The Bahrain Press Freedom Award received wide media coverage in Bahrain and other Arab countries. As I was following up the work of Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, the Minister of Culture and Information, it occurred to me that Bahraini journalists have nothing to fear as long as she is in her post. In truth, had Sheikha Mai not been born to the ruling family, she would have become the leader of an opposition party, as I always found her to be dissident by nature, and to have a different opinion regarding public affairs, which she never hesitated in voicing and defending. Also, she hails from the world of culture and literature, and does not consider herself as a result to be an ‘official party' vis-a-vis the local media. There is a clear margin of press freedoms in Bahrain, and also in several other Arab countries such as Egypt, Kuwait and Lebanon. On the World Press Freedom Day, King Hamad bin Issa announced that his commitment to press freedom is absolute, and he will not allow for any journalist to be imprisoned or any newspaper and media outlet to be shut down. I hope that the King's announcement will be taken as encouragement and not as incitement, because truth be told, there are certain journalists that push me to support the use of nuclear weapons. Over decades of my career in journalism – I know no other skills, and some even say that I don't know anything about journalism – I found that among the colleagues, there are those who are masters of journalism, while others are a disgrace to journalism, but then this probably applies to any profession or job. In the session that I moderated, and in all other speeches and meetings, I tried to be brief. I can hence boast that I delivered the shortest speeches, without this meaning that they were curt. What it means instead, is that I know very well the audience's irritation towards those who give long speeches, and I remember that the poet Omar Abu Risha once wittily warned about Dr. Clovis Maksoud when they were both ambassadors in New Delhi and said in a meeting of Arab ambassadors: Don't ask Clovis because he elaborates. There was no need for lengthy elaboration when we were in Manama, as the World Press Freedom day coincided with the closure of the Bahrain newspaper Al-Waqt. Also, there was no need to look for further details, as I concluded that the newspaper must have faced a financial crisis, which is what actually happened. I shall not repeat here anything that was already published on the Bahraini award, except to recall that the colleague Khaled Muntaser from Al-Masri Al-Yawm won the prize for columnist, and that Sheikha Mai Al Khalifa announced a second prize next year named after the critic Mohammed al-Banki, Rest in Peace, for best Arab media figure and journalist. The paper press needs a lot of encouragement, as it is going in the way of the dodo, especially with the emergence of the new electronic media that is more in line with modern technology. In this regard, I noticed that there are mutual accusations which I feel are both right: while the traditional media is saying that the online media is devoid of responsibility and integrity, the champions of the new media say that traditional journalists are dinosaurs and belong to fantasy films and nowhere else. Perhaps we will see the end of the printed press in our own lifetimes. When newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times are on the brink of bankruptcy, or facing a difficult financial situation, hopeful talk about the survival of the printed press becomes unrealistic wishful thinking. Today, the most prolific newspaper in the United States is the Huffington Post online newspaper, which boasts nearly 11 million readers, a readership figure that all the other major newspapers combined cannot claim for themselves. In the meantime, I was please to find myself once again in Bahrain, where I have many friends, and from these friends I met the Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad, and the Deputy Prime Minister Mohammed bin Mubarak (King Hamad bin Issa travelled to London when I arrived in Bahrain). Also, I never visit Bahrain without spending evenings with my old and eternal friend Akram Meknes, and with us his sister the colleague Baria Alameddin. We spent an evening with Ghada Chbeir, the singer with the great voice and other friends. I was also pleased to see the colleague May Chidiac, and it was the first time that I saw her after the known assassination attempt. I was particularly pleased to see her smiling all the time, as I always knew her to be, and while the explosion took her arm and leg, it did not reach her soul and her love of life. She was accompanied by her sister Micheline, who was taking care of her like a mother. I worked as a journalist one summer in Bahrain (I will not mention which year), and I did not know that the two months will extend to become a lifetime in journalism. If there are among the readers some who like my work, then they can give Bahrain the credit, and if others do not like my work then they can blame Bahrain. As for me, I say neither this nor that except: keep what you've seen me doing me secret, and thanks to Bahrain and its people. [email protected]
