US embassy cable - 03AMMAN6912

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006912 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR STATE FOR DAS CHENEY, NEA/PD MACINNES, 
BOURGEOIS, IIP/T/SV CARMEN APONTE AND SCOT TERRENCE; 
NEA/ARN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, SCUL, OEXC, OIIP, JO 
SUBJECT: Media Training Workshop combines Iraqi, 
Palestinian, and Jordanian journalists 
 
1.  Summary:  In support of the MEPI goal of 
encouraging a professional and independent media, PA 
Amman, in cooperation with PA Jerusalem and Baghdad 
organized a three-day workshop (October 6-8) on 
"Relations between Journalists and Media Officials." 
Boosting PA Amman's ongoing media professionalization 
goals, the program strengthened interviewing, research 
and other media skills among Iraqi, Palestinian and 
Jordanian journalists. It built linkages between PA and 
the young journalists and raised their awareness of the 
need to avoid polemics and strive to give their 
audience an objective picture.  The Iraqis especially 
complained of the skewed picture of their country's 
reconstruction as presented by Al-Jazira and other 
regional media intent on accenting the chaos and 
violence while ignoring the real progress that has been 
made. Twenty mid-level journalists (5 Iraqis, 6 
Palestinians, and 9 Jordanians) took part, representing 
a wide range of dailies, weekly newspapers, television, 
radio and internet-based media outlets. End Summary. 
 
2. Description on Activity:  Drew Sullivan, who took 
time from training journalists in the Balkans to direct 
this workshop, and Nidal Mansour, Chief Editor of an 
independent weekly and director of the Center for 
Defending and Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ), conducted 
a 3-day workshop organized by PA Amman in cooperation 
with PA Jerusalem and Baghdad.  Twenty Jordanian, 
Palestinian, and Iraqi mid-career journalists 
representing print, TV, radio and internet media 
outlets took part.  The title of the workshop was "The 
Relationship Between Journalists and Media Officials", 
but topics covered also included international 
standards of fairness and accuracy, the responsibility 
of journalists to tell the truth or to protect the 
community, as well as the use of the Internet as a 
research tool.  The workshop included a session with a 
former Jordanian Minister of Information who was able 
to give the government perspective, as well as 
practical exercises, where a Jordanian parliamentary 
deputy gave a mock press conference and participants 
were assessed on the strength of their performance at 
the conference and the stories that they wrote about 
it. 
 
3.   Date: October 6-8, Fiscal Year: 2003, quarter: 4. 
 
4.   Justification and objectives:  The Jordanian media 
suffer from a lack of professional development 
opportunities, among other difficulties.  Very few 
working journalists in Jordan have had formal training 
of any kind (e.g., a formal journalism curriculum in 
school), and media organizations are not generous 
regarding training opportunities for employees. 
Consequently, Jordanian journalists often lack what are 
viewed as basic reporting skills, hindering their 
ability to play a more positive role in this developing 
society.  This state of affairs proved applicable to 
Palestinian and Iraqi media outlets as well.  The 
quarterly series of media training workshops begun by 
PA Amman in FY 2000 has attempted to address some of 
these issues.  In this program, the journalists spoke 
of difficulty in distinguishing between their duty to 
their readers to report the whole truth, and their duty 
to the "community," (which could at times be very 
narrowly defined) to protect it from revelations that 
might undermine order.  They also lacked the techniques 
that would enable them to gain maximum benefit from 
press conferences or other forms of media availability. 
 
5.   MPP objective and audience reached:  Promotion of 
democracy and freedom of expression by enhancing the 
professional skills of junior and mid-career 
journalists in the three countries. 
 
6.   Result/impact:  Through group exercises and open 
discussion, workshop leaders Sullivan and Mansour 
engaged the participants in theory (international 
standards of accuracy and fairness), awareness building 
(the need for background research, and the possibility 
of subject-focused feature type reporting as an 
alternative to event-led reporting), as well as 
practical skill-building (mock interview with present 
parliamentary deputy).  In the practical exercise, they 
were assessed on their ability to report on the 
interview that they had conducted, with emphasis on the 
need to avoid editorializing or pursuing a 
prior agenda. 
 
7.   Material developed by post:  Post provided 
participants with one article recommended by Mr. 
Sullivan, on "loosening lips," meaning techniques of 
extracting information from reticent officials. 
 
8.   Non USG source of in-country funding/in-kind 
support: None 
 
9.   Quality of U.S. support and IIP offices involved: 
We received excellent support from Pamela Mills and 
Nabeel Khoury, and extend a special thanks to Jennifer 
Bochner for her excellent work and unflagging energy in 
helping post put together this ongoing and valuable 
series.  GNEHM