April 16, 2008
The Mendacious Haatuf News, And it’s Amen Corner Are Proving to be a Mortal Threat to The Nascent Independent Media in Somaliland.
The Urban dictionary defines amen corner as “a group of sycophants within an organization that can be automatically counted on to agree with an idea if they think the boss may be leaning in favor of it.” This fits the bill of Haatuf’s chorus of blind followers who sing together in unison every time Haatuf comes up with a new hatchet job disguised as the latest journalistic scoop in Somaliland.
Haatuf takes upon itself the task of deliberately defaming Somaliland public officials with its hash unwarranted destructive criticism based on innuendos and unsubstantiated rumors. Disinformation and propaganda whether coming from the Somaliland government or from the free wheeling take no prisoner newspaper wanabes like Haatuf should not be tolerated let alone imitated by people who ought to know better.
The problem with Haatuf’s amen corner is this, if the source of your information is unreliable as that of Haatuf any opinion based on this flawed reporting will also be incorrect at best or hopelessly biased at worst. Apparently Haatuf and company are not interested in real news, they are only interested in mudslinging, scandal mongering, sensationalizing trivial matters and making mountains out of mole hills.
Haatuf news which has a history of presenting popular conspiracy theories in Khat parlors as investigative reporting really does a disservice to the development of independent media in Somaliland. Investigative reporting which is even hard for established newspapers with seasoned reporters well versed in the tricks of the trade and who has the technical skills and the deep pockets to finance time consuming investigations shouldn’t even be dreamed about by the likes of Haatuf which is little more than a hassle by a broke and embittered editor (Yussuf Gabobe) looking for a venue to make him relevent.
Haatuf’s small limited resources might be well spent if they concentrate on doing straight reporting and then slowly add investigative reporting as it matures and builds a reputation and a true following among the Somaliland public. This way they could fill the void that now exists in Somaliland journalism while doing a tremendous service for the public. The techniques of investigative journalism include among other things “a lot of scrutiny of details, fact-finding, and physical effort.
An investigative journalist must have an analytical and incisive mind with strong self-motivation to carry on when all doors are closed, when facts are being covered up or falsified and so on.” This type of reporting is characterized by its commitment to public service. The muckrakers of investigative reporting are not in it for the money, fame or the politics of gotcha, they are primarily motivated by a commitment to public service.
Anybody who believes Haatuf News follows this model must either be smoking something or share Haatuf’s narrower agenda of destabilizing the current Somaliland government at any cost and carry water for the opposition parties particularly Kulmiye. Newspapers can legitimately be anti-government and still be respectable but those papers drop any pretense of objectivity and independence.
Without objective independent media, the democratic project in Somaliland will not be realized; it will always be a makeshift state unable to live up to its fullest potential.
Taking their cue from the standard bearer (Haatuf News), the shock-jocks of Haatuf’s amen corner universally spout scripted talking points fed to Haatuf by opposition party strategists for the purposes of creating a coherent unified message designed to undercut the legitimacy of the Somaliland government.
It is easy to spot the repetitious gross over simplifications of complex issues that are common to the writings of Haatuf’s amen corner; they all have the characteristics common to corporate form letters, only the names of their putative writers are different, the content is by and large the same.
In a now all too familiar circular bitching Haatuf News, Somaliland.org, Horyal Radio and an assortment of other self proclaimed internet pundits are all engaged in a fierce race to the bottom, competition is now keen on who can come up with the most outrageous story or commentary. What they forget is in a race to the bottom nobody wins, everyone comes out a loser.
Haatuf which prides itself to be a cut above the pack, usually takes the lead and comes up with some outrageous story about some alleged malfeasance by a Somaliland government official. Not to be outdone members of Haatuf’s amen corner then jump headlong into the fray, the resulting feeding frenzy then takes a life of its own. This will go on and on until Haatuf changes the subject by introducing yet another outrage by another hapless official.
The constant search to find wrong doing by the Somaliland government by these groups produces a downward spiral of scandal mongering producing little valuable information while at same time poisoning the atmosphere and the much needed debate about the future of the country.
This marry-go-round will continue into the indefinite future until Haatuf comes to its senses, mends its erroneous approach to news gathering and engages in responsible journalism, but I wouldn’t hold my breath for this to happen.
As for Haatuf’s amen corner, I am afraid they don’t have the capacity to think for themselves.
