Jordan Times
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Gov't committed to enhancing press freedom — PM
AMMAN (Petra) — Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on
Saturday emphasised the importance of combining efforts to modernise and develop
the media in an open and a free environment.
During a meeting with members of the Higher Media Council (HMC) yesterday, the
premier underlined the country's political will to further enhance press
freedoms, in line with His Majesty King Abdullah's vision in this regard.
“The government is committed to enhancing press freedom and the freedom of
expression, as long as the media deals with issues in a responsible manner and
does not resort to seditious libel and character assassination,” Bakhit said at
the meeting, attended by HMC President Ibrahim Izzeddine, Government
Spokesperson Nasser Judeh and council members. Bakhit also stressed the need to
review several media-related issues such as the structure of different media
institutions and their mission, to ensure that Jordanian media products would
reflect the country's achievements and the public's aspirations.
The HMC president briefed the attendance on the duties the tasks of the council
and its mission with regard to promoting the performance of the media sector.
HMC members expressed their views on the local media and related legislation.
They also suggested ways to activate the media's role to effect change.
The HMC was set up in October 2001 to replace the Ministry of Information.
Later, it became a regulatory and reference body.
The HMC is trying now to upgrade the media sector in the Kingdom through
drafting media-related policies and legislation, organising workshops and
training courses, and conducting surveys and studies.
Two surveys conducted by the HMC on local press freedoms in the Kingdom showed
that journalists enjoy “relative freedom.”
Upon measuring experiences of reporters and chief editors from the beginning of
July to the end of December 2004, the survey put the level of press freedom in
the Kingdom at 49.2 per cent. According to the survey, lack of access to
information was the most prominent reason given for the rating of “relative
freedom.” It was followed by interference in journalists' jobs, formal and
informal threats to their work and livelihood, and the summoning of journalists
by the security services.