Pa vissa satt kanns Qatar och Doha som ett relativt vasterlandskt samhalle. Till exempel om en besoker stora varuhus som Carrefour, Marks and Spencer's och andra vasterlandska kedjor (som IKEA och H&M). Da kan en tro att en ar i Sverige eller i ett annat europeiskt land.
Nar det galler mediautbudet ser det daremot lite annorlunda ut. Mediarapporteringen och vad den fokuserar kring skiljer sig, i alla fall i mina ogon, en hel del fran den svenska. Mycket pa grund av det geografiska laget men ocksa den internationellt praglade befolkningssammansattningen.
Detta visar sig till exempel i de lokala dagstidningarna. De har i princip alltid en sida fran till exempel sydostasien, en om Indien/Pakistan, om Filippinerna, om Amerika, om Europa, Mellanostern och sa klart fran Gulfen och lokalt om Qatar.
En viktig aktor pa mediafronten ar saklart den lokalt baserade Al-Jazeera. (Som numera aven har filialer runt om i varlden.) De har ofta rapporterat inifran handelsernas centrum med ett perspektiv som sallan annars nar oss i Sverige och vast. Al-Jazeera har i och med dessa klarsynta rapporter darmed gjort sig obekvama i diverse "stormakters" ogon.
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En av Al Jazeeras TV-hus som sa passande ligger vid "TV Roundabout" Doha, Qatar
Al Jazeera building by the "TV Roundabout," Doha, Qatar |
In some aspects, Qatar and Doha feels a Western society somehow. Visiting hypermarkets such as Carrefour, Marks and Spencer's and other western brands (like IKEA and H&M) you might think you are in Sweden or any other European country.
Regarding media in Qatar, the situation is quite different. The reports and focus of media differs, at least from my perspective, quite drastically from the Swedish one. This is partly due to the geographical location of Qatar and its inhabitants' diversified backgrounds.
The difference is obvious in the daily newspapers. They most often have one page covering South East Asia, one for India/Pakistan, one about Philippines, one for America, same with Europe and the Middle East etc., besides from the Gulf and obviously Qatar. An important actor on the media stage is of course the local based Al-Jazeera. (Nowadays it also has branches around the world.) They have often reported the stories from inside with perspectives seldom reaching us in Sweden and the West.
By uncovering these stories, Al-Jazeera has put itself in a clash with several "big
powers".
