law, they said. Some panelists also said there was bias in the legal system against opposition and some independent newspapers. In Yemen, the judiciary is not financially independent, and judges are appointed by the Ministry of Justice, making their objectivity in treating media cases questionable, according to MSI panelist Khaled Al-Anisi. “When you apply for postponing the verdict in a case of a journalist working for an opposition newspaper, you barely get one or two days, but if a state media organ is in the same position, it gets two to three weeks,” said Al-Anisi, who frequently defends journalists in cases.

Panelist Mohammed Al-Ariqi, however, said it is difficult to judge whether there is preferential treatment because governmental media usually do not include critical reporting and do not cross the red lines. He agreed, however, that unlike in cases filed against opposition and independent media, those against official media mostly end up with reconciliatory procedures.

Libel in Yemen is both a criminal and civil offense that can result in imprisonment, fines, suspension from the profession, closure of a newspaper, and other penalties. Journalists can be prosecuted on the basis of the press and publication law, the penal code, and the crimes and punishments law. Moreover, preferential treatment in libel cases is not unheard of in Yemen, according to some panelists. “For example, when a journalist for the 26 September newspaper [the military organ] defamed Abdulrahman Al-Baidhani, his case was filed as a case of ‘insult’ rather than ‘libel,’” he said.

Panelist Abdulraheem Mohsin, a freelance journalist, said there is an extra degree of difficulty in criticizing some officials because of a law dedicated to senior state officials. This view was supported by Khaled Al-Anisi, who recalled a recent decision by a judge who prevented the media from covering the trial of a senior official because “having the media cover this trial would be considered libel.”

The third article of the press law clearly stipulates that “freedom of knowledge, thought, the press, expression, communication, and access to information are rights of the citizen.” Yet despite this law, panelists agreed that access to information, regardless of its level of sensitivity, is one of the most difficult tasks for journalists in Yemen. However, panelist Khaled Al-Anisi blamed journalists for not using this law to demand their right to information when being deprived of it.

Panelist Mohammed Al-Qadhi, correspondent of Saudi Al-Riyadh daily newspaper, stated that some state-owned media are favored over other governmental media. “For example, 26 September is given information more often than the Saba News Agency,” Al-Qadhi said.

Panelists agreed that the difficulty to access information is not unique to journalists. According to panelist Ahmed Saif Hashed, a parliamentarian and the publisher of Al-Mostakela weekly newspaper, even parliamentarians find great difficulty in accessing information. Referring to a personal encounter at the Passport and Immigration Authority premises, Hashed said he was denied information about detained foreigners who had reportedly died of starvation and also had been beaten and briefly detained. He also noted that parliament drafted new instructions to prevent parliamentarians from accessing sources without prior permission from the parliament’s chairman and the minister concerned. “Even though the constitution guarantees this right, it is now being confiscated,” Hashed said.

Panelist Tawakkul Karman said journalists are occasionally prevented from accessing information at the Central Organization for Control and Audit, which audits accounts of governmental institutions and releases its findings to the public periodically. She said one of her requests for information was denied on grounds that she had requested “classified documents” and that some information is not even accessible to governmental media other than those from the security services newspaper, 26 September.

Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi, on the other hand, noted that officials occasionally deny information that they themselves provided to the press earlier, possibly because of pressure from higher authorities. He cited an accusation of having classified information made against Abdulkarim Al-Khaiwani, a journalist who was detained a number of times for his critical writings, saying that the authorities, including the judiciary, wrongly brand documents that are in the public domain as “classified.” According to panelist Abdulbari Tahir, a journalist and researcher at the Studies and Researches Center, another problem facing journalists is that “information is monopolized by the most senior official and is also configured and disseminated in a politicized manner.”

When it comes to international news, the picture is a bit brighter. Panelists agreed that information coming from abroad is easily accessible and that access is granted equally to all journalists in the country. However, some panelists did complain about Internet website filtering. According to the Open Net Initiative, which monitors levels of website filtering in some countries, Yemen’s filtering level in 2006 was mostly selective. It was a conclusion based on the government’s action in “blocking of oppositional media sites during the 2006 presidential elections.”

Furthermore, external media products, including film, audio, and print, are allowed to the country for public access only if they pass the vigorous censorship procedures based on Article 57 of the press law, which grants the government the right “to prohibit the circulation of any newspaper, magazine, or publication whose contents contravene the provisions of this law.” Panelists said the authorities may interpret the laws in a way that may prevent arguably legitimate content from entering into the country. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi gave as an example authorities’ preventing a publication from entering into the country simply for carrying an interview with the Faisal bin Shamlan, a presidential challenger in the 2006 elections.

Entry into the field of journalism as a profession in Yemeni media is granted based on a set of conditions, including the need to have a university diploma or sufficient work experience. Article 10 of the press law explicitly states that the Ministry of Information “shall issue press facility cards,” which were initially planned to become an essential ID that must be shown to the authorities before requesting information. However, the Ministry did not issue the cards regularly, and hence journalists do not have them. Though most panelists did not think that not having those cards would hinder their work, lawyer Khaled Al-Anisi believed otherwise: “The law mentioned the press facility card and linked everything to it… Given that it is not implemented or that some see it not being implemented does not suggest [an obstruction] doesn’t exist.”

Non-Yemenis, however, must apply for accreditation before they can work as journalists or correspondents. Furthermore, the government can cancel their accreditation without giving any reason and, hence, could deprive expatriate journalists from the right to reside in the country. Furthermore and regardless of nationality, media correspondents for foreign media must apply for a license at the Ministry of Information and must have it renewed annually.

Panelists said that having the right to become a journalist is incomplete unless journalists can move freely. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari, who works as a correspondent for the Dubai-based Al-Bayan daily newspaper, described his situation as a correspondent: “When the regional manager of Reuters comes, depending on my personal relations with them [the authorities], they may or may not allow us to visit Aden for coverage.” He said the authorities sometimes allow only foreign journalists to visit certain areas if they pay $100 daily to an accompanying person appointed by the Ministry of Information. Panelist Tawakkul Karman added that the person assigned to accompany foreign journalists in the country represents the security services and that prior approval may be necessary for foreign journalists to bring cameras and other recording equipment into the country.

This allegation made by panelists is echoed in the Committee to Protect Journalists Yemen chapter of “Attacks on the Press in 2006.” See http://www.cpj.org/attacks06/mideast06/yem06.html for more details.

Objective 2: Professional Journalism

Panelists agreed that despite relative progress in the level of professionalism in the media, particularly at independent outlets, standards remain well below aspirations. The progress in this objective resulted in a score of 1.35, compared with 1.31 last year. According to the panel, the objectivity of journalists and use of all relevant sources is not yet satisfactory, and ethical standards are not yet accepted or practiced widely. Meanwhile, they said, self-censorship remains high among journalists and media owners largely because of the number of attacks and lawsuits targeting media.

Journalists are increasingly aware of the key issues and events that need coverage but are often restricted by their managements’ decisions, particularly among government-owned media, panel members said. Due to the poor income levels of the media institutions, journalist wages are extremely low, triggering a significant level of corruption. This also explains why journalists are usually poorly equipped, particularly in terms of technology and recording facilities. Political news and analysis coverage dominated media content, leaving little space for specialized reports on issues such as the economy, society, etc.

Panelists agreed that journalists lack the necessary training, skills, and equipment to do proper, fair, and balanced reporting, whether due to the limited finances of their institutions or a disregard for training. Journalists frequently are unable to properly assess the right sources and suitable questions, said panelist Abdulraheem Mohsin, adding, “They [journalists] neither have the mechanisms nor do they have the knowledge in asking for information.”

An urgently needed code of ethics for journalism has been lacking for far too long, panelists said. Dr. Saadaddeen Talib, a member of the recently formed Anti-Corruption Commission, recalled reading an article in Al-Gomhoriya official daily in which all members of the Commission were accused of being “corrupt.” He invited panelists to evaluate “whether this is an ethical or non-ethical approach” and asked, “How could such a thing appear in an official newspaper?”

Journalists working for opposition newspapers are also lacking ethical practices, panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said. He said that when he is interviewed by opposition newspapers, he ensures that he gives a balance view on all aspects but what is published is the part in which he criticized the state or authorities. Al-Anisi also described how journalists of some newspapers occasionally blackmail certain individuals or companies to extract money or advertisements. He explained how newspapers threaten companies by putting a headline in a specific issue stating, “We will start an investigation about Company X.” “But when advertisements come, this pledge is abandoned,” Al-Anisi said.

At the same time, self-censorship remained one of the biggest problems facing journalists in Yemen, panelists said. Panelist Mohammed bin Sallam, a journalist with the English semi-weekly Yemen Times, said the three basic “red lines” that journalists are told they must not cross are “the person of the president, the army, and Yemen’s unity.” He said he self-censored his own stories concerning the Sa’ada war. “I try to avoid mentioning the number of deaths in the army,” Sallam explained, even when those figures were confirmed and had come from reliable sources such as the morgues.

Abdulraheem Mohsin put himself “among the journalists who suffer the most from the self-censorship that editors-in-chief practice” because harsh criticism in his columns is often viewed with concern by editors for potentially harming their interests. Khaled Al-Anisi added that self-censorship for media owners also emerges when dealing with news that may concern one of the advertising companies. He said that in some advertisement contracts, there is a condition that automatically annuls the contract if the newspaper writes any negative news or stories about the company.

Panelist Jamal Amer, who was kidnapped, beaten up, and threatened to be killed in 2005 by a yet-to-be-prosecuted mob, said that one needs to fight censorship, but “how far someone goes depends on his personal strength.” Asked if what he went through led him to censor himself, he said: “When you are punished, the issue ends there and you gain strength…but there is something much worse than physical punishment. There are other things that are not observed, such as blackmail, etc.” According to the CPJ, in April 2006 the political security “asked Amer’s neighbors to identify Amer’s apartment, provide the phone numbers of his children, name the schools his children attended, and provide the license plate of his car… The visit came while Amer was traveling in the United States.” The CPJ report was based on Amer’s comments at the time.

When it comes to journalists’ ability to judge what is more important to cover, many fail to do so because of restrictions imposed by their upper managements, panelists said. This is particularly the case for hundreds of journalists who work for the governmental media, and it includes covering activities that target the government, such as protest rallies. Similarly, journalists working for opposition newspapers usually avoid important stories that may be positive to the government. Panelists agreed, however, that most journalists working for independent newspapers do cover important events and strive to do their best in the coverage. Hassan Zaid, a writer and general secretary of the Al-Haq opposition party, wondered how journalists could cover the events of the Sa’ada war when they are prevented from entering the region. Other panelists agreed that journalists could do only so much as long as the environment is restrictive.

MSI panelists agreed that the poor economic conditions of journalists in Yemen exposed them to corruption, damaged their reputation, and limited their potential role in objective reporting. Wages that may be as low as YR 20,000, or $100 per month, have encouraged some journalists to accept bribes in the form of money or gifts and to consequently do favorable coverage and avoid critical reporting. On other occasions, media institutions themselves may be warned not to publish critical reports about a specific sponsor who pays for advertisement space.

Entertainment in the media is extremely limited and confined to specific pages in newspapers and to specific periods, such as the holy month of Ramadan. Panelists said newspapers are concerned with serious issues such as poverty, public services, corruption, and other political issues. Hence, entertainment does not take a noticeable space in the independent media.

However, some panelists said the young population seems to be inclined more than ever to watch entertainment television channels that broadcast music and live contests. This trend is sweeping throughout the Arab world, as viewers seem to favor entertainment programs over serious news as a form of escapism, one panelist said.

Yemen’s poor economic conditions overall had their clear marks on the media’s hardware capabilities, panelists agreed. The poor income levels of media institutions resulted in fewer investments in the equipment and tools necessary for carrying out journalistic duties. There is an extreme shortage of cameras, telephones, transport vehicles, computers, printing units, etc. One obvious outcome was poorly printed newspapers with limited editorial quality and low circulation figures. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari said the conditions of independent newspapers in terms of equipment are often pathetic: “Only one single computer is used for all operations in some newspapers. And only one single camera is used for all the staff.”

In general, niche reporting in Yemeni media is also poor due to the limited financial capacity of most newspapers, which are operating with minimal budgets necessary for survival. The government allocated funds for some ministries to establish their own publications in fields such as telecommunication and trade. The opposition and independent media, however, have not yet moved to the stage of having their own niche reports and publications. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said it is impossible for most newspapers in the country to produce such high-quality reports because of the lack of staff and funds. In many newspapers, he said, “you find only two or three journalists.”

Objective 3: Plurality of News Sources

The most visible decline in the score sheet for this year’s MSI report on Yemen was in the status of plurality of news sources, which got a score of 0.76. Panelists said the government’s failure to allow full coverage of the Sa’ada rebellion in the north was the main factor behind a fall from a score of 1.13 in the previous period. Panelists agreed that even though the public does have access to public and private media, citizens were deprived of their right to know what was going on in many parts of the country, such as the northern province of Sa’ada. As the conflict escalated in 2006, the government sealed off the whole province from journalists and even travelers, panelists said. This left the official media as the only source of information, and they produced mainly biased coverage in favor of the government, according to the panel. “How could a journalist write an objective, neutral, and accurate story [about the war] if he cannot enter Sa’ada and cannot meet with people there?” asked panelist Abdulraheem Mohsin. Similarly, panelists said, coverage of the 2006 presidential elections in the governmental media was also imbalanced.

With the public media reflecting a purely governmental viewpoint, the public had to read opposition and independent newspapers to learn other opinions. The lack of independent news agencies made the official news agency the main source of news in official media. Similarly, the lack of privately owned broadcast media confined the coverage of television and radio to reflections of the authorities’ standpoint. Private newspapers are family owned and not conglomerates, making it easy to judge the objectivity of their coverage. As Yemen is home to a relatively homogenous society with small pockets of minorities scattered throughout the country, coverage of minorities and various social groups was viewed as acceptable.

Citizens in cities do have access to newspapers, Internet services, and broadcast media. However, in most rural areas, where more than 60 percent of the population lives, neither newspapers nor Internet services are accessible, making television and radio the only media that could be used to access domestic and international news. Despite a rise in the percentage of satellite television dish usage, this medium remains far beyond the reach of millions of Yemenis living in poverty. Furthermore, regional television channels provide very little coverage of domestic events in the country.

Nongovernmental newspapers are accessible only to a small portion of the population because of two main limitations: the limited distribution of newspapers in rural areas and the high illiteracy rate, estimated at 50 percent.

With a gross domestic product of about $1,000 per capita annually, Yemen is among the poorest countries in the world. This has naturally resulted in low newspaper readership figures. Despite this, readers have options to read dozens of periodicals, including three daily official newspapers: Al-Thowra, Al-Gomhoriya, 14 October, and two independent dailies: Al-Ayyam and Akhbar Al-Youm.

Internet dial-up costs are extremely expensive, and all the more so because poor infrastructure makes download times very long. Panelists said this prevents users from accessing rich multimedia content that is easily available to the public in many developing countries. “The [Internet] service is presented in such a way that makes you fed up waiting while seeking information, as you end up wasting a lot of time,” panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said. Nonetheless, there is a steady increase in the number of Internet cafés allowing affordable Internet accessibility, which could be as cheap as YR 2 ($0.01) per minute. A report released in 2006 by the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology showed an increase in the number of Internet cafés from 753 in 2005 to 836 in 2006. The report also noted a significant increase in the number of registered Internet subscribers to about 160,000 in 2006.

In general, citizens are able to access international media, mostly television satellite channels, but some newspapers’ and magazines’ editions may be prevented from entering if they contain material that may be viewed by the authorities as potentially damaging to the “national security” or in violation of the country’s press laws. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi stated that on some occasions, publications are not allowed in the country until “the information loses its value.”

Furthermore, blocking websites that contain “inappropriate content” is common. Occasionally, however, some news and political Internet websites are also blocked by one or both of the Internet service providers in Yemen, Teleyemen and Y.net. The blocking of some news websites run by the opposition started before the presidential elections in 2006, the panelists said.

The official media, which include the three daily newspapers, two television channels, and two national and four regional radio channels, have a limited coverage scope that includes news and analysis that represent a predominantly pro-governmental opinion, panelists agreed. Mohammed Al-Qadhi noted that the media are “either an official media, where objectivity is lost because their aim is propaganda to promote a specific government, or an oppositional media, whose aim is to defend its interest.”

The fact that the government monopolizes broadcast media makes it almost impossible for the opposition and critical viewpoints to make it to the television screen or radio airwaves. Panelist Abdulraheem Mohsin described the official media as “biased and not representing the whole society even though those media are public property.”

The government has also been in control of the only domestic news agency in the country, Saba, which is a governmental mouthpiece that does not usually cover opposition or anti-governmental views. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari mentioned an attempt by a popular Yemeni website, newsyemen.net, to register its own news agency at the Ministry of Information. “However, it was rejected because the Ministry said there is no law to regulate private news agencies,” Al-Ghobari said.

Similarly, there are also no independent broadcast media in Yemen. Panelists agreed that the government’s main justification in not allowing broadcast media to emerge is the lack of laws to regulate them. However, panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said a more profound reason is that “the government understands that the public would not be brainwashed except through radio and television, which are the media that connect with the people.” Most panelists agreed that the government would not allow the private broadcast media to emerge because it understands the danger in allowing the opposition parties to have their own radio and television stations, which may grant them passage to millions of people.

The state monopoly of broadcast media was most effective during the 2006 presidential and local elections, panelists said. A report released by the Taiz-based Human Rights Information and Training Center had clearly demonstrated a bias in favor of the government and its candidates in the election campaign coverage. The report noted that there was a merger between coverage of the president’s activities and his campaign message. It concluded that this was systematically used in all state-controlled media.

On the issue of media ownership, independent newspapers in Yemen are family businesses, which makes it easier for the public to judge their perspectives, panelists said. Similarly, opposition newspapers are owned by political parties, whose affiliations and objectives are also well known. There are no laws that guarantee the transparency of media ownership, but panelists said they saw no need for such a law because there are no media corporations in Yemen thus far.

When it comes to the transparency of financial information of the different media, panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said powerful pro-government newspapers would never reveal their budgets. “Even the parliament cannot uncover the budget of a newspaper such as [the military and security forces’] 26 September,” he said.

Due to the fact that the Yemeni society is mostly homogenous, with more than 99 percent of the population speaking Arabic, all newspapers are in Arabic except two that are in English—Yemen Times and Yemen Observer, which predominantly target foreigners. There is also news programming in English on television and radio. There are reports published in the press and broadcast on television of various social groups, such as Yemenis of African origin, which are locally referred to as “Al-Akhdam.” There are also small pockets of Jews who receive media publicity occasionally. Immigrants and asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa, along with a small expatriate community of skilled workers and their families, also exist, but coverage of their activities is rare.

Objective 4: Business Management

Expert assessments show that the economy of Yemen is deteriorating, with a direct impact on an already struggling media sector. This objective received a low score of 1.1, a slight improvement from last year’s score of 1.02. The rise may be attributed to a limited increase in advertising spending. Foreign investment in media institutions is virtually nonexistent, and private media are continuously struggling for survival. Panelists said that governmental media would be doomed if it were not for the financial support from the national budget. Instability and threats of closure due to potential lawsuits, along with the population’s low purchasing power and a variety of other factors, have discouraged foreign investment in the local media industry. Meanwhile, advertisements remained the major source of revenue that kept independent media afloat despite aggressive competition by the governmental media, which panelists said have been constantly favored by advertisement agencies and business owners.

Income from commercial advertisements is barely enough for the survival of independent media, but on national and religious occasions, paid congratulatory messages do compensate. Though some subsidies are provided to independent media, the amounts are extremely low and hence make no significant difference. Market research is not common in the media scene, and broadcast and circulation numbers are not publicly available or easily verifiable.

Economic instability in Yemen has hurt all sectors, including the media. Corruption in the state-owned media is also to blame for inefficiency in managing those institutions, according to the panel. Reform efforts have been attempted, but results are yet to be seen. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said investors are not ready to risk their money in establishing a private newspaper in Yemen because of the many economic, political, and cultural obstacles and restrictions their investment is likely to face.

For private newspapers, the problem lies in weak income due to low circulation and advertising levels. Only a few private newspapers have been relatively successful in attaining a significant income that helped them expand their businesses and invest in their facilities and cadres.

Independent newspapers depend on advertisement to generate the bulk of their income. Sales and subscriptions also modestly contribute, but because of increasing costs of printing and paper, the sale price of a newspaper does not even cover the printing cost. If the flow of advertisements is affected, there could be devastating results for the private media. In contrast, state-owned media have their budgets assigned annually, and they can be adjusted to compensate for any shortage in advertising income. Furthermore, they receive a significant portion of commercial advertisements. Most advertisements coming from governmental institutions go to state-owned media. “The government advertisements are totally blocked from the opposition newspapers,” said panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari.

There was an agreement among panelists that some private newspapers with high levels of popularity and outreach occasionally get some advertisements from advertising agencies, but their amount is much smaller than that received by the state-owned media. Advertising agencies in Yemen are mostly locally grown and are not branches of multinational agencies. They are far smaller than those in Gulf Cooperation Council countries but are not affiliated with any political parties. Most of the advertising agencies operate in the capital city, Sana’a, with representatives in smaller cities, but a few have their main headquarters in Taiz and Aden. Panelists noted that the agencies are driven by making money and hence would focus on the newspapers with the highest circulation. This concentrated the distribution of their advertisements on the broadcast media and a small segment of the print media. When taken from a pure business perspective, the professional standards of those agencies were well perceived by the panelists.

Some panelists said they observed an increase in advertising activity in 2006 as more businesses started to emerge in the country. Many advertisement packages are arranged through the main advertisement agencies. However, the tense competition among the top newspapers left very little for the small newspapers.

A substantial percentage of income comes from congratulatory messages often published on national and religious occasions to congratulate the president of Yemen and his aides. This tradition is an opportunity for the independent media to compensate for their earlier losses and serves as extra income used for future investments. Advertisements could also come in the form of condolences to powerful or popular personalities, such as ministers or powerful businessmen.

Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari said that even though the press law clearly states that the overall advertisement content in any medium should not exceed 40 percent, advertisements occasionally do take over. Some panelists excused newspapers for doing so because of their low income level. But panelist Khaled Al-Anisi complained that on many occasions, advertisements overwhelm the newspaper to a degree that repels the reader. “Even when dealing with advertisements, professionalism is not the norm,” Al-Anisi said.

Government subsidies are provided to nongovernmental newspapers based on their circulation and frequency in publishing. The total amount, which may be as low as $30 monthly, is insignificant and does not affect the overall financial standing of the media. However, newspapers still receive them annually without exception and do not see this as a means to influence their stance. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari noted, however, that occasionally subsidies are provided to newspapers in an “unofficial way” to affect their stance. Those amounts are not standard and do not go to all media; they can also be higher in value than regular subsidies.

Market research and scientific methodologies to enhance circulation and outreach are not common practice in the Yemeni media. Some newspapers occasionally develop innovative means to attract advertisers, but this does not necessarily imply enhancing the newspaper’s quality. Appeasing clients by providing them with gifts and occasionally blackmailing other companies to provide advertisements are among the methods used, panelists said.

There are no reliable methods to obtain circulation and outreach figures for the Yemeni media, panelists agreed. It is common to find contradictory numbers on the circulation of newspapers, whose owners may provide exaggerated figures. A panelist said that some newspaper owners go as far as multiplying their real number of printed copies by a factor of 10. He noted that the maximum circulation figure conceivable for a Yemeni newspaper would be around 30,000 copies per edition. Similarly, the audience of national television and radio is not surveyed, and the outreach of broadcast media in Yemen remains a mystery. However, panelists agreed that Yemen’s national television satellite channel ranked very low among other Arab channels.

Objective 5: Supporting Institutions

Panelists agreed that supporting institutions for the media in Yemen are alive and active, but they stressed the need for improvement. This objective’s score of 1.41 was the highest among the five but was well below last year’s score of 1.76, signaling the need for more training and collaboration with international media-development bodies.

Efforts to assemble a media owners’ industry association were thwarted by the government and the lack of enthusiasm of some media owners. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate (YJS), which is the only professional association for journalists, is doing relatively well though not working to its full potential, panelists said. On the other hand, panelists said, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Yemen are thriving, and many are directly supporting the independent media and promoting freedom of expression.

Panelists noted that the academic teaching of journalists in Yemeni universities is not up to desired standards. They said that short-term workshops sponsored by international organizations and donors have great potential for growth, particularly because of the rich nature of the Yemeni media arena and the vast number of journalists. Sources of newsprint and printing facilities are mostly in private hands, although there are occasions when private newspapers end up being printed at governmental facilities. Distribution channels and sale points are also in private hands, and the government has no direct influence.

There was a move in 2004 to establish the first Yemeni Newspaper Publishers Association, which would have been an association protecting the interests of private media owners. However, panel members said attempts to get a license to form the association met excessive bureaucracy from the state and, in any event, was not fully endorsed by all media owners and was opposed by the YJS. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari signaled the need for such a body and said that publishers should not be members of the YJS because their interests clash directly with the interests of journalists.

The YJS has been actively involved in supporting causes of journalists in the form of press releases, protests, direct mediations, and other activities. Though panelists acknowledged the syndicate’s role, they expressed dissatisfaction with its current influence in the overall arena. Panelist Abdulbari Tahir, who himself was once the chairman of the journalists’ syndicate in former South Yemen, said the YJS is still in its early stages of development and is also facing tremendous challenges. Among those challenges, he said, are “regulatory constraints, the non-independence of syndicate work, the instability of civil-society organizations, the fact that the state throws all its weight against the work of newly founded syndicates, along with the lack of experience and skills in advocacy work.”

Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari said that despite its drawbacks, the YJS is still an important institution with some balanced representation of members between state and opposition outlets. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi disagreed, saying that the YJS is politicized and can be manipulated by the state because it relies on government funding because it lacks means to generate sufficient operating funds.

Some NGOs, according to panelists, have shown a tremendous level of influence and effectiveness in dealing with media-related issues. A number of active NGOs led by female journalists, such as Yemeni Women Journalists without Chains, have proven to outmatch the syndicate in being outspoken in confronting the authorities in crimes and legal cases targeting journalists. “Such organizations compensate for the deficit caused by the YJS, which is doing only a part of what it is supposed to do,” panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari said. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi, who runs the National Organization to Defend Rights and Freedoms, a press-freedom organization, said he hopes the YJS will become stronger in order to reduce the burden on his organization in terms of defending press freedom.

On the academic level, however, panelists were concerned that the journalism faculties at Sana’a and Aden universities are not up to the desired standards. Panelist Mohammed Al-Ghobari said the need to reform the academic standards of the university’s media college has resulted in a joint Danish-Yemeni program to train academics and reform the curriculum. Panelists complained that the material taught to students is out-of-date and that the equipment used is not of adequate quality. They also noted that too much theory and little practice is applied in those courses. The low pay to university teachers is also another factor behind the overall low quality level of the academic program.

In comparison with academic training, short-term training is more relevant and up-to-date in terms of the educational needs of journalists to deal with the real world. However, the training programs are not targeted and do not necessarily have an immediate and direct effect on journalists. This is partly due, panelists said, to financial constraints, as many of those training programs require the use of technology such as the Internet and digital cameras, which may not be available to the journalists once they graduate. Panelists also emphasized the need for each media outlet to have its own internal human resource development unit that gives more on-the-job training and collaborates with international organizations and NGOs to provide professional development. Many training courses are done at the Mass Communication Training and Qualifying, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Information.

Donors and international organizations have been expressing greater interest in supporting the independent media in the country through training. Some panelists said donors need to be more assertive in terms of demanding results from counterparts benefiting from the training and other capacity-strengthening programs while also being more transparent in developing programs by dealing with stakeholders directly to know their needs. Panelist Khaled Al-Anisi said some donor-funded short-term training programs are done without proper studies. He said he heard that one program had a budget of $600,000, but “if they had given me this $600,000, I would have built a media academy in Yemen.”

Panelists agreed that newsprint and printing facilities are mostly in private hands, as there are tens of printing-press companies throughout the country, but some newspapers with broadsheet size could be printed only at large-scale, government-owned printing presses. This creates the possibility of instructions not to print certain editions, and panelists said that on rare occasions even privately owned printing presses may receive orders by a governmental body not to print a specific newspaper.

Importing of massive amounts of paper requires licensing, and this market is held by several powerful businessmen who re-sell to media outlets, according to panelist Abdulbari Tahir. Panelists agreed that distribution and sale points are all unrestricted and in private hands. There are no regulations concerned with the way newspapers distribute or sell the papers.

Because of the state monopoly on the airwaves, broadcasting live from Yemen for a regional or international television channel requires prior permission from the authorities. Similarly, videotapes of documentaries or movies taken on Yemeni soil need to pass through the Ministry of Information before released to the public. Similarly, the only two Internet service providers, Teleyemen and Y.net, are controlled by the government, allowing it to filter websites.

Panel Participants

  • Abdulbari Tahir, writer and researcher, Studies and Researches Center, Sana’a
  • Abdulraheem Mohsin, columnist and writer, Sana’a
  • Ahmed Saif Hashed, publisher, Al-Mostakela newspaper, Sana’a
  • Ali Al-Sarari, spokesman, Joint Meeting Parties, Sana’a
  • Dr. Mohammed Al-Motawakkil, lecturer, Sana’a University, Sana’a
  • Dr. Saadeddeen Talib, member, Anti-Corruption Commission, Sana’a; former MP, Hadhramout
  • Hassan Zaid, general secretary, Al-Haq party, Sana’a
  • Jamal Amer, editor-in-chief, Al-Wasat, Sana’a
  • Khaled Al-Anisi, director, National Organization to Defend Rights and Freedoms, Sana’a
  • Mohammed Al-Ariqi, secretary editor, Al-Thowra, Sana’a
  • Mohammed Al-Ghobari, correspondent, Al-Bayan, Sana’a
  • Mohammed Al-Qadhi, correspondent, Al-Riyadh, Sana’a
  • Mohammed bin Sallam, journalist, Yemen Times, Sana’a
  • Tawakkul Karman, director, Women Journalists without Chains, Sana’a

Moderator: Walid Al-Saqaf, media consultant, Gulf Forum for Citizenship, Sana’a – Yemen