Comments on: Dubai’s global reporting meltdown.

By: Grace @ Sandier Pastures

Grace @ Sandier Pastures — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:37:49 +0000

Ghost town? I’ve been in the Big Bus Tour last weekend and it was packed with Westerners, more than ever! I live in Dubai and I cringe while reading articles reporting as if they experienced it first hand. Great post! I couldn’t agree more.

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:49:59 +0000

Thanks Rushi,
Yep, the MSM are reporting Dubai as if there will be ‘ghost-town’ tours of Dubai soon. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a message.

By: Rushi

Rushi — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:37:32 +0000

Good article. I’ve been meaning to write about the shoddy reporting that’s shown up in NYT and Guardian.

I agree that the city isn’t healthy right now, but by the reporting of NYT and Guardian it seems like Dubai has become some sort of ghost town. One look at Sheikh Zayed Road will tell you it is anything but that.

-Rushi

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:24:03 +0000

Hey thanks Sandy! Sadly, pulling apart a Greer argument is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel these days…

Just one thing though, I’m not saying that the the ’11 cars’ thing is true, I’m just saying that the police chief should have been approached for a quote. Given the amount of ‘runners’ we used to see and hear about, I’m sure the number at the moment is probably somewhere between 11 and 3000, don’t you think?

I’m actually sad about the state of the newspapers and it depresses me that things might not ever improve, given the changing makeup of the media.

Cheers!

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:13:40 +0000

Thanks Alexander. Don’t worry, I understand how you feel. There are plenty of things to legitimately criticize Dubai about, but these are ‘respected’ publications, they should do some ‘research’ and ‘fact checking’ and ‘editing’. And bloggers are the ones who are irresponsible with no journalistic ethics?

Thanks for dropping by.

By: Sandy O'Sullivan

Sandy O'Sullivan — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:09:21 +0000

Oh Terry, this is great. I confess I hadn’t really read anything about the situation in Dubai, only heard a report or two… but I did chalk a lot of it up to the usual anti-positive Arab stories going around and the desire to see Dubai fail… so all that you said here rings so true. But, of course, you actually ARE someone who can research, ARE someone who knows Dubai, and DO want facts. I remain unsurprised that newspapers are struggling to be relevant. Because, to be blunt, it’s newspapers that are far more likely to go out of business than Dubai is.

I have to say I did laugh out loud about the GG stuff though… I know I do the equivalent to Greer that folks are doing to Dubai, by just being amused that anyone pays any attention to her, and waiting for her to fall… but seriously people pay so much attention, and she falls so often.

The 3000 and 11 cars thing is brilliant though… I wonder how often this has been reported as a case of poor journalism. The question is where do you seed it? Oh, the answer might be here, but I wonder if there is a mainstream publication that would like to take some of these bigger papers down?

Ta again mate,
Sandy

By: alexander

alexander — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:46:04 +0000

I’ve been ranting about this all week – and have just done a radio interview with US radio about it too.

How much uninformed, bellicose twaddle can the international media manage?

A lot. That’s how much.

By: Terence Carter

Terence Carter — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:42:58 +0000

Good comments everyone. Travel Muse – exactly a case of ‘if you think it’s bad here – just look over there!’ Also, what I didn’t mention in the story is that a lot of newcomers to Dubai over the past couple of years have been fleeing a bad job market elsewhere and saw Dubai as bulletproof — especially in finance and banking. Dubai was ripe for a ‘correction’ and these guys were the first to lose their jobs. It was always going to happen as soon as confidence dipped.
BTW, I get people emailing me all the time asking how they can set up a business in Dubai, hopefully that will slow down now!

By: Travel Muse

Travel Muse — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:56:56 +0000

I think this is pure Schadenfreude. Dubai was trying to position itself as “the new London” or “the New New York”. A major financial center. Westerners just want to believe that no one is being spared the pain of our economic meltdowns. It’s sad really. I bet there’s never been a better time to visit Dubai and find bargains. I only wish I could afford the airfare!

By: lara dunston

lara dunston — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:19:25 +0000

Interestingly, Jen, the UAE is apparently introducing new legislation at the moment affecting the media which will allow them to take action against any journalists or media companies who have published untrue articles that will have a negative impact upon the economy… after all, it is an economy at stake. I don’t think some of them give that any thought when they publish this stuff.