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Al Watan Daily is right and I am wrong?

Al Watan Daily published a new article where they basically say I was wrong and they were right with regards to the Friday Market fiasco. Here is a recap of what has been happening the past couple of days:

On Monday, Al Watan Daily published an article where they stated that the municipality wasn’t allowing the shop owners at the Friday Market access to their animals. The article stated that the shop owners haven’t opened their stores in 15 days and all the animals were dying from hunger and lack of air. Here is a link to that article [Link]

But, according to three different sources, I stated Al Watan Daily were wrong. Here are my sources from the least credible to the most:

Source 1 – Anna (anonymous reader):

I just called a store owner there who I’ve dealt with extensively with my salt water fish tank. The good news is that all stall owners sneak in at night to feed the animals. The bad news is that the animals are there in total darkness, and sanitary conditions are even worse than usual (if you can imagine that).

Source 2 – Mrs F (a very good friend)

My husband spoke to a few shop owners and they mentioned that they were actually allowed to open their shops in order to clean and feed their animals.

Source 3 – Ayesha (founder of Animals Friends and K’s Path)

We have investigated the situation and most of the information around is incorrect. The shop keepers are able to enter their stores and care for the animals. We have a volunteer that knows many of the shopkeepers very well and he has visited them multiple times and spoken to them throughout the last two weeks of closure and they are still able to enter their shops. In fact you can even buy things from them they just can’t officially open their doors for business. On the weekends and evening you will see them outside on the road selling so clearly they can get in. Also the area has been closed for two weeks, if it was true that these animals have not been fed then they would all be dead at this point but you can hear them in the shops.

I will leave it to you to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. Here is the link to their “Citizen Journalism” article [Here]

54 replies on “Al Watan Daily is right and I am wrong?”

Just because he sits behind a computer and updates the Watan Daily doesn’t make him right (i love how you cannot comment on their editorials, and on other news international websites you can).. Mark, I would be really happy ;p you have people that don’t like you, yet cannot resist the urge to read your blog..

“One of the major differences between professional journalism and citizen journalism is accountability” – This statement from the article is incorrect .. how about this one “Citizen journalism sources are backed up with people that have opinions, Professional journalism sources are backed up with people that have benefits.. ” – Writers in newspapers take paychecks from bosses who want their newspapers to sell the most, us bloggers take nothing and want nothing.. Who would be more accountable in this case?

“Citizen journalism, on the other hand, is not shackled by the immense burden of accountability. A citizen journalist can have the leisure of making mistakes and move on, without taking a moment”s breath”.. Completely incorrect, The writer probably never heard of the “boy who cried wolf”.. Every piece of information we post on our blogs we are accountable for.. I don’t know if the writer of this article realizes that we cross out all the incorrect information or even comment on what we believe is wrong or unacceptable.. If you get a lot of negative comments, your blog’s popularity will diminish and eventually become less successful.. Isn’t that a burden? Isn’t that a valid consequence for misinformation? Isn’t that the same exact concept as misinformation in newspapers leads do a lower approval rating, hence the decrease in sales?

Al Watan daily, If I was in your position, I don’t really think you’d want to upset the blogging community 🙂 (learn from CNN.com) We are international, you are local. We are thousands, you are one.

haha are they serious? what a ridiculous comeback.
I dont see them stating any solid sources. so much for accountability eh?
also whats up with their attitude?

Who bothers reading Al Watan nowadays? it has sunk to the tabloids level nowadays.

Just tune on al watan tv now and look at their level… Bu Kharshad is talking and after him they will interview Bu rashid. Bunch of no ones with know knowledge/background/experience of/in anything are given prime time just to dance as monkeys and make us laugh!

by the way… i’m in studying in the UK right now, and the other day one of my professors presentation showed a picture that you have taken and uploaded on your blog! lol

you should be proud of your self!

im utterly shocked…. whats happening are those animals in there or not im confused. i cant think straight with this situation..

what the hell happend to respect of the world, animals and humanity this is not how god asks us to live our lives

HAHAHA omg this is like beyond funny.. miin 9ijhom al watan.. like they are seriously threatened by you! Their article is beyond ridiculous oo chnhom kids bickering and pointing the finger. Oo Mark wala good for you for challenging them! As for Al watan itself yes i agree 7adhom izbala i mean come on bokharshad?

Alwatan is being dragged in the wromg direction by incompetent management and lack of journalistic values. The question is where are the competition ?

We need to forget about who is right and who is wrong.

What we need to do is gather a group of people to get down there and break open those shutters should we have to and get those animals out.

Mark………………….. you are one of, if not, the biggest known blogger in this country.

I reckon you could have a gathering of at least 50 responsible people down there.
really you just need a crowbar and someone who can pick locks to get all the animals out. There aren’t any cameras there and I doubt the municipality are sitting about watching.

Who reads alwatan?

Had it not been for Mark, I wouldn’t have known about this. In fact, I didn’t even know alwatan had an English website if it weren’t for Mark’s post on the matter and the link he provided.

Cheers!

Salute you Ali!
As for Mark, keep up the good work! They are just nonsense people trying to play an act using their trashy newspaper. They do have some people who are worthy of some respect, but the majority is just trash worthy.

As for the main issue, the animals; crowbars and forced entry is not the solution. Its the upbringing and education of our future generations on how to treat these animals. Yes, what’s happening is really bad, but the ability of people to think that Friday market is an okay state of living for these animals is worse.

150kd-200kd a month to report wrong or incorrect news! Wow! Where can I sign up? I’m already doing it for free! I may as well go work for al watan and get paid for it!

That’s the problem when you don’t write for a paper.

You have very little rights and anyone can say you are wrong and they are right.

Come to think of it even if you did the editors would tear anything you write to tatters and censor it till they felt comfortable printing it.

I think it says a lot for the journalistic value of a newspaper if they get into a he said/she said match with a blog – where as every other news network is embracing citizen journalism.

Who do you think is more invested in getting the truth out? Newspapers that are manipulated by the political fabric and the lure of profits or people on the street?

Al Watan just showed what kind of credibility they have. I wish some other newspaper would pick up on their article and write an editorial on it. I will try to get this story out on BBC/CNN using some contacts that I have there; not that it will change Al Watan but at least their tabloid/sensationalist nature will come out.

Mark.. Ur doing a gr8 job.. Its not his fault if his english vocabulary is poor and he cant reason out from the facts that he was wrong.

Keep up the good work.. Keep showing everyone how foolish of an editor he is.. M having a gr8 laugh.. LOL

I used to write for them when they were the Daily Star; lots of children writing stories and managed by people with questionable journalistic “professionalism”. It doesn’t surprise me at all that they have engaged in a “tit for tat” dialog. “Journalism” in this country has a looooooooooooooooooooong way to go.

But isn’t it a bit cultural here? Name calling and finger pointing are the norm.

I don’t see why they had to retaliate with a long boring article when supposedly their sole purpose as a newspaper is to highlight what needs to be raised awareness on in the country.

A full article was not necessary; a comment on your post would have been enough, no?

Can someone say snowball effect?! LOL… there is one very big and stupidly fatal flaw in the newspaper article… no one bothered to get a response or quote from the municipality!
I would think accusing a govt body of gross animal rights violations is a big deal, or is our view of government agencies so jaded that we accept at face value that they would knowingly and willingly starve animals to death over a rental dispute?

The attitude to the error has revealed a lot more than the error itself… Way to get a proper source (Ayeesha) on record Mark! I’m sure the municipality will have something to say about this when it comes to their attention… this is gonna get bigger!

I have issue with the lack of responsibility/accountability that Al-Watan allege.

I can’t comment on other blogs but if anything I find 248am to be one of the most accountable (the only accountable?) place in Kuwait.

You always seem quick to revise or update articles and acknowledge errors when new information comes to light (or even when the more pedantic among us point out typos or imperfect English).

I would suggest the writer of the Al-Watan article could more usefully spend his time investigating his stories, instead of using editorial space for a pseudo-intellectual rant on responsible journalism in a thinly veiled attempt to justify the blatant failures in the original article .

Keep up the good work Mark

What a horribly written article.

@Desert Girl – are you realy that shallow? Referring to your last sentence of post 21.

Since when has Al Watan Daily been a credible newspaper???? There are only a handful of reporters – most of the stories are 2 days old and are translated from the Arabic paper. Reporters take press releases and write their names on it! The only reason people buy Al Watan is cause they want to read the Herald Tribune!! Let’s get real here – Al Watan Daily is by far the least respected English daily in Kuwait.

This is not the first time with Al Watan….I hv read a number of articles that makes me wonder whether they THINK before they publish. Like someone else said in his comments – look at the bright side Mark – you got even more publicity for your blog and they recognize you as a force to reckon with. Keep up the good work!!

You are neither right nor wrong. You are reporting based on other people’s statements (some of whom you know – and some who you don’t).
The only way this can be settled is that you actually visit the place, interview the shopkeepers and report the facts, citing your sources.

Yazan, is of course, right when he states that a blog has no accountability. If the facts change, you can simply update the story.

Sort of like wikipedia. It’s a great source of learning but educators hate it because it can provide wrong information without any accountability.

“One of the major differences between professional journalism and citizen journalism is accountability. When a newspaper, or a news network fails or misinforms, it is held accountable (as it should be) by the public and its image, as a source of news, may and can be tainted.”

Mark, can you send them the personal insults and threats you recieved in the past 24 months – can you also send them a couple of posts wherein you updated them because of misinformation.

Me personally, I loves me some citizen journalism. I find it wittier and a pleasanter read, I also have the freedom to have a discussion with the author, whether I am in agreement with them or not.

Actually, a blog does hold some accountability – 248am would not be as popular if it didn’t.

I might be mistaken, but thats just my thought on it.

Furthermore, can we count the number of times bloggers in this region have been scrutinized and held in custody because someone decided they need to be held accountable to what they wrote.

PEOPLE
There is a difference between AL-Watan (Arabic) and Al-Watan Daily (English).

IN FACT, they are two totally different newspapers.

I think that it is important that this is clear to everyone.

About blogs and being held accountable, I am not posting anonymously so of course I do get held accountable.

Like newspapers I also have my own credibility which I would like to leave intact. If I posted every BBM rumor on this blog for example as a fact, my credibility would go downhill instantly.

I am put in a lot of difficult situations all the time. As a blog I would like to break news first and right away but if I post something and it turns out not to be true then I get hurt. This is why when people send me emails or messages like “there is a huge fire on the gulf road” I try to make sure there is actually a fire on the gulf road before I post it. If its something I can’t verify but something I must post then I would clearly state that I just heard this but I don’t know if its true or not.

My name is Sameer Al-Abdullah and I’m a photojournalist from San Francisco State University and currently working at Kuwait News Agency. I was told about this issue by a friend and decided to get involved personally. I do NOT represent my employer. I’m merely using my “benefits” as a journalist to clear something(s) if possible.

I just called the person in charge at the municipal and I was told shop owners at the Friday market are given 1 hour everyday to go in and check on their animals. “Shop owners are not allowed to open their shops but the municipal is allowing them this 1 hour everyday on friendly basis to check on their animals.”

So there people you have it! Both the Watan Daily AND the blogger’s “sources” are right, at least partially.

Now allow me to tell you something I learned from journalism school. Bloggers are NOT journalists. They are bloggers  What you read on blogs are merely opinions of those who wrote them and this is where the difference between journalism and blogging lies.

We as journalists are taught to go to the highest ranked person when possible to get a statement or quote to support our reporting.

In Kuwait, most of if not all the time, the papers only identify their sources as “official sources.” Many readers don’t question that anymore. They just believe what they read. Why? Because it’s published in the paper!!!

On the other hand, I hear people these days are reading blogs and believing all things that are written. Why? Because Mark said so. No offence to Mark but him and his sources don’t do it for me. I’m sorry but I need something more official to believe what I read. Otherwise I will always have doubts about the accuracy of his writings. He could be either right or wrong. But until I know for sure I can’t hold him accountable for anything. He’s just a blogger, with all due respect.

But when newspapers publish something unsupported or with the usual “official sources” only they will lose their credibility and my trust in them. And I’m sorry to say this but most “journalists” in this country work like that. They make things up and claim an “official” tipped them just to create headlines!

Another issue is objectivity. That piece written by Nancy Oteifa and Abdullah AlـNajjar from Al Watan Daily is nothing but garbage to me. They quoted shop owners bitching and complaining about the situation with the municipal. Fine no problem. But where is the voice of the other side? Again bias writers going for some sensational “article”!

By the way, the guy from the municipal who I called earlier is Mohammad Al Muhaimeed. The municipal is not really making any statements and what he told me was not really official. It’s more like on “friendly” bases  I informed him that I’m a journalist but that I was not interviewing him officially!!

So at the end guys, don’t believe everything you read unless it’s supported. Use your head and judgment. Oh and you don’t have to believe everything I just said here! After all this is me blogging. Who would have thought?

The article made me furious!

Where was Yazan Al Saadi when bloggers were posting about the Iraq/US was in 2003? Remember those days when the news networks could not cover a lot of news because the Ministry of Disinformation used to filter it out? Yet the bloggers reported. The bloggers also reported real time news on their own personal experiences. The bloggers also made their voices heard around the world, and received a lot more readers than the local networks did.

Where was Yazan Al Saadi when bloggers were posting about the July 2006 war in Lebanon? Real life stories from people under the shelling?

The bloggers from those 2 wars, had a purpose, and that purpose wasn’t to show how local news may be wrong, their purpose was to be heard and to be involved, and to make a difference to international opinion. They supported a cause.

On more than one occasion, bloggers made mistakes, and they WERE held accountable. Bloggers have always had comment sections (just like this one) where they were told they were wrong, and when proven, they posted an apology post. That is how responsible some of us bloggers are. Bloggers do care about their credibility and care about being respect.

Instead of Al Watan Daily reporters sit behind their desks and see what other newspapers have to say to confirm their reports, let them get off their high horses and start a proper investigation and report what’s really going on on ground.

سؤال واحد:
انتو من صجكم تقرون الوطن للحين؟
جريدة الوطن سوا العربيه او الانجليزي لهم فايده وحده

تصلح صماط حق اكل القطاوه

Mark – I generally get all my Kuwait news from your blog and the forum. I hardly ever read newspapers anymore. But I always apply my own judgement to determine what to believe. That’s not the case when reading a newspaper article – as you know it has gone through an editorial process (well, most of the time).

It’s great that you hold yourself accountable for what you post. But the editorial was not pointing specifically at your blog in the artcle (though we all know that’s what he meant).

In short, the editorial is correct. Most of the blogs are nothing but rumors/conjectures.

@rampurple, the point is not whether blogs are right or wrong.

Whether we like it or not, blogging is the new way of consuming news. It’s just that you have to accept that most of it may be wrong. So don’t take hasty decisions based on what you read in the blogosphere.

kinda sounds like the whole mayor booker/conan o brien controversy….keep goin the way u are right now….im lovin it.

lost all trust in al-watan….what they did was just plain stupid—a whole article just for a comeback against u….while lots more was happening in kuwait…guess the editor spends more time on the internet rather than goin out and checkin out the news himself.

guys, the piece on “Citizen Journalism” was not an official article, but an opinion piece. Kinda different there, isn’t it?

maybe we should read things carefully, before going all out on them. My reading of it was that it was not a come back, but the good and bad aspects of the type of media used by people today.

anyways, love the blog.

Mayor Booker played Conan… he could have just let it go, but instead he got publicity and free tickets to L.A and the show… dont think this is anything like it

Thats why most of kuwait tend to read ALQABAS as their Daily Credible News Paper. ALWATAN’s startegy is always to exagerrate and create a fuss out of nothing. Higher Ratings is their main concern. You can see that with their TV NEWS, ARABIC PAPER and ENGLISH PAPER.. its so clear how they try to twist reality..

all for the ratings 😉

more ratings..

more advertisements,

more money 🙂

Sameer: thanks for the lesson and educating all of us on the difference between a blogger and the news.

Now come over here so I can show you the diffrence between a news slap and a blog slap!

Marks blog is not intended to be a news source! It is merely intended to pass on what’s going on with his readers. You make it sound like we are idiots and believe everything we read!

Damn! Now I really need to slap somebody! I will start at al watan and work my way over to KUNA.

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