Freedom of Speech

For Yemenis freedom of speech is not necessarily one of the priorities.  It is not the government that keeps them from expressing themselves freely, but also traditions, values, the tribe, the community, among other things.  In this part of the world a word is more than just a combination of few letters.  

Before 1990 Yemenis  were subject to controlled media.  There were almost no private media and even imported media was subject to strict censorship.  Since then things have very much changes.  There are hundreds of local newspapers and publication most of which are private.  The change in 1990 was like a shock to the conservative society.

Initially those who were working for the public media established their own newspapers, but later many people entered this "market".  Many of the new newspapers are managed by people who want to make money.  They do not have any journalism background.  They established many "yellow" journals.

On the other hand political parties established their own newspapers and media tools.  Their objective is to promote their ideas among the public.

In the early 1990 most of the media were somehow guarded by unwritten controls, but very soon these controls disappeared in favor of political and business interests.  This has affected the culture of people that gives high value for "the word"... 

The media was not able to play a positive role in educating people and helping raise awareness, but was able to "make stories" rather than "report stories".  Most of the stories about corruption, for example, were not taken seriously by the public and authorities.  There is no doubt that the media played a major role in the current crisis in Yemen.

The Yemeni government decided earlier to turn a deaf-ear towards what is on the media.  With few exceptions, journalists are free to write whatever they want.

In the current crisis the media is playing a big role.  There is a war between pro-regime media and opposition media.  The opposition media is trying to "get the support of the public to the change movement", on the other hand, the pro-regime media is trying to get the trust of the public.

The freedom of speech has changed how people think in Yemen.  It has probably changed the value of  a "word" in the mind of Yemenis, but not for all of us!

In an unprecedented indecent that happened yesterday, Al-Omaisi, a local poet from Al-Qafr (Ibb) who is famous for praising President Saleh, was kidnapped in Taiz street in Sana'a.  His tongue was cut off.  The efforts to rescue him failed.....

This dogmatic act cannot be left without punishment.....