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Media in Qatar is uncensored and free, unlike any other country in the Middle East. One of the first things that His Highness Sh. Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani did when he came to power in 1995 was to close down The Ministry of Information, effectively abolishing all forms of censorship. Establishing "Al-Jazeera" was soon to follow, earning Qatar worldwide fame, and marking for the first time in the history of the Arab world, free and open media. The launch of the English version, on the 17th of november 2006, has enhanced its visibility even more in the world market. Qatar also has English and Arabic TV and FM radio stations. The English QTV and QBS Radio are not very popular amongst expatriates, mainly because of the wide availability of Cable and satellite TV offerings in the market, and FM stations from the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Other media in Qatar include 3 Arabic and 3 English daily newspapers, and a growing number of Arabic and English magazines. One thing often said about these is that although there is no official pressure, Qatari media practice the form of self censorship, avoiding criticism of any kind within Qatar, be it from the Government or private company projects. While this is true to a certain extent, it has much more to do with two distinctive factors than any form of pressure from the above. Firstly, Arabic culture and society is much more indirect and polite than the western one, and direct form of criticism is seen to be 'impolite'. The second reason is simple economics: Qatar is a very small market, and any publication must rely heavily on advertising income to survive. In such a market, criticising anyone openly might gain you a wider audience, but at the same time could close your advertising revenue. A great example of this is again Al Jazeera. Although it has incredibly wide reach within the Arab world and is proclaimed to be the fifth most famous brand-name in the world, the channel is yet to break even, as the large advertising agencies based in the countries who find themselves offended by Al Jazeera coverage largely boycott it. List of the local magazines and dailies:
Arabic
| Al Raya | 446 6555 | | Al Watan | 465 2244 | | Al Sharq | 455 7777 |
English
| Gulf Times | 435 0478 | | The Peninsula | 455 7857 | | The Qatar Tribune | 442 2077 |
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