Striking differences in local coverage of Jordanian protests
Daily newspapers are ignoring pro-democracy protests in Jordan, says IMS partner Sawsan Zaideh
Jordanian newspapers have turned a blind eye on massive protests in the streets of Amman, says Sawsan Zaideh, a radio host for IMS-supported media corporation AmmanNet. Thousands of protestors have gathered each Friday for the past five weeks to demand democracy, greater government transparency and an end to corruption. Though news websites and online social media have covered the weekly Friday demonstrations as headline news, the daily newspapers have relegated the story to second-page material.
“The very first demonstration was not covered in newspapers because of the government control over daily newspapers. Even the third demonstration, in which demonstrators were beaten with sticks and seven went to the hospital, the media coverage was problematic – the daily newspapers did not even cover it.”
Sidestepping the censors
She notes that news websites enjoy greater control over content and are more able to publish objective stories on the protests. The government rarely blocks these websites and has even less control over information transmitted using social media, but they do employ coercive tactics.
“Some news websites say they are blocked but I don’t believe it. The security apparatus does not block websites; they are more clever than that. Instead, they call you and ask you to withdraw the story and try to threaten and pressure you to withdraw the story.”
As host of Eye on the Media, a radio ombudsman critiquing local media and media law, she has encountered such pressure. Intelligence Service officials have threatened to close down the station if a story on the royal family or military does not meet their standards. However, her approach has been to consistently adhere to ethical and professional guidelines of journalism.
“There are ways to say things. If you stay balanced, professional, objective and do not sensationalize, they will leave you alone.”
Jordanian media scene
The media environment of Jordan has steadily diversified over the past few years and different mediums have achieved varying levels of press freedom. According to Ms. Zaideh, newspapers and local television remain controlled and often practice self-censorship. Jordanians prefer radio, news websites or the Al Jazeera or Al Arabiya regional channels for more objective news.
Ms. Zaideh sees great potential for social media to fill in coverage gaps because they can easily overcome censorship laws.
-Social media is very interesting and free because you cannot hide anything. When you follow up on Facebook, for example, the young people are all discussing political and economic reforms. What can the security apparatus censor? They cannot.
Though the government officials change, Ms. Zaideh sees the same policies for press freedom and access to information year after year.
IMS works to strengthen journalism in Jordan through our Twinning programme, a cultural peer-to-peer exchange between Danish and Arab media professionals and our Amman-based investigative journalism support network, ARIJ.
