by Ahmed Raghe Hassan
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Being an ardent reader of Hiiraan Online and occasional contributor, I was stunned and dismayed to read Abdalla A. Hirad`s recent article ” the Asmara meeting on Somalia,” dated September 9. Indisputably the best website owned and edited by Somali jouralists: Hiiraan Online has bungled this time by posting such a garbage at the deteriment of its ethical standing!
While admittedly, Hiiraan Online is commended for its endeavors to enhance freedom of the press and public opinion, good journalism and its inherent moral codes were lamentably compromised by posting an article so offensive and repugnant as this one. By allowing such vulgarism to appear on Hiiraan, our most prestigious web, the editorial board has infuriated many devoted readers including myself.
This is not to criticise the writer´s opinion or assess his garbled and confused sentences, as we should always accommodate and respect the ideas of those who see things in a different way; but rather the language used in almost every sentence of the article. It is peculiar and creepy not to censor such deliberate insults to respectable Somali academics, religious leaders and politicians striving to restore the lost dignity and sovereignity of somalia.
Needless to say that, Hirad has every right to criticise and blame the Asmara conference participants, defend the Ethiopian occupation of Somalia and praise president Abdullahi Yusuf as a patriot, if he thinks he can sell such preposterous propaganda to the Somali people. However, he should do so within the limits of polite acceptable language used by civilized journalistic society. Hiiraan is the show-window of all Somali websites afterall.
If such crudity and rudeness has escaped the scrutiny of Hiiraan, then Somali journalism has a long way to go! The journalistic merits, the moral values and decency of each and every article should have been weighed before posting. If I were the editor in chief of Hiiraan, I would have apologised to my readers and withdrew the distasteful article from the highlight immediately. To keep such vulgarity in the highlight of the most frequented website is tantamount to offend its readers and spoil the image of the web. Thank you for removing it!
Ahmed Raghe Hassan
E-mai: [email protected]