Over the last three years, Yemen Post has been cooperating with leading international media outlets in news coverage in Yemen.
Over the last three months, over 56 international media outlets were denied entry visas to the country, in a strategy by the government to limit what people should know about Yemen to what the government wants them to know.
The government is worried that media outlets would broadcast negative facts about Yemen. On the other hand, independent media outlets argue that they are only reporting what is happening on the ground, not caring if it is positive or negative.
For those media outlets who were given entry visas, the government censors every move they make while they are in Yemen, by forcing every television crew to accompany a representative from the Ministry of Information, whose job is to stop the visiting team from broadcasting any negative facts about Yemen. Making it worse for visiting television crews, the crew is forced to pay the governmental media representative a wage of $50 per day. In other words, teams are forced to pay a daily salary to the person who censors their access to information. They are forced to pay who is basically spying on every move they do and reports every negative reporting that takes place. Ministry of information officials also threaten to confiscate all filming the gives the country a bad image, even if what was filmed is the truth of what is really happening on the ground in Yemen.
Visiting media outlets are limited to only broadcast positive aspects of Yemen, therefore, ignoring the numerous crises the country is facing from all angles.
After all this, the government still doesn’t know why all press freedom organizations consider Yemen one of the worst places in the world for press violations. It still claims all these organizations are only lying and don’t mention the reality of what is happening in Yemen.
In short, any voice that is raised and goes against the ruling party’s strategy is considered wrong, false and lies.
My advice to the government is to search and find what the word DEMOCRACY and FREEDOM OF PRESS really mean!

ABOUT Yemen Post Publisher & Chief Editor:

Hakim Almasmari is an American journalist and Middle East expert based in Sana'a, Yemen. His work has appeared for many of the worlds top media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Washington Post, AlJazeera, Fox News, The Guardian, The National, USA Today among numerous others. He has also worked with some of the world’s top organizations. Reporting out of Yemen for nearly eight years, he is the current editor in chief for the Yemen Post. He is a university lecturer in the field of international media and also studied business and law. Considered one of the top experts on Yemen, Almasmari has closely worked with international strategic centers and think tanks helping them better understand Yemen. He is a frequent guest on many international TV outlets discussing current local and international affairs. Almasmari's ancestors are from Yemen, and was born in Detroit, Michigan, USA. His mother tongue is English and is fluent in Arabic.