Gulf Media Monitor NewsArabia Friday Newspaper celebrates second anniversary
Sharly Benchamin Editor in Charge Arabia Friday Newspaper speaks to V.M.Sathish about his one and half decades of journalism experience in Kuwait, Dubai and India.
DUBAI -September 14, 2004 Arabiayile Sultan, the first Friday Malayalam Newspaper started with 20 glossy colour pages, has already crossed 106 issues and raised some serious issues affecting the Non 'Resident Keralite community in the UAE. Press Center and Art LLC which publishes the paper is a leading distributor of newspapers and magazines in the UAE. This business that helped the group to establish an effective newspaper distribution network throughout the UAE.
Initially the group started a magazine called Arabiayile Sultan and later on started the Friday Newspaper. While the magazine focused on various expatriate related issues and conducted some serious surveys the newspaper became a Friday community newspaper. Sharly Benchamin, who joined the group just six months ago, speaks to KM about the first Friday magazine, which he said filled a vacuum for reporting Keralite community news in Dubai. Benchamin is just back from Kerala after a short personal visit during which he managed to do an exclusive interview with Oommen Chandy, the new state chief minister.
"Even though there are many publications from the UAE, they hardly devote one or two pages for the Indian expatriates. While some newspapers devote four or five pages just to publish the photographs of a night club in Dubai, Keralite community news is confined to a single column item somewhere. We devote the entire 20 pages for covering Keralite community affairs in the UAE. We also cover community activities and encourage expatriate writers and contributors. Even though Keralites form the majority of readers for the English newspapers, their buying power is not properly tapped by leading newspapers. Not only the media, but the Indian diplomats also failed to the buying power of Keralite community in the UAE, Sharly said. .
There are also many businessmen, decision makers and executives from the Kerala community but the community strength is not properly presented in the media, he added.
"While the leading English dailies spend three to four pages every day to cover small night club activities with colorful photographs, a programme attended by thousands of Malayalis will get just a two column report, Sharli says. This media bias is despite the fact that majority of English newspaper buyers are Keralites working in the UAE.
Leading Malayalam newspapers printed and distributed from India did not match the quality standards in the UAE advertisement market. The printing and layout quality of Malayalam newspapers distributed in the UAE and other Gulf countries are not good enough to attract advertisers, Sharly said, rationlising the reason for printing a glossy newspaper. "Initially our circulation was highly focused and once the distribution figures shot up we have switched over to a new style and layout without compromising the quality. Dubai market is highly demanding and we have started with a big bang," he added.
Working class people with less purchasing power have no time or money to subscribe to daily newspapers. Our editorial policy is to summarise main news items related to new rules, regulations and community news on a weekly basis and hit the stands on Fridays when people have some time to read. The Friday Newspaper concept has worked well in Dubai and now advertisers started approaching us.
Special Campaigns
Simultaneously Arabia Weekly has been actively involved in various campaigns to highlight Non Resident Keralite issues like high airfare to Kerala and proper representation for overseas Indians. Many campaigns for Gulf Malayalis started from Arabia office, he added. "We have been instrumental in bringing together 300 odd associations under on banner -United Coordination Council - to campaign for airline boycott in retaliation of high airfare. We kept two faxes to get peoples response and received more than 60000 responses. In addition all associatiosn canvassed about 1,000 faxes. Arabia owner Sajjid Hussain was instrumental in bringing together various NRK associations that resulted in talks about introducing budget airlines to Kerala. Other media organizations also took up the issue, Sharly added. More (scroll up)
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"Currently we are running a campaign to introduce people's representative for overseas Indians in their parliaments on the basis of proportional representation. Urdu Express, another newspaper published from the same group is campaign for similar representation to Pakistani expatriates in the UAE. Now the campaign has the blessing of Pakistan ambassador in the UAE - Urdu Express readership includes North Indians and Pakistanis. During the recent Onam season, Arabia focused its festival coverage on many labour camps in the UAE, which are neglected by the mainstream media. Almost all labour camps and small informal regional associations have their own Onam programmes. "We encourage small informal associations which represent very close network of people from a particular region or community. They can do something for the people from their own locality," Benchamin added. "Some problems of people from a particular area can be solved more effectively by such associations. These associations can be equated with grass root level associations which can preserve their own culture and traditions.
Sharly Benjamin..Editor in Charge Arabiaile Sultan Friday Magazine
Arabia lead stories are normally related to NRI problems like taxation on interest income, airfare or local rules. "We have more pages devoted to local events and on special occasions and festivals the paper carries special items. Our current focus is to cover all the official and unofficial Malayali associations in the UAE. The weekly newspaper has also some sections for light and serious reading. There is a reaction page which gives people a chance to air their views on various issues.
As a number of Malayalam publications like Deepika and Malayala Manorama are preparing the groundwork to start Dubai editions, Arabia is getting ready for a fierce competition. "Competition is good as healthy competition among professional media organizations brings out the best. Even professional journalists will be alert to maintain quality. Entry of new papers will sharpen our quality consciousness. Whatever is happening around, Arabia will continue to remain a UAE Malayali paper," he added..
Editors Profile:
Sharly Benjamin, current editor in charge of Arabia has worked with the Kuwait Times which brings out a daily two page Malayalam section with Kuwait Malayali community news. Kuwait Times, one of the two leading English dailies in Kuwait, has been bringing out this Malayalam section for the last fifteen years, with a short break during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. "The Malayalam section editorial focus has been the Keralite community news from Kuwait and important news from Kerala.
A science graduate from Anchal St. Johson collge, he went to Kuwait in 1981 to work as a secretary. Even though he was a secretary, writing was his inborn talent. In Kuwait he used to write in the Malayalam section of Kuwait Times. He was also active in the socio cultural activities of the Keralite community and bagged some prizes from KALA. (Kuwait Art Lovers Association). When Sudhakaran, a senior subeditor of Kuwiat Times joined a bank, Benjamin joined Kuwait Times as a full time journalist. For a long time, he has worked with K.P.Mohan, currently Asianet Managing Editor. Kuwait Times Malayalam section revived a trend started by Malaysian Malayali Newspaper which was published with the help of freedom fighters and prominent writers. In Kuwait Benjamin was sumltaneously studying and practicising journalism.
"I used to work in the day time and study in the night. In this way, I have obtained a Post Graduate Diploma from the Public Relations Society. It was a good experience to translate textbook knowledge in the daily news desk work. In the 1980s, Kuwait followed pre-censorship rules and an officer from the Emiri Diwan office used to come at 9 PM. We used to type the main headlines in English and brief him about each story. After he signed the copy, the paper went to the press." In English newspaper also the same censorship rule was applied. Now the situation has improved and Kuwait has a vibrant media sector with seven daily newspapers are issued in Kuwait: Arabic Newspapers include Al-Rai Al-Aam (Public Opinion), Al-Seyassah (Politics), Al-Qabas (The Torch), Al-Watan (The Native Land) and Al-Anbaa (The News). Two English dailies are Arab Times and Kuwait Times Even though Kuwait Times started with two pages of Malayalam News, now it publishes 16 special pages for the expatriate community - eight in Malayalam and eight in Urdu.
Kuwait Invasion of 1990s, TV Paper closed down
"When I was working in Kuwait Times, I used to write in Mangalam daily with a pen name S.B.Koyipuram. A few days before the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, I send an article in a closed envelope suggesting that Kuwait may be invaded soon. On the day of Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait, the official KUNA (Kuwait News Agency) reported that Sheikh Saad Abdullah Al Sabah, Kuwait Foreign Minister will return from Saudi Arabia after meeting Tariq Aziz, the then Iraqi foreign minister and that Iraq-Kuwait talks would continue. "At 10.30 PM the newspaper went to the press with the KUNA lead story but by 5.30 AM news came that Kuwait was invaded by Iraq," Benjamin recollects those tense days. "I received a call from Mangalam editor at 8 AM and I gave him an oral report about the internal situation in Kuwait. Whatever information I could gather from local sources was passed on to him. Those days there was no mobile phone also." he added.
"All strategic locations including the newspaper and television offices were occupied by Iraqi soldiers. "Those who went to work did not return home. There was total panic in Kuwait," he added. "People were buying goods in bulk quantities. My daughter Haritha was only three months old. Now she is a 9th standard student in Dubai. Mangalam editor called me back by 2.30 PM and within half an hour all international lines were disconnected. The invading army also destroyed the telecom infrastructure, says Benjamin who happened to be one of the few fortunate journalists who could give some information to the outside world about the invasion and its immediate repercussions within Kuwait.
"Kuwait Times and other newspapers were closed down. All the Government offices and TV stations were also closed down. There was no activity within the country. Only hospitals worked partially and some people died without getting medical help. There was large scale looting of shops and houses by Iraqi citizens who came in jeeps and vehicles with the support of Iraqi soldiers." he added. "Even the Indian community relief camp was looted," he recollects. That time Palestinians in Kuwait were also helping the invading army," he added.
"Somehow we managed to escape from Kuwait and I joined Mangalam news desk. For two and half months we were leading a miserable life as international phone connection was out of order and water connection also went off. For the invading army, visiting card of a journalist was not important. I have worked in the relief camp to give out passes to people through the Indian embassy," he added. "One day when the army inspected my vehicle, I had to hide my camera behind the backseat. I used those rare pictures with a series entitled Kuwait Diary, which ran for two weeks in Mangalam Daily." During the current Iraq war, Benjamin started another series on Kuwair War.
After joining Mangalam newsdesk in Kottayam with a permission to write, I really enjoyed the freedom of writing. One story about the ecological degration in Alappuzha bagged him the Shivaram Award in 1992-93. "I used to write both in English and Malayalam. One thrilling story was about the crew members of an abandoned ship who were living without proper food and shelter for two and half months. I went to the port and entered the ship to see their plight. Fortunately, the story was cleared and after it was published some action was taken by the government. The Shivaram Award came when he was back in Kuwait and his wife had to accept it on his behalf.
After the Kuwait war, Benjamin returned to Kuwait Times and worked there for four more years. Later he came to Dubai and worked for a British Public Relations company." As earlier, I used to be an occasional writer in Arabia and when the former editor left, I joined as a full time editor of Arabia," he added. His wife is a teacher and the only daughter Haritha is a student of United Indian school. "Both my father and mother were teachers of Karuvalloor AMM high school. Sister Shyni Jacob Benjamin is an award winning TV journalist with India Vision. She has worked with Asianet and got the Kerala state award for HE, a documentary on homosexuals in Kerala. KM editor and viewers wishes Arabia Newspapers all the best in their expansion plans. -(KM NEWS BUREAU UAE)
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