An interview with the editor of Qatar Journal

I first stumbled upon Qatar Journal when I was wading my way through Qatar Living's blog project. I got to Nigel's blog and followed the link to his new site, Qatar Journal. At the time it was still under construction, although it already looked good. The site is now up and running, and I now enjoy a daily update on Qatar news delivered to my email address. Last week Nigel kindly granted me an interview with him about the site, and why he set it up.

Why did you start a website?

I'd met the maintainer of Qatar Living a few times, socially. We have
common interests in IT, and our kids are the same age, so we always
have stuff to talk about. Anyway, I'd been talking about various
projects with him, all of which had problems, and he suggested I start
a site. Having worked as a programmer in several failed dot-coms, I
was pretty negative about websites, but he convinced me that there
were major differences between running websites eight years ago and
today.

First, the overheads for running websites have crashed. For example,
in 2000 each web server I leased cost $200/month; now it's $50/month.
And in every area I can think of (apart from office space), costs have
become a small fraction of what they were during the dot-com boom.

Second, the web has grown massively. There's now so many people online
that you can run a small site and still have a lot of readers. That
wasn't the case during the dot-com boom. Even though everyone in the
mass media talked about the information revolution, the reality was
that my mum didn't get an Internet connection until a couple of years
ago. Back in 2000, we had an audience of university students and
metropolitan office workers. It wasn't enough people to support the
number and variety of sites that had been launched.

Why an online newspaper for Qatar?

It was an easy target. If you consider the three English-language
newspapers in Doha, they haven't picked up many of the tricks that
have succeeded for online newspapers in Europe and North America. The
Tribune doesn't yet have a working website, despite having been
launched at the beginning of September 2006. The Gulf Times and
Peninsula websites are straight copies of their paper editions. No one
seems to have asked: why would someone visit one of these sites in
preference to the BBC, CNN, Jazeera or Reuters websites?

Readers of a online newspaper in Qatar obviously want Qatari news, not
international news which can be better produced by international
news-gathering organizations. Qatar Living and ExpatWoman have shown
that people want to have a conversation with their neighbours.
Newspapers shouldn't be immune from this discussion, and yet the only
discussion that exists is in the letters page of the paper editions,
where the content can be edited to avoid controversy.

So, an obvious gap existed, and it seemed from an IT standpoint that
I'd be able to get a site up and running fairly quickly. In the end,
it took a little over a month to launch the site.

Where do you get the stories from?

Four main sources: news feeds, press releases, marketing departments,
and individuals.

I have access to the major news feeds - these supply most of the
international stories; for example, Kuwait delinking its currency from
the dollar, or Opec pumping more oil. I take the same feeds as the
three Doha newspapers, but because I can publish at any time of day, I
usually break a story 12-24 hours before them. I also have the
advantage of being able to update stories during the day, which became
important when covering the changing path of Cyclone Gonu last week.

Before I launched the site, I'd already talked with the public
relations firms in the region, and during the first week, I was
constantly pestering them for stories about their clients. I'm happy
that I'm now on most of the firms' distribution lists for press
releases. Through this route, I get most of the stories about larger
companies; for example, Qtel paying an increased dividend to
shareholders, or new baggage allowances at Doha airport. It's also how
I get a lot of the stories about Government, through press releases
from various ministries.

I'm also individually contacting every member of the Qatar Chamber of
Commerce. Most firms don't pay for representation by public relations
firms, but often they have important stories to share. It's only by
contacting these firms (and some gentle prodding) that they start to
see Qatar Journal as a free way to publicise their events. At the
moment the local papers are better at collecting these kinds of
stories because they have relationships with marketing departments
that have been built over time.

Individuals can submit stories to the site, and I hope this is a
source of stories that will become more popular. For example, one of
my readers submitted details of a "Walk for a cause" along the
Corniche next Friday. I love publishing those kinds of stories,
because often they don't make it into the local papers.

Do you have an editorial policy?

Sort of, but it's a kind of 'non-policy'. I'll publish any story that
is news-worthy and has good source material. Any editing of an
individual story is purely to fit it into my format - I like all the
stories to be 100-150 words in length. You can see from the stories
printed in the local papers that we have a fairly free press in Doha,
so I'm happy that I'm not flying in the face of local sensibilities.

Is it hard going to provide stories every day?

Yes, but it's getting easier. At the weekend, I have to dig for
stories, but on Sundays and Mondays my inbox is full of press
releases. Occasionally, you'll see a story that only has a tangential
relevance to Qatar; that's me scrapping the barrel.

How are you going to fund the site?

At the moment it's self-supporting in that the overheads are low, but
as it grows that will change. Advertising can provide income but not
in huge amounts, and like most people I hate banner ads and pop-ups so
plan to keep that to a minimum. Where I see real opportunity and value
for the site is in sponsorship. For example, I covered the recent QSTP
TECHTalks conference on entrepreneurship - had we been more
established at that point it could have worked well to devote a
section of Qatar Journal to discussions and news on that topic with
QSTP sponsorship. That kind of approach has a more direct connection
to the readership and invites discussion - which is what the site is
all about.

You're involved in the IT community in Doha. Do you see the sector changing?

Maybe, but slowly. There seems now more opportunities for IT
professionals to talk. When I arrived in Doha, it was difficult to
meet other programmers. It still is, but there are now a local Linux
user group and a Perl Mongers group which form the core of the social
scene for programmers. The TechTalks held by QSTP are a good
opportunity for academics, businessmen and IT professionals to meet,
and QCERT has started bringing together IT security staff for regular
meetings. Over the next year, I've heard that some of the universities
will be inviting visiting IT lecturers for public meetings - that's
something to look forward to.

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Sealine Sign

Sign at a shop outside Sealine:

You have been warned!

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Qatar Journal

One of the newer sites in Qatar is Qatar Journal. The site is run by Nigel, an IT enthusiast with plenty of experience in internet start ups. The site provides daily news stories about Qatar, and if you sign up you can have them delivered to your email address.

The stories are short but well written, and while there are no pictures the site is well designed and easy to use. There is no particular ideological or religious leaning – the site exists purely to provide news. It also aggregates feeds from other news sources including the BBC and Al Jazeera. Readers can get involved with the site, leaving comments on the stories, or submit their own stories to the editor here.

Obviously Nigel has put in and is putting in a huge amount of work, and the result is a very sleek and professional website, and a very welcome and unbiased source of news.

I’ll be posting a more in-depth interview with Nigel next week.

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At the beach - Qatar style

As the temperature rises in Doha, Qatar, locals head to a nearby beach. Of course this is done Qatar style - land cruisers are drawn up on the water's edge, so that water is only a few short feet away from the car. Jet skis roar perilously close to the sand, only a few feet away from bathers and small children, skidding side ways to send up plumes of water, while young children roar round the beach on quads. As we stood there, one man roared at three Indian men for daring to walk in front of him, and his son drove at them on his quad.




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Iran threatens Qatar

According to the Qatar Journal this morning Iran has threatened to bomb Qatar, Bahrain and Oman if their nuclear facilities are attacked.

A lot of people here have already speculated whether this would happen in the event of a war. Iran is certainly no natural friend of Qatar. Not only do they follow different versions of Islam (Qatar is Sunni while Iran is Shi'ite), Qatar is a staunch ally of the US, and host to a huge American base.


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Qatar sucks?

I’d heard about QatarSucks.com before, but I hadn’t read it until I stumbled onto the other day – for some reason it was temporarily unblocked.

The website is well written, funny and has some serious points to make. Nevertheless, I think it goes too far.

You can tell the website is anti-Qatar from the title: "Qatar sucks and the world needs to know about it." The website then goes on maintain that Qatar is full of racists and bigots, with the writers making clear that they hate Qatar.

First, I wonder what other countries these people have lived in. For example, QatarSucks advises people from one country not to come to Qatar. When I was living in the country mentioned, women there were forced into prostitution and in some provinces even chained to the beds. In the town I lived in one of these woman went to the police to complain about the situation. She was never seen again.

In other countries I have lived Hindus killed Muslims and Muslims killed Christians. The police, meanwhile, were too busy stopping me and other residents to extract money from us to do anything about it.

In countries not too far from Qatar police torture suspects, women are stoned to death or drowned in swimming pools for having sex outside marriage and Christian teachers have been murdered for confiscating the Koran from inattentive students. Meanwhile America, while categorising human rights abuses elsewhere in the world, imprisons and tortures people for years without trial.

My point is not that Qatar does not have some serious issues – it does. The way labour and servants here are sometimes treated here is often outrageous. Although this mistreatment does usually break Qatari laws, those laws obviously need to be better enforced. As Amnesty International has pointed out, some Qataris remain deprived of their nationality, and the blocking of QatarSucks clearly shows that censorship still exists. However, Qatar is not alone in having serious issues and, unlike many other countries, it is trying to do something about it.

Since the current Emir has come into power, the Ministry of Information has been abolished, child slavery has been stamped out, women have been allowed to drive and encouraged to take an active role in the country and expatriate workers no longer experience night time visits by police in search of vice. Couples can walk along a road hand in hand without hassle, Christians can worship freely in their own churches and in two years I have never been asked for money by a policeman.

Qatar sucks is right to attack Qatar’s inhumane and economically illogical system of sponsorship. I hate sponsorship as much as the next person, but since the newly appointed Prime Minister has compared it to slavery, I have a feeling that it is on the way out.

I’m lucky enough to meet Qataris through my work. While I find that I often disagree with them on an intellectual and cultural basis, on a personal level I have really liked the vast majority of them, and found Qataris to be warm, friendly and hospitable. It’s true, as QatarSucks points out, that bigotry and racism exists in Qatar – but then it does in every other country, too.

So while QatarSucks does have some valid points, I have to disagree with its main thesis. Qatar doesn’t suck.


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Road safety

Anyone who has driven on Qatar's roads will tell you it can be a hairy experience. This is despite the efforts of Qatar's government and police, who have installed cameras, instigated heavy fines for traffic offences and put up these scary road signs.

Also see:

Qatar Visitor's 90 Second Guide to Driving in Qatar

Driving in Qatar: Practical Information

Information for Qatar Expats

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Exhibition

An exhibition of photographs by Cynthia Martone will be held in the Marriot Hotel from today. A reception will be held today from 7pm to 9pm. From Thursday the exhibition will be open from 12.00 to 9p.m, and will run until the 25th June. For more information contact the Marriot Hotel on 4298888 ring the photographer on 5289239 or read this article in the Gulf Times.

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Football

Qatar's under-21 team will play Pakistan this evening at Al Gharaffa stadium, says Qatar Journal this morning. Kick off will be at seven o' clock.

Read about Qatar Football.

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The five pillars of Islam

The majority of Qataris are devout Muslims, and religion is a part of a life in a way it has not been in most of Europe for a very long time. Because of this, the Five Pillars of Islam, five duties which every Muslim should carry out, are of great importance to most Qataris.

Shadada (the profession of faith)

“There is no God except God and Mohammed is his prophet.” (Ashadu allah illaha illauhlah wa ashadu anna mohammedan rasulu-llah).These words are whispered into a new-born child’s ears, are spoken upon conversion to Islam and will be recited when people die. During normal life it is uttered during prayer.

Salat (prayer) Listen to Adhan, the call to prayer

Sunnis should pray five times a day (Shia pray three times a day). Prayer is made towards the Kabbah in Mecca. During the prayer a Muslim will get to his knees and touch his face to the ground as a sign of obedience towards God. However, it is acceptable for the sick and infirm to perform a reduced form of the prayer, for example from a sitting position. Prayer should be made in Arabic if possible.

Zakat (alms tax)

Every Muslim who is financially able should give Zakat to the poor and needy. Zakat means purification, and Muslims believe that giving away a portion of their wealth every year purifies the rest. Zakat consists of one fortieth of a Muslim’s wealth – although this does not include items essential for carrying out a profession. Donations can be made to the poor or homeless, to tax collectors, slaves, debtors, needy travelers, converts or those close to converting and those carrying out religious war (Jihad). An additional Zakat (Zakat Ul-Fitr) occurs at the end of Ramadan and should be enough to feed a needy person.

Sawm (fasting)

Fasting primarily takes place during the month of Ramadan, which celebrates the time in which the Koran was handed down to Muslims. Devout Muslims abstain from food, water, tobacco and sex from sunrise to sunset. The old and infirm can be excused, as can pregnant and menstruating women – although they should make up for it at a later date if possible. Devout Muslims also do additional fasting outside the month of Ramadan. Many Muslims believe that fasting is beneficial to health, and also that it leads to an increased empathy with the poor.

Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca)

Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it should make the trip to Mecca at least one time in their lives. Hajj must be taken in the twelfth (lunar) month of the year. During the Hajj Muslims circle the Kabbah seven times, go seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwa, stone walls that represent the devil and pray together on the plains of Arafat. (These were originally statues, but walls have now been built instead because of the sheer number of pilgrims participating in the ritual). Outside the designated times for Hajj Muslims can perform the Umrah pilgrimage which is non-obligatory but never-the-less highly valued.

Qatar Culture

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The laughter factory will once again take place in Sherhazad in Doha's Ramada Hotel. The dates will be Sunday 10th June and Monday 11th June. This month comedians Addy Van Der Bourgh, Ian Moore and Dave Johns will be featured. Shows start at 8.00 and tickets cost QR85. Telephone the Ramada on 4417417 or visit the Laughter Factory.

Also see: Finding out what's on in Qatar

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Unique dishes

Some unique dishes are available in Doha's Souq Waqif.


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