Al-Sharq Investment Projects

ictQATAR is encouraging people in Qatar and the Arab world to take to the blog-waves. ictQATAR is hosting Mudawanat: All About Blogging, on Saturday, December 12, 2009, from 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Sharq Village & Spa. The event will feature international and regional blogging experts, as well as interactive workshops.

"Blogging is a tremendous way for people to share their thoughts and engage in society, whether they want to talk about sports, women's rights, business trends or technology," said Howaida Nadim, ictQATAR's Communications Director. "Through Mudawanat we are hoping to energize a new generation of bloggers and show why blogs are an incredibly effective way to communicate - for individuals, businesses, governments and not-for-profit organizations alike."

Is death imminent for the Doha Center for Media Freedom's motto and mission? From Al-Sharq via the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingto...):

The man whose name has been tied for years to press freedom and the defense of journalists worldwide from his Paris perch, then transplanted to Doha to start a similar gig, has become the bête noire of a leading Qatari paper that accused him of promoting "immorality" and insulting Qataris.

"It's been a year since the center opened, and six months since it became operational, at phenomenal cost, and it was hoped it would provide added value to the local landscape, but it hasn't, and its limelight-seeking director has limited himself to fiery statements," blasted the editor in chief of the daily Al Sharq on Sunday.

The editor was referring to Robert Menard, who set up the Doha Centre for Media Freedom , with blessings from Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and under the patronage of the country's first lady, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned. Editor Jaber Al Harmi also slammed Menard for not being a team player, a trait he alleged the Frenchman carried over from the time he founded and headed Reporters Sans Frontiers, or Reporters Without Borders.

"Menard not only got rid of Qataris from the organization, but repeatedly insulted the state of Qatar; most recently by lambasting our brothers in Dubai who tried to limit the toxic effects of obscene websites, notably through YouTube in the United Arab Emirates," Al Harmi said. He added that Menard's excoriation of the Dubai police chief -- charged with maintaining the Emirates' moral standards - meant the former wanted the latter to allow websites that insulted Islam and deities and promoted blasphemy in the name of press freedom...

read the rest of the article on the Huffington Post:

Do you think this is simply a case of a bad match between the director of the DCMF and TPTB in Qatar?

Or if the DCMF is an oxymoron to begin with and an idea that could never work here?