RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
STEVE INSKEEP, host:
And I'm Steve Inskeep.
We're about to examine one measure of freedom in the Arab world. It's what the U.S. Constitution would call freedom of the press.
We begin with the rapidly growing United Arab Emirates. Economic growth there has not been matched by press freedom, as NPR's Ivan Watson reports from Dubai.
IVAN WATSON: Every day before dawn, a crew of Indian workers gathers in the warehouse in Dubai to censor the morning's newspapers. One man goes through a stack of racy British tabloids ripping out pages which advertise phone sex. Another Indian sits cross-legged on a table, covering up photos of women's bare breasts and bottoms with a large indelible marker. Amid the word machinery in the warehouse, a turbaned man named Prem Singh scans other European newspapers, looking for material that could offend the sensibilities from this wealthy Arab sheikhdom.
So what are you looking for?
Mr. PRAM SINGHS: Looking for all - whether the pictures are there - nude pictures - and then anything against these countries, especially for Dubai, and anything against Islam.
WATSON: Every foreign book, magazine or newspaper coming into the UAE needs to first be approved by the National Media Council, an agency run by Ibrahim Al-Abed.
Mr. IBRAHIM AL-ABED (Director General, National Media Council): For example, to have pornography or to have attacks on religions. And religions, I mean, not only Islamic religion - any religion - we are against that.
WATSON: Al-Abed also oversees to more than 150 TV companies from around the world that have set up offices in Dubai. They include this recent edition, MTV Arabia.
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Unidentified Woman #1: (Speaking in foreign language)
WATSON: Last fall, broadcasters in this fast-growing media hub got an ominous warning when local authorities ordered two Pakistani TV stations to stop beaming their news broadcast from Dubai into Pakistan. Critics accuse the UAE of caving into pressure from Pakistan's military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, charges Ibrahim Al-Abed denies.
Mr. AL-ABED: They were shut down, actually, because of taking part in the internal politics of Pakistan, agitating people against other people.
WATSON: On the domestic front, local broadcasters and writers face far more restrictions on what they can say and write. Local reporters say they're under pressure to avoid taboo topics like government corruption, Dubai's thriving prostitution industry and homosexuality, which is illegal here.
Last fall, a court sentenced two journalists from the UAE's Khaleej Times to a two-month jail sentence for libel after they wrote an article about a divorce. The charges were dropped after the ruler of Dubai issued a decree that it was wrong to jail journalists. That has encouraged some to push the boundaries of public debate.
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Unidentified Woman #2: Giving you the chance to air your opinion. Nightline: your voice, your say.
WATSON: James Piecowye is a blond, shaggy-haired Canadian who hosts a live talk show on an English-language radio station in Dubai.
(Soundbite of TV program)
Mr. JAMES PIECOWYE (Talk Show Host): Hello. Welcome to the program.
MALEEKA(ph): Hi. This is Maleeka.
WATSON: Piecowye's show gives callers like this woman named Maleeka a rare forum to broadcast controversial opinions.
MALEEKA: We hardly have a middle class anymore. We have the super rich who can go anywhere to get the treatments they want.
Mr. PIECOWYE: Mm-hmm.
MALEEKA: And you have the laborers who cannot.
WATSON: So far, Piecowye says he hasn't gotten in trouble.
Mr. PIECOWYE: It's like going to school, and everyone's learning - us as well as the audience - is learning by day. Okay, what - how far can we go?
Ms. MASHRAP DAUB(ph) (Talk Show Host): It is self-censorship.
WATSON: Mashrap Daub is Piecowye's co-host. This 24-year-old Indian national has lived in the UAE most of her life. Today, she said she's starting to see a new more assertive streak emerging in the local media.
Ms. DAUB: I do feel that a lot of topics we can speak about right now that were unthinkable a couple of years back.
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Mr. PIECOWYE: Same place, same time, 8-10 "Nightline in Dubai" on 103.8. My name is James Piecowye, so long for now.
WATSON: Ivan Watson, NPR News, Dubai.