Setting standards - Qatar’s 2022 World Cup build-up paves the way for responsible government

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These last few weeks have seen an intense news-cycle. Despite being at a critical juncture and in a crisis that could be described as a freefall, we focus squarely on matters that absolutely will not matter, or help us, in the long run to improve our situation in any way. We are seemingly tranquilized by our insatiable thirst for spectacle and scandal. I am talking about the dramatic video footage of fringe mobs deceptively portrayed as representative of mainstream Arabs. Obscene paparazzi photographs of the Royal family. Religious-like fervour over a minor upgrade to the iPhone. The US election and the catchy one-liners from the candidates, often putdowns of their opponents, that seemingly make out the foundation of the parties’ entire political platforms. It reminds me of Winston Churchill saying that ”The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter”. If he was alive today, he would have sadly realised just how profoundly accurate his insight and wisdom was when looking at the state of the world today.

When historians look back on today’s newscasts 20 years from now, they will probably find it hard to explain the world’s collective hype, and focusing on matters that were extremely trivial in a larger context. The job of the media should be to make what are important matters interesting. Not the opposite way around. One could deduce that what the West hails as freedom of speech is now no more than the packaging of cheap entertainment. The content of both are equally dictated by financial incentives that prioritise the option deemed to sucker in the biggest possible audience. Debate, analysis and independent thought have been boiled down to being either for or against irrelevant matters presented on grounds that are purely emotional, with the personalities of news anchors being the primary attraction. Touching on actual issues is conveniently avoided, if not completely ignored. Seeing how easily the public is distracted and swayed, I am beginning to doubt how highly the prized cornerstones of democracy are actually held, much less practiced anymore, in the West.

I am beginning to feel more and more that Qatar, with Al Jazeera, is leading the way with its pioneering role of unbiased news coverage. It is one of the few remaining world media outlets able to resist the temptation to view current affairs and political debate as merely one of many forms of entertainment, alongside American Idol and Keeping up with the Kardashians. 

Working for a publishing house in this region I admit to feeling that it is liberating to be granted the privilege to both express and to hold opinions openly without feeling the social pressure of self-censorship through political correctness and polarisation, which stigmatises any kind of critical thinking of the motivations of the leaders in the West. In the ongoing battle that has erupted over the recent Youtube video and paparazzi photos regarding what constitutes freedom of speech, we need to ask what the minimum standards of dignity and decency are that should reasonably be expected from both the media and society as a whole. The media being void of standards is not to the advantage of its people or society, and the advantage will fall on those societies that can set standards and dare to uphold them.

A great responsibility of a state, not least a direct measure of its competence to lead, is the ability it has to express a vision and maintain the aspiration to work towards it. While the rest of the world appears lost as to where it is going, what its plans are and what it wants, it is inspiring to be part of the exciting growth taking place in Qatar with its 2030 Vision and the 2022 World Cup to celebrate a better society.