Crossing Red Lines In Media Criticism In the Arab World

By Shurouq Lashkri

Heba Al-Abasiry, an anchor of AL Hayat TV, believes that crossing the red lines in entertainment programs leads to having more viewers, which leads to more advertisements that lead to increased revenue. She is not necessarily fond of it, but if it was necessary, she would do it in a way that would not affect her conscience in a bad way. 

According to Ms. Al-Abasiry, the society needs to take care of its individuals morally, socially,  economically..etc, then it will not have to worry about the red lines as the society would be raised on certain values and what they see on TV will not affect them. 

Ms. Al-Abasiry believes that a person’s red line should be his conscience. If the presenter knows that what he is discussing is not considered crossing the red line, then it is acceptable for him/her to talk about anything. It is not absolute freedom, however, you are ought to have a professional conscience and an understanding of the responsibility you have towards your family and the world around you to be respectful. It is not considered crossing the red line when there is credibility as Ms. Al-Abasiry continues to explain.

Heba Al-Abasiry on the left, Rafia Ghubash on the right

An additional comment made by another speaker, Rafia Ghubash, was “don’t think, let us think for you” about the role of programs on some TV channels. The comment received great response and applause from the audience. Ms. Ghubash explained that freedom is different from being free. Some countries around the world, call for being free, not freedom. Rafia explains that being free is liberating oneself from the values, morals, and religion he/she belongs to. “We are (Arabs) invited to liberate ourselves from everything”, Ms. Ghubash continued explaining that it is sometimes the channel’s main goal to cross the red line in accordance to their beliefs to be free and have freedom of speech.

Rafia Ghubash is the former president of Arabian Gulf University. Other speakers of the session were George Kordahi, the renown MBC channel presenter, Khalid Al Khaja, and Lina Abu Baker. The session, named “Entertainment space…Blurring the red lines” mainly focused on how TV channels are playing with red lines to attract viewers and advertisers, and the response it is getting from the Arab societies.