Open Letter To The Editor Of The Guardian – You Owe Dubai An Apology
A day has passed, and the dust will soon settle, but the impact of the Ellie Holman story on its readers will not.
Over the course of a weekend, the reputation of the UAE was yet again dragged through the mud by global media, with headlines such as;
‘Woman arrested with daughter in Dubai over drinking wine’ dominating news rooms.
Arrested for drinking a glass of wine? Come on…
UK tabloids are the worst
The Evening Standard, the Mirror, the Daily Mail,The Sun and even The Guardian ran with the misleading headline and an inaccurate story at best.
Leading with ‘an arrest over a glass of wine’, some publications referenced a visa issue, but it came secondary to the glass of wine, an afterthought, not worthy of highlighting.
These publications leapt on the opportunity to slander the UAE, and while you may expect it from some tabloids – anyone who’s seen The Guardian’s reporting of this story will agree it has missed the mark entirely.
You would think The Guardian would know better
The Guardian is one of the most respected publications in the UK, valued by its readers for consistent objective reporting.
But its reporting of this story has been shocking, it’s disheartening to see such one-sided reporting from a publication we respect so much.
So far The Guardian has run two stories, each including wild claims such as;
‘She was arrested on 13 July having drunk one glass of wine on her eight-hour Emirates flight to Dubai’ all fanned by ‘Detained in Dubai’ a UK based firm who are heavily reimbursed for bringing UAE bashing stories to UK media. Detained in Dubai told The Guardian Ellie ‘and her young daughter were initially denied access to a toilet, water and food while being held in a cell for three days’.
I ask The Guardian; at what point will you include the official statement released by UAE authorities in the wake of the story?
Not to reference an official statement from UAE authorities at any point is beyond.
The Guardian published a Detained in Dubai statement stating Dubai decided not to pursue the charges they brought against her ‘for consuming the complimentary glass of wine’
This is not accurate.
A Detained in Dubai representative said: “We are very happy for Dr Holman that the government of Dubai decided not to pursue the charges they brought against her for consuming the complimentary glass of wine provided by their own government-owned airline.”
What? A statement from UAE authorities clearly states “A legal claim was issued against Ms. Holman with charges of profanity and photographing a government official at the border crossing, a restricted area.”
The statement also referenced Ms Holman’s expired passport, a point which The Guardian failed to mention.
Statement by the Attorney General of Dubai, regarding the case involving a Swedish national with her daughter at Dubai International Airporthttps://t.co/huW2uvxTof
— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) August 11, 2018
The only silver-lining in this story is the reaction of readers coming together to call out the shoddy journalism
Consider these are the comments left on The Guardian’s Facebook post. These readers have not yet been informed of the full story, and yet they’re calling out The Guardian for questionable reporting…
