Poor 7Days. They could have gone for the 'Pammy Backs Sammy' headline except it was rival Gulf News wot coined the Sammy the Shark name...
(Pammy is, according to 7Days, to lend her name to an eco-resort in Abu Dhabi and will return to the UAE later this year. Whoopee.)
Now don't get me wrong. I'm firmly of the belief that PR-disaster Sammy should be allowed to slip into the wild and out of the acquarium. The whole episode has been an awfulness from the get-go and IMHO should have been dealt with quickly, quietly and with dignity long before it ever attracted the attention of international animal rights groups.
But haven't we seen enough wild commentary from people acting on limited insight, knowledge, facts and experience recently?
From Germaine 'bus tour' Greer through the unfortunate Margaret Atwood who withdrew her support for the EAIFL based on initial (and one-sided) media reports to the savage shrieks of international opprobium heaped upon Dubai by the blogging, Twittering 'DIE DUBAI' brigade, particularly over the Peer affair, we've been getting quite a lot of this 'I've never been there but I've heard all about it' stuff.
BTW - the latest in a long line of uninformed guff and total tosh from international commentators that haven't even bothered to visit the UAE before slagging it off comes to us courtesy of '3,000 cars at Dubai airport' newspaper The Washington Post, which has come a long way from Deep Throat and all that. Take a look at this excellent example of the genre.
At least PETA activist Chrissie Hynde came here and said her piece...
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9 comments:
Nice riposte by someone called "mcnoodles" though. Anyone we know?
Not guilty. Always go by the 'real name'!!! :)
Alexander,
What goes round comes round. The often unsubstantiated slagging off is an appropriate response to the unsubstantiated hyped-up marketing campaign which Dubai has inflicted on the world in recent years.
I call it the 'Curse of the modern media age'.
Interesting post here....
What interests me though is that this story made the front page of 7 Days. I am still trying hard to figure out the positioning of 7 Days.
And then again, what is PA's qualifications on the subject?
Dubai has in recieved in recent times an undue share of bad press. There have been some hiccups (like in other places) and some of the coverage has been too exagerated.
first off, I didn't realize that Pammy was the voice of reason on any...umm thing I guess. Sorry Pams. Secondly, I think a lot of us are being taken aback by how quickly events in Dubai are making it into mass international media and the amount of attention heaped on to its every move. Is this a PR problem needing a long term solution or is Dubai soon to be be replaced by the next big thing?
Indeed Nicks, (PR) Karma's back to bite the rear end! :)
Where IS this bitterness coming from??? I really don't get it. This tone of gloating at Dubai is such a mystery to me. Almost reminiscent of some of the sentiment on the Arab 'street' after 9/11...
Erm, it's because Dubai is the epitome of largesse, the prime example of consumption regardless, the festering sore that is now eating itself, all wrapped up with slavery, racism and a nasty totalitarian monarchy whose members were murdering their rivals not less than 50 years ago.
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