4. Jordan: Media’S Sustainability During Hard Times Basim Tweissi
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R Global Communications Global Communications Arab Media Systems EDITED BY CAROLA RICHTER AND CLAUDIA KOZMAN EDITED BY CAROLA RICHTER AND CLAUDIA KOZMAN ICHTER This volume provides a compara� ve analysis of media systems in the Arab world, AND based on criteria informed by the historical, poli� cal, social, and economic factors infl uencing a country’s media. Reaching beyond classical western media system K Arab Media Systems OZMAN Arab Media typologies, brings together contribu� ons from experts in the fi eld of media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to provide valuable insights into the heterogeneity of this region’s media systems. It focuses on trends in government stances towards media, media ownership models, technological ( innova� on, and the role of transna� onal mobility in shaping media structure and EDS Systems prac� ces. ) Each chapter in the volume traces a specifi c country’s media — from Lebanon to A Morocco — and assesses its media system in terms of historical roots, poli� cal and legal frameworks, media economy and ownership pa� erns, technology and infrastructure, and social factors (including diversity and equality in gender, age, ethnici� es, religions, and languages). This book is a welcome contribu� on to the fi eld of media studies, cons� tu� ng the only edited collec� on in recent years to provide a comprehensive and systema� c RAB overview of Arab media systems. As such, it will be of great use to students and M scholars in media, journalism and communica� on studies, as well as poli� cal scien� sts, sociologists, and anthropologists with an interest in the MENA region. EDIA As with all Open Book publica� ons, this en� re book is available to read for free on S the publisher’s website. Printed and digital edi� ons, together with supplementary YSTEMS digital material, can also be found at www.openbookpublishers.com Cover design by Anna Gatti book eebook and OA edi� ons also available www.openbookpublishers.com OBP https://www.openbookpublishers.com © 2021 Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman. Copyright of individual chapters is maintained by the chapters’ authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the text; to adapt the text and to make commercial use of the text providing attribution is made to the authors (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Attribution should include the following information: Carola Richter and Claudia Kozman (eds), Arab Media Systems. Cambridge, UK: Open Book Publishers, 2021, https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238 In order to access detailed and updated information on the license, please visit https:// doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238#copyright Further details about CC BY licenses are available at https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/ All external links were active at the time of publication unless otherwise stated and have been archived via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at https://archive.org/web Updated digital material and resources associated with this volume are available at https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238#resources Every effort has been made to identify and contact copyright holders and any omission or error will be corrected if notification is made to the publisher. This project received support from the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) that has been funded under the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) grant 01DL20003. This publication was financed in part by the open access fund for monographs and edited volumes of the Freie Universität Berlin. ISBN Paperback: 9781800640597 ISBN Hardback: 9781800640603 ISBN Digital (PDF): 9781800640610 ISBN Digital ebook (epub): 9781800640627 ISBN Digital ebook (mobi): 9781800640634 ISBN XML: 9781800640641 DOI: 10.11647/OBP.0238 Cover design by Anna Gatti based on a photo by Duangphorn Wiriya on Unsplash at https://unsplash.com/photos/KiMpFTtuuAk 4. Jordan: Media’s Sustainability during Hard Times Basim Tweissi This article will shed light on the main features of the Jordanian media system and how it relates to the political, economic, and legal systems. It focuses on the efforts to develop a sustainable media industry under difficult circumstances. For many decades, Jordan navigated the turbulent waters of the Middle East, the scene of devastating regional wars, civil wars, uprisings, and political instability, all of which undermined the efforts for political reform and the development of a healthy, robust media. Background Jordan is strategically located in a region that rarely escapes news headlines. Bordered by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Israel, it is landlocked with the exception of 26 kilometers on the Red Sea. Its 89,200 square kilometers are predominantly desert in the south and east. Its capital, Amman, is the center of political, cultural, and media activities. With limited agriculture and natural resources, it struggles economically. Jordan boasts a rich history within its borders, which were established in 1946. Islamic, Byzantine, Roman, and Nabatean monuments and archaeological sites stand witness to past civilizations that flourished there. The most critical battles of the Arab Revolt in 1916 and 1917, which ended the Turkish-Ottoman occupation of the Arab World, were fought out on its lands. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire culminated in the Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France. An outcome © Basim Tweissi, CC BY 4.0 https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0238.04 56 Arab Media Systems of the agreement was the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921 under the British Mandate. In 1946, Jordan became a constitutional monarchy called the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Following the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, the West Bank of the River Jordan, including parts of Jerusalem, was annexed, but in June 1967, after the second Arab-Israeli war, Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 1988, Jordan relinquished its sovereignty over the West Bank to the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and in 1994, the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, ending the state of war between the two countries, was signed. Over the decades, however, the flight of waves of Palestinians from violence, occupation, and economic hardship have altered the demographic structure of Jordan’s population, as well as integrating the Palestinian cause into its politics. Jordan’s geopolitical position has given it strategic and political significance as a regional player. It shouldered the responsibility of receiving waves of Arab refugees fleeing regional conflicts. In addition to the significant influx of Palestinian refugees during the wars of 1948 and 1967, thousands of Lebanese sought refuge during the mid- seventies, fleeing the civil war that had erupted in their country. The situation was further exacerbated in 1990 when Iraq occupied Kuwait, leading to the expulsion or departure of tens of thousands of Palestinian and Jordanian guest workers to their country of residence, Jordan. More waves were to follow with Iraqis escaping the hardships of the UN sanctions and the post-2003 occupation of their country. From 2011, a huge number of Syrian refugees streamed over Jordan’s northern frontiers as the civil war raged in Syria. More than 1.3 million refugees fled toJordan, of which 640,000 were registered with the UN and settled in camps (Department of Statistics, 2015). Thus, in the 55 years since independence, Jordan’s population has more than doubled to 10.6 million today. Non-Jordanians constitute 30% of the total population, of whom 15% are Syrians, and the remainder are Palestinians. Young people constitute the majority of the population, with 34% being under 16 years of age. Jordan’s economy prospered for some decades. However, since 2010, Jordan’s economy has suffered due to cost of energy, water, poor agricultural unemployment, and the burden of hosting Syrian refugees. Media have nonetheless flourished and responded to the fast-changing 4. Jordan 57 pace of events. The rapid population growth has presented new opportunities to the media. Jordan adapted to the new circumstances. In 1989, it embarked on a program of democratic reform marked by the suspension of martial law, the resumption of parliamentary life, and the formation of political parties. The democratic transformation made significant strides before regressing in the 2000s. Although parliamentary elections continued to be held regularly, they were designed in a manner that limited their power. Following the 2011 Arab uprisings, known as the Hirak Protests in Jordan, the Jordanian government once more undertook a series of reforms through the introduction of broad constitutional amendments and the establishment of an Independent Electoral Commission and Constitutional Court. Historical Developments The birth of journalism in Jordan coincided with the birth of the state more than nine decades ago, when it began to play a significant role in the construction of national institutions and the formation of a Jordanian identity, by underscoring positive achievements. Currently, the media is still undergoing a massive transformation that is proportional to the country’s slow political reform. Historically, the Jordanian media has evolved in three phases: the Emirate years from 1921 to 1946, the Kingdom years from 1946 to 1970, and the current phase, which can be divided into two periods. The first period (from 1970 to 1989) was marked by financial stability and the adoption of modern technologies. The second period began in 1989, when Jordan underwent a democratic transformation (Al-Moussa, 1998). The first Jordanian newspaper, Al-Haqq Ya’alu, was published in 1921 in the city of Ma’an. When printing was introduced in 1923, the official weekly and sometimes biweekly Al-Sharq Al-Arabi newspaper was published. In 1926, the newspaper’s name was changed to The Official Gazette of the Government of TransJordan .