The journalists at Al Wasat newspaper are facing legal action for breaching the Law 47 /2002 regarding press, printing and publishing regulations in Bahrain.
“Based on the information acquired through a thorough investigation that lasted several days, and with the help provided by the journalist, the fabricated news reports with false pictures and names were discovered and subsequently broadcast on Bahrain TV,” she said.
The editor-in-chief of Al Wasat, Dr. Mansoor Al Jamri, regretted his attendance to the show on Saturday, saying that the scheduled timing coincided with his evening work responsibilities. “The show was aired and evidence of the fabricated news was presented to the viewers. During the talk show, the presenter received a telephone call from Sultan Al Maliki, a journalist from the Saudi online portal Sabq who confirmed that a news report published by Al Wasat had been plagiarized from the portal. Al Maliki demanded an apology from Al Wasat,” she said.
“The talk show also received several telephone calls from within Bahrain and abroad which condemned the unethical practices implemented by Al Wasat.”
“In order to check the authenticity of the names mentioned in the articles, an official from Kanoo Health Centre was contacted, she stated that:
“Following a thorough review of the names of all the patients who visited the centre on March 27, 2011 and a scrutiny of all records at the reception and the pharmacy, no patients were found who matched the name of Nasser Abdali Hussain Hubail. The review of the names and records was extended to the morning, afternoon and evening shifts, but no such name was found and no-one with that name visited the centre at any time.”
The talk show also presented the correspondence from the President of the Central Informatics Organization (CIO) to the Head of the Office of the President of the Information Affairs Authority, which stated that some of the names published in the newspaper were not names of actual persons registered in Bahrain as of March 30, 2011.
Bahrain News Agency (BNA) posted Al Wasat’s violations on its website to ensure that the public can have a direct access to all evidence, site links, news reports and images.
One day after the talk show was aired; Bahrain News Agency contacted the chairman of the board of Al Wasat newspaper, Bahraini businessman Farooq Al Moayyed to inquire about the decisions of Al Wasat’s board following the broadcasting of the report on Bahrain Television.
Al Moayyad said that the editor-in-chief had admitted his responsibility and had failed to verify the reports before publishing them.
The Al Wasat board has replaced Dr Mansoor Al Jamri, the editor-in-chief, and named Obaydli Al Obaydli as the new editor in chief. The board also discharged the editor and the editor of local news.
“The Information Affairs Authority, based on the violations found, has filed a case based on Law 47/2002 on regulating press, printing and publishing. The public prosecution is currently taking the necessary legal measures,” she said.