Freedom of the press “on time” at the World Cup

One of the most popular videos from the World Cup is not about the match. Apply on every social platform and relaunch with every newscast, it’s almost impossible not to be watched Danish journalist for TV2, Rasmus Tantouldt, was approached by security personnel during a live broadcast, and told to stop the broadcast.. It all ended well, and we didn’t talk about it anymore, and to the happiness of the organizers, the patina of normality that characterizes all contacts from Doha has returned. Even a lot.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote that normality is itself an abnormality. The most observant will have already noticed that the background images coming from Qatar are very similar at the same angle. Not coincidentally, a cue is applied – a euphemism – as simple as it is thorny. In the famous video that went viral, Tantholdt showed off his press pass allowing him to film. Well, yes, to shoot a TV movie in Qatar you need a permit. While this may be understandable, the journalists’ presence in Doha is a story that goes back years, including investigations and online documents, leaving many skeptical about the “temporary” freedom granted by the Qatari government. The European Parliament’s decision arrived in the last few hours, but the discrepancies have been known for some time.

Since the establishment of the “Higher Committee for Delivery and Legacy”, established by the Government of Qatar to plan and prepare world Cup. Press credits included. A committee Dedicated Sounds bad, knows Qatar’s ambassador to the United States, Sheikh Mishaal bin Hamad Al Thani, who still believes the tournament will help change misconceptions about his country. In fact, it seems to have achieved the opposite effect, that is, to make everyone understand which one is the correct one. Only desktop-looking shots are the grammar blocks on the official website where, under the heading “Privacy for shooting permit application” (omitted in the English version but still carelessly referenced in Arabic…) it is indicated for its appeal. Three beautiful locations, for heaven’s sake, nothing to say about Doha’s Corniche, the lush West Bay or the futuristic district of Towers. DC’s splendor is worth the live stream while everything else is not. Meanwhile, this index still exists with a long list, announced at unexpected times by Reporters Without Borders, that bans showing anything not found in travel agency catalogs, from private property of residents to government buildings, from university to offices. the public . Interviews yes, but only in “protected” areas: you can use the microphone on the lawn of McDonald’s, but not too far away. “Qatar is not against press censorship,” al-Thani wrote in an article on CNN’s website, but “too often their programs have been used to present one-sided and factually inaccurate arguments.”

How is all this? The start was present in another bureaucratic document signed by FIFA, known before the competition: What will happen was not written there, but between the lines of the “preliminary competition” pdf in the hands of the Qataris.

We weren’t expecting to reinterpret Piero Ciampreti’s famous broadcast for Italia 90 when he moved with the team that generated the success of “Prove tecnica di Transmission” to the neighboring United Arab Emirates for about ten days, mixing images taken on loan from local television with pseudo-feminist musings. For Wanna Marchi on the status of women in the Emirates. In short, if no one fancys seeing disparate fashion shows in the desert, camel races or Chiambretti dressed as Lawrence of Arabia, just settle for three wallpapers more suitable for your home computer than a world championship setting.