Journalism professor and columnist Matt J. Duffy no longer has a job in the United Arab Emirates. In a recent blog post, Duffy said he was dismissed from his post at Zayed University because he felt a duty to “speak and teach with minimal reservation about my area of expertise — journalism, international media law and communication ethics.” Duffy believes he was let go because he spoke out on press freedom and the need for better reporting.

Duffy, an American, has spoken and written extensively on media law, journalism and press freedom in the U.A.E and surrounding countries (including for an IPI report last year). Now back in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S.A.), Duffy spoke with IPI about his work in the U.A.E, the country’s media environment, the need for reform – and they unlikelihood that such reforms will happen anytime soon.

Both Duffy and his wife, who also worked in education, were pink-slipped from their Abu Dhabi jobs this summer, which forced them to leave the country. “Clearly I had displeased someone with my activities,” said Duffy,who wrote on his blog that the school’s provost had told him the order had come from “outside the university system,” and that University officials had appealed the decision, but to no avail.

No one from Zayed University could immediately be reached for comment.

Others who are familiar with the media environment in the region seemed unsurprised by Duffy’s allegation that the orders to let him go came from outside (and above) Zayed University.

Jad Melki, an assistant professor at the American University in Beirut who has worked with Duffy described him as “a very competent academic and former journalist.”

“From the work I’ve experienced personally, he does a lot more than is required from an academic and has been genuinely and passionately trying to serve his students and the University,” he said. (In his blog, Duffy links to a PDF version of what appears to be a glowing performance review from April 2012, with a note: “lest anyone imply that my termination had anything to do with performance.”)

According to Melki, Duffy’s allegations fit into a broader picture. He told IPI: “Even more troubling than Matt’s issue, is the news coming from several Arab countries, especially in the Gulf, that more and more academics are facing the ugly fact that there are many red lines and if they even think of crossing them they and their families are booted out of the country and they have their visas revoked.”

Melki said that Zayed University’s alleged failure to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression on campus from external interference could have an impact on its accreditation through American bodies if substantiated. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which accredits Zayed University, notes in a policy document on its website entitled “Political Intervention in Education,” that: “To impose political considerations upon faculty selection and retention harms an institution intellectually and educationally, not only by reducing its options in the recruitment of talent, but also by creating pressures against dissent on important policy issues.”

But according to Duffy, political influence is routinely exerted by leaders in U.A.E., including on the media, which has resulted in a climate of self-censorship on certain issues. “If it’s a sensitive subject, particularly something to do with security or something to do with the royal family, then the journalist would just know that [his newsroom is] not going to do anything about that unless WAM, the state news agency, releases some type of a statement about the issue,” Duffy explained.

Another journalist in Dubai, who wished to remain unidentified out of fear that she or he would “lose my job and get kicked out of the country,” said the overall media environment is “not as closed as everyone thinks it is” and that things have improved over the past 10 years. The reporter said, “It’s pretty free in the sense that you can address things within limits, but anything to do with the government, the leadership, or local Emiratis affairs are pretty sensitive.”

The events of the last year, according to the unnamed source, may have had an impact on Duffy’s situation. “It’s a changing time, with the Arab Spring, so trying to teach press freedom to a bunch of Emirati kids who are kind of blinkered is not going to sit well with the government,” the reporter said.

Duffy had a similar observation about the uprisings in the region. “The media in the UAE covered the Arab Spring pretty well – it wasn’t like they were pretending that it wasn’t happening all around them,” he said. But he says that the U.A.E. government, faced with the threat of instability, have responded in a “very repressive, restrictive way.”

“Right now, it’s just such a different environment even than two years ago, when I got here,” Duffy said. “People are far less willing to speak out about what they think, particularly about anything the government is doing related to security.”

That affects everyone, including people using Twitter and other online platforms, according to Duffy. “Certainly the government is making it very clear that just because its social media and not a newspaper doesn’t mean that you can say anything you want to,” Duffy said. Over the past few months, dozens of people have been arrested and sent to jail for things they’ve written online. Local media coverage of those arrests is limited, according to Duffy. He said there is “very little transparency [about the facts of these cases] in the press, because they know this is not something [they’re] supposed to pay attention to.”

There is a need for reforms that would make self-censorship less likely and strengthen journalist rights. But Duffy said the powers that be have “no interest whatsoever” in reforming the law. He made it clear that it’s not just the letter of the law that needs reshaping, but its spirit.

“The current media laws in the Arab world focus on what journalists can’t do,” Duffy wrote in a follow-up email to IPI. “For instance, they say things like ‘Journalists may not report on issues that could damage the national image or economy.’ Obviously, that creates a huge infringement on a journalist’s ability to do their job. And who gets to decide which report was damaging? The laws must be rewritten to remove the prohibitions and expressly support the traditional role of journalism as a benefit to society.”

According to the Dubai reporter, at the moment, most “established journalists” in U.A.E. are foreigners, but there has been “a drive to get more Emiratis into the media.”

Indeed, Duffy’s job was to teach young journalists and communicators. He told IPI he first took the job at Zayed University because he “was pleased with what I was hearing about how they wanted me to teach journalism, and sort of the general vibe of the country was progressive.” But after speaking out repeatedly on the need for “stronger journalism” and “stronger media laws,” Duffy was fired, a decision he believes was taken by leaders outside the University where he taught, despite the appeal of his superiors.

Between his lectures, helping establish an online student newspaper, organizing conferences on journalism and censorship, and writing a Gulf News column about regional media and free expression issues, Duffy is not sure which of his activities finally caught up with him. “To be honest with you, many times after I wrote an editorial for the newspaper I’d wake up worried,” Duffy said. “Was that the one? Was that the one where I crossed the red line and said too much?”

The boundaries were closer than Duffy had anticipated. “Yes, I was pushing boundaries, but I was doing it in a way that was responsible and academic and took into account the cultural conditions,” he said. “I thought I was operating in the realm of what an academic could get away with. Clearly I was wrong.”

IPI Phone Interview with Matt J. Duffy

August 30, 2012

Edited transcript

IPI: You recently learned that you’d lost your job and had to leave U.A.E. Where were you working, and how did you find out that you had to leave?

Duffy: I was working at Zayed University, which is a state-run university for Emirati citizens at United Arab Emirates. I got my job there two years ago to teach journalism in the communication department. By all accounts it was a very progressive country and I made the decision to move there because I was pleased with what I was hearing about how they wanted me to teach journalism, and sort of the general vibe of the country was progressive, they said we want to stretch boundaries and change the way things are being done.

However, after being pretty outspoken about the need for stronger journalism, stronger media laws in U.A.E. and what not, many other activities, I got word over the summer that my contract had been terminated, not by the University – well, by the University, but the University made it clear that the order came from higher up in the government so clearly I had displeased someone with my activities.

Of course, six weeks earlier my wife had also received a similar termination letter that also was orchestrated by someone higher up. So it’s very clear to us that this was a move to have me leave the country. Without a job, you can’t be in the U.A.E., you can only stay in the U.A.E. for 30 days on a tourist visa so if you don’t have a job you can’t live there, and so the way this termination happened pretty much effectively ruled out any other options besides moving back to the US.

IPI: On your website, you list the “Top 18 things that may have gotten me booted from the U.A.E..”, which range from writing about media law and press freedom, to setting up debates on the subject to launching a student news website. Did you ever receive any warning after any of these activities that you may have gone too far?

Duffy: Well, let me tell you, anybody who teaches in a country like the U.A.E. – which is authoritarian, at the end of the day – will tell you that you get plenty of non-official warnings. The buzzword at Zayed University was, Be careful. Or the buzz phrase. There was always this intimation that everything you did might be scrutinized by somebody and not liked, and that everybody’s job was very precarious and you didn’t want to make waves if you wanted to stay and enjoy yourself. So did I get any official warning? Absolutely not. But throughout the two years I was there did many people, colleagues, tell me I was skating on thin ice or could be in danger or losing my job? Absolutely.

It was a constant refrain. To be honest with you, many times after I wrote an editorial for the newspaper I’d wake up worried. Was that the one? Was that the one where I crossed the red line and said too much? So yeah, it was a constant worry.

IPI: You mention self-censorship repeatedly. What are the topics where U.A.E. journalists exercise, shall we say, discretion?

Duffy: Nobody would pretend as though this doesn’t happen – well, that might not be true, I’ve actually heard people tell me that, like the editor of the Abu Dhabi newspaper, The National, he actually tries to insist that there is no self-censorship, I don’t know – but most people would agree there is self-censorship and that there are certain topics that aren’t covered. I would say first and foremost would be anything security related, so any move made by security forces just automatically is not going to be reported on until it comes from some type of official source.

There’s an official news agency called WAM that’s actually part and parcel of the National Media Council, which is the government body that oversees regulation of the media so really, if it’s a sensitive subject, particularly something to do with security or something to do with the royal family, perhaps, then the journalist would just know that we’re not going to do anything about that unless WAM, the state news agency, releases some type of a statement about the issue. And then if they do that maybe they’ll cover it, often times will just run their statement verbatim, very rarely will do they do any kind of exploratory reporting related to any issues like that.

IPI: [Duffy also wrote a column for Gulf News, which mostly touched on issues relating to journalism, press freedom and freedom of expression in the region.] Did you feel you were pushing the envelope with your column?

Duffy: I was one of only two people that would address some of these issues, issues of self-censorship and issues of weak media laws. The other person was an Emirati professor at U.A.E. and he’s a great guy, and I really kind of followed his lead a lot just sort of seeing how he wrote and how he presented things, and what kind of subjects he talked about. He was more political, so I felt like there was a niche for a discussion for media laws and media ethics and that wasn’t being filled by anyone else and that’s why I wrote what I wrote. Did I know that was pushing boundaries? Yes, certainly, but did I think I was within the confines of what the rules were? Yes, I thought I was! Many people have told me that they were shocked, really. Yes, I was pushing boundaries, but I was doing it in a way that was responsible and academic and took into account the cultural conditions. I thought I was operating in the realm of what an academic could get away with. Clearly I was wrong.

IPI: You were in Abu Dhabi throughout the Arab uprisings. From what you saw, did that change the media climate in U.A.E., or its policies toward the media?

Duffy: Well, that’s a good question. First off, the media in the U.A.E. covered the Arab Spring pretty well – it wasn’t like they were pretending that it wasn’t happening all around them. Although I will tell you one of my studies was that I compared Arabic language coverage to English language coverage in the Abu Dhabi newspapers, and it was notably different. The Arabic coverage was less focused on what was happening in the Arab Spring than the English coverage.

I think what it changed the most was that it brought social media to the forefront – Twitter really exploded the two years I was there – and everybody really saw the power of social media, including the security forces of the U.A.E. So I really think if I was to say, here’s what’s happening, the security forces at the U.A.E. are very concerned about security and they are very concerned about stability, and they see this instability in the region, and every action they are taking is to increase the stability of the U.A.E., which certainly is their job as members of the security forces.

So what was the impact of the Arab Spring? If anything, it caused the government to respond in a very repressive, restrictive way regarding what kind of speech is allowed in the U.A.E. and right now its just such a different environment even than two years ago when I got here– people are far less willing to speak out about what they think, particularly about anything the government is doing related to security. In fact the effect was that it made the government far more repressive and restrictive related to freedom of expression.

IPI: Are social media websites popular in U.A.E., and is their use changed where the “red lines” lie?

Duffy: I think they tried, and then they started arresting people for their speech on Twitter –and people are arrested and are charged with insulting the ruler, or calling for a change in government, or calling for overthrowing the government, these kind of charges, and they’re being brought against people who are tweeting. Certainly the government is making it very clear that just because its social media and not a newspaper doesn’t mean that you can say anything you want to. Last year five people were jailed for seven or eight months for postings on an online forum. That sort of happened before Twitter, and then Twitter came around and, basically, a lot more people were using Twitter, and over the summer more than 50 Emiratis have been arrested in the U.A.E, mostly for things they’ve said on Twitter.

And of course very little of that has been reported in the local media – how long they’re going to be in jail, when the court dates are, or what they’re being charged with – very little transparency in the press because they know this is not something we’re supposed to pay attention to.

IPI: You’ve written that journalists in U.A.E. deserve greater protections, and that some outdated laws should be reformed. In general, what are some of the laws or policies are in most urgent need of reform?

Duffy: I mean, look, I can say this all I want but, given their recent actions, the government has no interest whatsoever in reforming media law, although the Federal National Council, which is this deliberative body, they have talked about the need to do this to a certain extent – but sort of very quietly. And this body, the Federal National Council, I think they’re actually interested in other areas of the law, and not necessarily free speech areas. But look, like all the media laws of basically the Middle East, what the law concentrates on is here are all the things that journalists can’t do. And what it doesn’t concentrate on is, here are all the freedoms journalists have to do things that journalists should be doing. So the media law just fundamentally needs to be rewritten to say, first of all, that journalists provide a benefit to society […]. [Editor’s note: A few seconds of the recording were not entirely clear at this point, so IPI emailed Duffy a request for clarification. His written reply was: “The current media laws in the Arab world focus on what journalists can’t do. For instance, they say things like “Journalists may not report on issues that could damage the national image or economy.” Obviously, that creates a huge infringement on a journalist’s ability to do their job. And who gets to decide which report was damaging? The laws must be rewritten to remove the prohibitions and expressly support the traditional role of journalism as a benefit to society.”]

And if there’s a time where someone feels they’ve been libelled, then there would be a defence for libel and truth would be a defence for libel because right now in the media law, truth is not even a defence for libel – so you could report on somebody and it could be 100 percent accurate that this person is corrupt, that they accepted a bribe, and all they have to do is say, Well, you injured my character, and the journalist could still lose the case. So it’s pretty hard to practice good journalism in that environment.

IPI: Do you regret your experience teaching journalism and media law in U.A.E.?

Duffy: Well no, not at all. I’m a believer that any type of progress takes time, over the years, and I feel like I’ve played my part in the development of free expression in United Arab Emirates, and I’m proud for what I’ve done and I’m proud of many of my students who responded so positively to my message and I know many of them are going to lead different lives as a result of my efforts. So I really have no regrets at all and if I had everything to do over again I’d do the same thing.

I’ve had an incredible outpouring of support from former students, from other communications professionals, journalists, other academics and other people who just followed me on Twitter and appreciated my commentary – all of these people have been very positive and appreciative of what I did, and many Emiratis have been apologetic about how the situation was handled. So I feel an intense connection to the people in United Arab Emirates and I’ll always remember them fondly.