A question of Ethics and Sensationalism

My entry into the UAE blogging world was more or less inspired by Secret Dubai Diary; I was sort of a fan of her reporting / blogging style, and was even more impressed by the way she has been maintaining a parallel voice that was not restricted by state restrictions. In short, she really displayed the guts to come out as a bold and unbiased voice on everything that had the chance of tarnishing image of this young country.

At times, some of the posts were found inappropriate by the moral police and as a result, we are not able to access her blog directly within UAE. Undeterred, she continues to write - though less frequently - and one can read her blog thru a feed-reader or google reader.


A recent post however, started me thinking all over again - is it blogging, journalism, or sensationalism which she is doing these days? Consider this quote below appearing in a UK newspaper, which SD chose to excerpt in her post. The quote is from a lawyer turned hooker named Paige Ashley:

"My biggest one-off job was with three Arab businessmen at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi," she said. "It's a seven-star hotel and everything is decked out in gold leaf. They paid me £20,000 for one night with all of them. By morning I was exhausted”.

Most likely the intent was to convey that Arab businessmen would go to any extent to sleep with a western woman - which indeed does reflect upon the society’s scum that need to be questioned upon and cleared. It also perhaps highlights the stereotypes held by the Arabs...

But then, what does a neutral person might also infer from the post? Here are some possibilities:

1. Many western women seek Dubai as mecca of “prostitution behind the veil”?
2. Best income solution for unsuccessful British career women during recession (or for that matter any time) is to get into sophisticated call-girl racket?
3. Arabs welcome western (e.g. British) women expats in UAE /GCC with the one-track objective of getting them to bed in order to improve their own status?
4. Many British women are opting for sex / flesh trade in GCC in order to live a normal respectable life elsewhere? (I heard of a similar situation applicable for East Europeans way back in 2001 – many of whom are well placed in top positions in some companies today)?
5. If you want to make a fast buck in UAE – escorting /or flesh trade is the best solution!

It's a question of identifying the fine line between Ethics and Sensationalism. It’s true that the facts quoted in the post could very well be true! But perhaps Secret Dubai could employ many of her journalistic finesse to put it more palatable – instead of injecting sensationalism on the blogosphere or smearing Arab and Western communities in the country.

It would be interesting to know the reactions of fellow young Arabs on this issue – especially since they are inheriting one of the fastest growing young nations in recent times.


Some additional comments also appear in UAE Community Blog