Media Elections Journal November /2013 Edition& Number 2 Publication created in the framework of the UNESCO Project ‘Enhancing Professional and Accurate Media on the Electoral Process in ’, funded by the European Union UNESCO and JMI train citizen journalists from the governorates in Jordan to cover municipal elections The Jordan provinces of Aqaba, Teiba, Madaba and Mafraq hosted during the last week of August a seminar on municipal elections involving citizen journalists from those locations. Through the activity, organized by the Jordan Media Institute in cooperation with UNESCO, nearly 70 citizen journalists received training on professional media reporting of municipal elections. (continues in page 7)

Jordanian journalists participate in a debate session on the Road Map Strategy

Media professionals, members Road Map has been built upon a from the Independent Electoral research conducted in Jordan to the Commission in Jordan and other media community, the first of its actors in the electoral process nature, to bring recommendations to took part in a lively debate about improve the exercise of journalists the conclusions of the Road Map during elections. Strategy developed in the framework of the Media and Elections Project, implemented by UNESCO and funded by the European Union. The (continues in page 9) Also in this edition… Article Interview to Opinion Citizen journalists Dr. Basim Tweissi – The role of the journalist in trained by CMN Dean of Jordan Media the coverage of elections – Radio Al Balad Institute cover the municipal elections page 3 page 5 page 8 Content

Follow Us: https://www.facebook.com/enhancing.professional.media.on.elections 3 Citizen Journalists trained through the UNESCO Project activities cover Municipal Elections

5 Interview to Dr. Basim Tweissi – Dean of Jordan Media Institute

7 Jordan Media Institute and UNESCO conduct an itinerary workshop on municipal elections in a number of governorates

8 Opinion article: What’s a reality and what’s a duty By - Abdul Kareem Whash

9 The Road Map Strategy to improve journalistic coverage of Follow Us: elections is presented in the International Day of Democracy http://www.unesco.org/new/en/amman/projects/enhancing- professional-and-accurate-media-on-the-electoral-process-in-jordan/ 11 News in brief

Editor: Rut Gomez Sobrino, Project Manager Email: r.gomez-sobrino@.org

Assistant: Shaden Abu Al Haijaa, Project Assistant Email: [email protected]

Design: 4P’s Advertising Agency

Copyright: UNESCO

This publication has been created with the funds of the European Union in the framework of the Project ‘Enhancing Professional and Accurate Media in the Electoral Process in Jordan’

2 article

Citizen Journalists trained through the UNESCO Project activities cover Municipal Elections in Jordan A group of 10 citizen journalists After this specialized training on from the Jordanian governorates coverage of municipal elections, received specialized training at the the trainees had the opportunity The trainees also premises of Community Media to broadcast live audio and video Network of Jordan on using various reports one day before the municipal covered the municipal audio-visual techniques to cover the elections that took place last 27th elections and the day recent municipal elections. These of September. The trainees also after in order to ensure participants were part of a larger covered the municipal elections and full coverage of the group of 50 citizen journalists who the day after in order to ensure full electoral process at participated at the UNESCO Media coverage of the electoral process at several voting centers and Elections Project in the last 10 several voting centers in the country. months. Participants were reporting lively in the country from a number of polls stations practicing the skills they acquired during the workshops.

Participants were reporting lively from a number of polls stations practicing the skills they acquired during the workshops

Participant in the trainings using broadcasting techniques

3 article

During the Elections Day, media As a result of this workshop in coverage started at 7 AM and addition to the live coverage, Participants have written continued until mid-night, and participants have written 12 12 articles which were focused on important issues such articles which were published on as child labor, women participation AmmanNet’s Website and 12 video published on AmmanNet’s as candidates and voters as well as reports were uploaded on Youtube Website and 12 video elections’ violations. Some of these and re-published on the Website and reports reports tackled concerns of not on Facebook. only Jordanians but also some non- Jordanians who demanded that they have a right to vote in Municipal Trainees by Community Media Network cover Municipal Elections Elections as in other Arab countries. in

Some of the reports tackled concerns related to the right to vote in Municipal Elections as in other Arab countries

4 interview

Dr. Basim Tweissi – Dean of Jordan Media Institute “We’ve to analyze how to institutionalize freedom of media and access to information and develop media accountability and responsibility”

QUESTION: As the Head of a The second challenge has been major media training institution the stumble of political reform in the country, how could you in Jordan: this did not serve the value the capacities and skills of development of the profession and Jordanian media? capacity building of journalists because they are from the same environment -political and A- Journalists in Jordan have cultural-. We notice the dramatic stridden in developing their effect of legal constraints on the professional skills and this can capacity building of journalists and be seen clearly if we follow the playing their role as a watchdog history of professional journalism on government. For example, we in Jordan. But this does not mean witnessed the insufficiencies in the that Jordanian journalists have had access to information law and how enough of training and capacity they affected developing the skills development; However if we Q - What are the challenges you in Investigative Journalism. compare them to their peers in envision in the process to empower Arab countries they would be of media to cover specific issues such the best. There are some challenges as elections? that encountered journalists during A- The challenges facing the the last two decades that halted the The department and capacity building of specialized development and capacity building faculties of media and journalism are categorized into of journalists in Jordan. communication generally three domains. The first one is the First, the degradation of the suffer from inability to level of professionalism and quality educational system for Journalism of journalism. As chances are and media in Jordan: although it stay put with all the rapid developments and updating greater to create specialized media has not started until 1982 – date reporting, the development of the of the establishment of the first of technologies and new media schemes used journalism industry and providing Journalism and Communication models of media and journalism department at Yarmouk University- productions will definitely make it has accomplished a lot until the room for more specialization and 1990’s. Since then, the degradation competition. happened dramatically. The Finally, the regional political department and faculties of media circumstances are playing a very and communication generally relevant role, instead of being a suffer from inability to stay put fertile environment for journalists The regional political with all the rapid developments to develop their skills. In Jordan circumstances are playing and updating of technologies these raised major challenges for a very relevant role, and new media schemes used. In the local media which lead to a addition they generally focused on instead of being a fertile more conservative stance of the the theory rather than the practical environment for journalists regional events and issues; and this side of Journalism. to develop their skills eventually had its toll on capacity building of Journalism in Jordan.

5 interview

The second one is more specialized which offers a unique experience training opportunities for the on a regional level; focusing on journalists. I refer here to more both practical and theoretical in training on specialized elections addition to continuously updating The changes in the coverage training in addition to on journalism industry worldwide. region exposed other important topics such as JMI offers as well training programs illegal political money, elections free-of-charge in Jordan to raise the crisis facing forgery, local democracies, and capacities of journalists, as well as the professionalism more training for journalists in having regular training programs of media, which regions and governorates. that target usually journalists proves the need Developing the media coverage and students of journalism on a to re-consider the of elections in Jordan needs a national level, driven by our belief media and journalism code of ethics or a declaration in the role of media on pluralistic of principles and being able to societies and democracy. curricula in the Arab differentiate between ownership world and administration, and on the other hand editorial and journalistic Q- In the current momentum of work. This was clearly noticed tension and change, what do you think about the role that media can during the media coverage of the follow-up, and assessment. Most play? last elections of Parliament. importantly we have to analyze how to institutionalize on all levels A- I believe that the Arab media the freedom of media and access We witnessed was surprised of the Arab Spring to information and develop media the insufficiencies in the and the uprisings that shook the accountability and responsibility. access region since 2011, but we cannot to information law deny that media played a crucial and clear role in paving the way to and how they affected the revolutions in the region. developing the skills in On the other hand; this stage Investigative Journalism resembled one of the historic ordeals that faced Arab media, and unfortunately this stage showed the Arab media is in crisis, and that it Q- How JMI can contribute to this has failed in dealing with this new process? margin of freedom. We noticed how many media outlets switched A- Jordan Media Institute JMI to being a device for disseminating serves its role in supporting hate speech and advocacy, and we sustainable media and journalism. noticed that many journalists took JMI sees Jordanian media both a political stance rather than being private and state-owned are still unbiased. in phase of developing and need The important issue here is that more effort and support. Based on the changes in the region exposed that, JMI’s philosophy builds on clearly the volume of crisis facing raising the culture of quality and the professionalism of media, professionalism of media and its which proves the need in the outputs. long-run to re-consider the media and journalism curricula in the The most important program Arab world, and the necessity JMI runs is the one-year master’s to revise the training programs program ‘Journalism & New media’ that lack the quality, content,

6 opinion

Jordan Media Institute and UNESCO conduct an itinerary workshop on municipal elections in a number of governorates in Jordan

The workshops conducted in the governorates of Jordan offered the participants to be introduced to professional and accurate reporting techniques through the inclusion of interviews and fact checking. Trainers from JMI discussed with the participants the legal forces governing the municipal elections and all the players involved in this process including civil society organizations working on monitoring the elections. Additionally, the workshop addressed the role of women organizations engaged on monitoring elections and the role of women in this process. The sessions focused particularly on how to deal with the flow of information and the sources of information.

The aim from the discussions and hands-on exercises involved was workshops: “Media is not only for Facebook groups and pages to to prepare citizen journalists and journalists as citizen journalism report news from their respective equip them with needed skills and is becoming more and more local communities after elections. expertise to professionally and important; on the other hand the accurately create reports about the rural and remote areas in Jordan Municipal Elections with the help lack all this exposure to media of cameras and audio recorders and even to training on media. In which were distributed to them on our activity, we had two female the last day. participants from Qweira during The aim was to prepare our workshop in Aqaba which is citizen journalists and Before setting them out to cover a very small village near Aqaba equip them with needed Municipal Elections; and as part and they told us that their local skills and expertise of the training program; citizen community is suffering from journalists were involved in a serious issues including chemical to professionally and session dedicated to media ethics to and medical waste. This issue accurately create reports ensure the objectivity and fairness will only be solved with a good about the Municipal of their reporting. municipal council”. Elections Ghaith Al-Shokairi, Project As one of the objectives of this Manager at JMI expressed series of workshops is continuity; his enthusiasm on the solid participants from Teiba and participation of females in the Mafraq have created respective

7 opinion

What’s a reality and what’s a duty By - Abdul Kareem Whash

Before getting into evaluating the different parties involved the media coverage of the latest in the process. In the case of Parliamentary elections in Jordan Jordan there are general electoral one must emphasize a fact felt lists, independent candidates, The second role is the by everyone that involved in the independent candidates affiliated observation of events process. This is the clear absence with lists, public and governmental of a body that was supposed to bodies among others. Moreover, within the election detect the media breaches in any journalists must be well-informed process, which requires election including the recent ones. about the violations and electoral observing the commitment Perhaps, the first and foremost crimes related to this process so to law by candidates, people responsible for this were that they would understand how voters, government's the entities that were supposed to they happen and what’s required apparatus and first of all undertake the qualification process from them as journalists to do in for the specialized journalist case they had evidence that those the Independent Election in this kind of business. In this have actually taken place. Commission case the journalists’ union whose Having explained this, it is performance has deteriorated in the important to summarize the three field of training and the newly born roles of the journalist involved in Independent Election Commission covering the elections: commitment to law by candidates, that has violated its role by issuing The first one is to be impartial, a voters, government’s apparatus and a code of conduct for the members concept that means to be balanced first of all the Independent Election of the media. in displaying the views and Commission, and enforcing it on opinions of candidates without any everyone without exceptions. bias or favoritism. This requires the The third role is to be the voice of journalist to undergo an intensive those the voiceless, and to include training on the implementation them in the journalistic pieces by interviewing them and sharing A successful a journalist is and embodiment of ethics in the journalist’s work. their opinions about the election supposed to participate in The second role is the observation of program. a program that introduces events within the election process, These roles sum up international the nature of election which requires observing the standards agreed in manuals laws, the instructions and toolkits addressing election coverage in democratic countries. regarding voting and In the case of Jordan, unfortunately running for the elections even the Independent Election Commission, that tried to leave a clear footprint in the election, The first (role of the focused only on the first role in journalist) is to be In general terms, a successful a its media code of conduct and journalist is supposed to participate impartial, a concept that neglected the second and the in a program that introduces means to be balanced in third roles. These are some of the the nature of election laws, the displaying the views and features of what must be included instructions regarding voting opinions of candidates by any initiative aiming at building capacities of journalists to cover and running for the elections, the without any bias or tasks of bodies such as the new the elections, so organizations favoritism Independent Election Commission would have to take those into as well as information about consideration.

8 article

The Road Map Strategy to improve Jordanian journalistic coverage of elections is presented in the International Day of Democracy

Elections are a key component of any democratic system as they facilitate the participation of the civil society in the political game and media is vital to channel that interaction. The event organized by UNESCO Amman and Albany Associates on the International Day of Democracy initiated with this assumption and emphasized the need to enhance professionalism of the media in the coverage of elections.

“Elections are a major tool to promote democratic participation and the role of media is essential not only to inform the public about the electoral process and the programs of the different political parties but also to report that elections run smoothly and that the voices of the different communities are heard. The Project ‘Enhancing Professional and Accurate Media on the Electoral Process’ funded by the European Union, tries to facilitate the exercise of the journalists during elections and this

Road Map is a working tool that with stakeholders which were could contribute to this process” involved in the electoral process, said Rut Gomez Sobrino, Project such as the former spokesperson Manager in charge of the initiative. of the Independent Electoral Commission, Mr Hussein Bani The need to increase awareness Hani, Mr Daoud Kuttab, Director about the electoral law, the General of Radio Al Balad and Mr possibilities to develop a code of Yasar Durra, Head of Training at conduct and of ethics and continuing Jordan Media Institute. Journalists capacity building efforts of the who joined the trainings organized journalists were some of the topics by UNESCO in the last months raised during the discussions. The were also present in the debate. event included a lively debate

Doug Griffin, Albany Associates: “The Road Map Strategy sets out key recommendations, including increased consultation with journalists in developing the rules that govern their work during elections

9 article

“It is important to regulate not only public media but private media as both affect voters behavior; during the elections we saw that some candidates who are also media owners used their outlets in marketing campaigns. There should be a code of ethics to regulate that,” commented Mr Daoud Kuttab, from Radio Al Balad, partner at the UNESCO Media and Elections Project.

“The Road Map Strategy that we media during campaign periods are building through this Project, to come. The Road Map Strategy based upon the research conducted sets out key recommendations, in the past few months with the including increased consultation media community in Jordan, will with journalists in developing be a working tool not only to the rules that govern their work assess how they feel about their during elections,” clarified Mr own efforts in covering recent Douglas Griffin, Director of elections but also to develop Albany Associates, partner at the future projects that will lead to UNESCO Media and Elections improved professionalism of Project. A relevant part of the event was dedicated to the presentation of the Road Map, its findings and strategies proposed. This tool, which will be available in the coming weeks, has also an online version to facilitate its use.

Awareness about the electoral law, (the development) of a code of conduct and of ethics and continuing capacity building were some of the topics of the discussions

10 news

The Arab Media Outlook 2009-2013 is launched

The publication, the second of its media industry in the Arab world kind, has been recently released and elsewhere. Within a short under the title ‘Inspiring Local period of one year since the release Content’. The report aims at of the second edition of the Arab bringing out an assessment of the Media Outlook, the contours of media scene in the region and also the world economy underwent at help building a knowledge base transformations that shocked even on the media for the benefit of the most pessimistic observers. The industry stakeholders, media could not have remained unaffected by such a cataclysmic As stated by Mona Al Marri, turn of events” Chairperson at the Dubai Press Club, at the Foreword of the The publication is downloadable Publication “The past one year at the following link: https://www. and a half has been a period of fas.org/irp/eprint/arabmedia.pdf unprecedented changes for the

The Arab Free Press Forum meets in

The World Association of rights advocates from across the Newspapers and News Publishers Arab world to exchange ideas, (WAN-IFRA) will held the 6th experiences and best practice at edition of its Arab Free Press every level of the news industry. Forum, set to take place from 24 to Topics such as the future of Arab 26 November 2013 in the Tunisian media from both editorial and capital, Tunis. The Forum brings business perspectives will integrate media professionals and human the agenda.

Public Service Journalism for Arabic-speaking journalists The International Center for civil society actors from Egypt, Journalists (ICFJ) has conducted Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, a six-week online course in West Bank/Gaza and Yemen. The Arabic on using digital tools in six-week online course guided public service journalism and 60 participants from the above investigative techniques. The mentioned countries to work on online course was the first part of ideas for multimedia public service a program that brought together journalism projects. journalists, citizen journalists and

11 news

IFJ and CLD publish a handbook for Arab journalists

The International Federation of The handbook covers key media Journalists (IFJ) and the Centre law issues, including media for Law and Democracy (CLD) diversity, the need for bodies have collaborated to launch which regulate the media to the Handbook on International be independent of political Standards and Media Law in the and commercial interference, Arab World, aimed at improving regulatory standards in different the conditions for journalists and media sectors - including media freedom in the region. journalists, the print and broadcast media and public broadcasting - the The guide sets out a set of right to information, and criminal international standards on press and civil restrictions on what may freedom and then examines how be published or broadcast. governments in the Arab world are upholding or failing to match these standards.

Anna Lindh Foundation calls for Arab journalists exchange

The Anna Lindh Foundation has The initiative is launched in Mediterranean Journalist Award, launched the new project ‘Reporters the framework of the Dawrak- coming from Arab Mediterranean Across Borders’ that seeks the Citizens for Dialogue programme countries. The Arab Journalist participation of young journalists and intends to grant mobility Tour will allow the participants from the Arab region who wish to opportunities to Arab journalists to convey the realities of the take part in an exchange aiming at to visit other media institutions transformations witnessed by promoting intercultural reporting or civil society organisations in a their countries and contribute in in the Euromed Region. This is an fellow Euromed or Arab country, improving the general perceptions opportunity for Arab Journalists with a focus on South-South about socio-political changes in to move across other Arab and exchanges. the Arab countries. Euromed countries in order to cover intercultural stories and learn This project responds also to the from other journalistic practices in growing importance of media the region for one or two weeks in shaping perceptions about with the expenses covered by the the current events in the Arab organization. Mediterranean countries.

Applications will be accepted in Another important pillar of the Arabic, English and French until Reporters Across Borders initiate the 30th of November 2013. More will include an Arab Journalists information on how to apply can Tour which will promote the be found here. exposure of young winners of the

See more at: http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=34389&id_type=1&lang_id=450

12