‘Will digital press gain freedom or will it be stifled by the siege?’
“THE world celebrated the World Press Freedom Day on May 3, and male and female journalists interacted with tweets about this international occasion. The celebration was hosted by UNESCO in the Republic of Uruguay, from May 2 to 5, the annual World Press Freedom Day World Conference, which is held in a hybrid format in Punta del Este, Uruguay,” columnist Tariq Buresli wrote for Al-Anba daily.
“The slogan for this year’s celebration was ‘Journalism Under Digital Siege’, due to the development and qualitative shift witnessed by the press in the world from the paper press to the world of cyberspace, and the paper press has not yet disappeared, neither in content nor in the social sense, and it is one of the most prominent media influence tools of the powers and the blessing that affects the members of society.
“I was browsing some websites for a specific reading in this aspect and found that the United Nations, since 1993, has been celebrating this occasion under different slogans, so what can I derive from this year’s slogan ‘Journalism Under Digital Siege’? Will the debate on the impact of the digital age on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists, access to information and addressing the issue of privacy violations succeed?
“The ethics of the profession is one of the foundations of the establishment of this international charter in 1991, which was organized by UNESCO in Windhoek and announced by the United Nations in December, 1993 and celebrated on the third of May every year.
“Regarding the ethics of digital journalistic work, we find that the credibility and content of the news is often lost among the laws that restrict the freedom of the press and ways to express the truth of what the news conveys.
“On the other hand, we find the yellow and fabricated press, which is devoid of professionalism, but it exists due to the spread of social media and the speed of dissemination of news that may carry the truth and rumors.
“However, digital journalism is a necessity and an urgent need in light of global changes, but with the digital boom, journalists are under restrictions, including penal laws that govern the digital journalistic melting pot in all countries of the world.
“If we do not maintain the ethics of the profession, the honesty of the pen, and the professionalism of real journalism, we will face a new package of deterrent laws against the fake propaganda press, and the freedom of the digital press in Kuwait and the world must be reorganized with government laws that deter propaganda fabricators and promote digital rumors, and protect the rights of journalists who face enforced abuse in the regions of the blazing world around the world to convey the full truth, so let the press unions move to achieve these immunities for these people. Will the digital press gain freedom or will it be stifled by the siege?”
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“‘Urgent handling of urgent matters’ is an incomprehensible and undefined term. What is its duration? What are the limits of its powers? What is meant by urgent matters? Let us then search for matters that are not urgent, so that we may understand what the urgent ones are. There is no urgent matter that can be understood other than the management of the day-to-day affairs of the state, but this is precisely the task of the government that manages the urgent and the non-urgent matters, so we return again to distinguish between what is urgent and what is not urgent. The way it looks seems to be ‘none’,” columnist Hassan Al-Issa wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“Moreover, it is the same government that has resigned, but it will remain despite after all in the caretaker capacity, and it is a government that has authority without political responsibility, so how can any minister be held accountable without parliamentary oversight and sessions that will not be held, according to the most correct opinion of the people in power?
“Is it possible to imagine examples of urgent matters, other than signatures, approval or disapproval of specific matters in the management of the state apparatus, an old, eroded bureaucracy that is of no use at all?
“In other words, the urgent management of matters is a government of senior officials, it is a political front and flawed constitutional patchwork with legal emptiness, also how is the administration of the state with the urgent management of matters and not ‘urgent’ as long as we agree that there are no urgent matters in the state?
“Is there a prudent management policy? We do not think so, things here are simple and flat, oil is extracted and exported abroad, and most of the income is distributed as salaries and pensions after deducting the dividend for the lucky ones.
“Is there a real, living political life other than this rubbish that rumbles daily in our newspapers and social media? There is no truth in anything we read.”
“It is said that events in the last two years must end as soon as possible, because the country has been experiencing many failures — politically, legislatively, economically and publicly – which made people fear for the country. Change must include the country’s governmental and parliamentary administrations,” columnist Mubarak Al-Moasherjy wrote for Al-Rai daily.
“What happened to us is not the desired cooperation between the two authorities, but an overlapping of powers. The government must distance itself from the elections, and refrain from supporting candidates financially and morally. It should not turn a blind eye to by-elections and vote-buyers. It must apply the law to the letter, so as not to be legislated for us in the National Assembly, which distorts the image of the Kuwaiti democracy.
“Today, even if the two presidents – His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled and His Excellency Engr Marzouq Al-Ghanim, Speaker of the National Assembly, should stay away. It is neither acceptable nor reasonable to interfere in appointing leaders in ministries after they participated in selecting some ministers.
“The people rejoiced over the success of Dr Hassan Jowhar and Dr Obaid Al-Wasmi, but unfortunately they became ‘Peace of Peace for Reconciliation’ when no one is looking for a solution to people’s issues.”
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“Compared to the amount of ‘garbage’ left by the population in Kuwait, we are experiencing a tragedy in the production of waste and we may have surpassed many countries in the world...,” columnist Dr Naji Al-Zaid wrote for Al-Jarida daily.
“An individual in Kuwait produces 51 kilograms of waste per month, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the weight of the average person if we consider that the normal weight of the individual is 70 kilograms.
“What is this waste? Where does it come from? Why its rates are considered unusual?
“Let us look at the materials that end up in the ‘garbage’ container in front of houses — the foodstuffs, soft drink cans and empty containers, we will find extraordinary luxury, negligence and waste of money and effort!
“They buy fruits and vegetables in cartons, and half of them end up in the trash ... Buying children’s toys and electronic devices and throwing away old ones creates a waste problem that destroys the environment.”