Doha News is an online news blog started in March 2009 by two American journalists, Shabina Khatri and Omar Chatriwala. It is based in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

and provides its readers with daily reports on breaking domestic and international news stories. It gained considerable popularity in May 2012 when it became the first news outlet in Qatar to report on the Villaggio Mall fire.

Development history

In March 2009, Shabina Khatri created the Doha News account on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

. She and her husband, Omar Chatriwala, went on to launch a stand-alone website. It was the first digital news outlet established in the country. They have stated that their aim is to create a media platform in which they could engage the audience in a manner dissimilar to traditional forms of media. Doha News quickly increased in popularity due to its coverage of controversial local events not as widely reported in government-run media, with a notable instance being the May 2012 Villagio Mall fire in which 19 people were killed. It succeeded in obtaining and releasing verifiable figures and facts, such as the identities of the victims of the fire, whereas many other forms of online media reported unverified rumors. It experienced a massive increase in visitors during the event, increasing from about 10,000 visitors a day to 100,000 visitors a day. On the contrary, traditional media was criticized for its late and minimal coverage of the incident. Another sensitive story published by the website centered on the rape and prosecution of Qatari resident Marte Dalelv in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. It was not mentioned in print media, but appeared in international publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' after Doha News published a news article on the case. Similarly, after the murder of Lauren Patterson in October 2013, it was the most notable Qatari media outlet to report on the killing and some of its work was quoted in international newspapers.

Content

Social issues such as alcohol, dress codes and other cultural issues often generate the most popularity in terms of visitors and comments. Criticism has been leveled by nationals who allege that the content disproportionately focuses on the negative aspects of Qatar. A commenting policy and stricter moderation of comments was introduced after the comments section witnessed an increase in offensive remarks.

Censorship

Doha News has provided coverage on a range of controversial subjects in recent years. Although the couple have not experienced any reprisals by the government, they claim that there are obstacles to obtaining reliable information. In February 2013, the site was prevented from reporting on the court proceedings of the Villagio Mall fire. During the hearing, the presiding judge asked the court whether there were any journalists present. After Shabina Khatri and another journalist confirmed that they were media personalities, the judge told them that they had to submit a request for permission to report on the hearings. After Khatri submitted the request, the judge responded by informing her that she was required to prove that Doha News was an official media outlet.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:News, Doha Mass media in Doha Qatari news websites Internet properties established in 2009 2009 establishments in Qatar