US embassy cable - 05AMMAN3399

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003399 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 
TAGS: KPAO, PHUM, ECON, ECPS, KMPI, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STIFLED (BUT EXPANDING) MEDIA SECTOR 
 
Classified By: CDA DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B)(D) 
 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Jordan,s media sector has seen rapid expansion 
recently, driven by government measures to open the 
broadcast sector to private ownership and a booming 
advertising market.  Private radio has begun broadcasting 
in Jordan for the first time, while plans are underway for 
Jordan,s first private television broadcasts.  Print media 
is also booming, with new daily newspapers and glossy 
magazines riding the ad revenue wave.  Content, 
however, remains stifled.  A 50 percent premium on the cost 
of a radio license to broadcast news has discouraged 
anything but pure music formats to date, and a recent survey 
of journalists by a government-appointed press 
council indicates widespread dissatisfaction with government 
intimidation and meddling in media issues.  The new 
Badran government will have to demonstrate progress in the 
field of press freedoms if it is to demonstrate 
a real commitment to reform.  End Summary. 
 
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Radio Booms, Absent the News 
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2. (SBU) Jordan,s media landscape has undergone rapid 
expansion recently as a result of both government and 
business-driven trends.  The first is implementation of a 
2002 law to open Jordan,s radio and television sectors for 
the first time to private broadcasts.  After a lengthy period 
during which a new Audio-Visual Commission (AVC) was created 
and its bylaws drafted and approved by the Cabinet, the 
country has seen (or rather, heard) half a dozen new radio 
ventures licensed and on air.  To date, new broadcasts have 
only appeared in the capital Amman and have been limited to 
music-only formats.  One reason for this is that a license to 
broadcast news is priced by the new AVC at 50 percent higher 
than a license for "entertainment" broadcasts.  The head of 
the AVC has defended this policy by arguing that news is more 
popular, so ad revenues can be expected to be higher, but the 
effect has been to maintain so far the government,s monopoly 
on domestic radio news broadcasts.  (Note:  the GOJ does 
license foreign news broadcasters such as Radio Sawa, BBC and 
Radio Montecarlo. End Note.) 
 
3. (SBU) The current state of affairs may be tested soon, 
however, as "Ammannet", a popular on-line radio station 
focusing on local affairs was granted an FM radio license in 
early 2005 after a long delay.  Ammanet is a non-profit media 
venture targeting and staffed by young Jordanians and was 
founded with financial support from the Open Society 
Institute and the European Community.  Ammannet,s license 
application languished for months at the AVC while other 
licenses (some filed subsequent to theirs) were promptly 
approved, reportedly due to a stalemate within the Cabinet 
wherein the AVC Director lobbied against issuance while 
prominent Cabinet reformists -- reportedly Spokesperson Asma 
Khader and Deputy Prime Minister Muasher among them -- argued 
persuasively in favor.  Like other new licensees, Ammannet 
received approval for an "entertainment" license, which 
Ammannet,s founder Daoud Kuttab told IO would be interpreted 
"loosely" by the station, enabling it to produce social and 
cultural programming that impacts local issues.   Kuttab also 
told IO he had been advised not to seek a pure "news" 
license, as the GOJ may not have been inclined to approval. 
He speculated that licensing authorities are not likely 
worried about the activities of a mainstream NGO such as his, 
but rather the precedent that could thereafter be exploited 
by other potential applicants, namely the Muslim Brotherhood 
which already operates a highly successful weekly newspaper 
in Jordan. 
 
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Television, Too 
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4.  (SBU) Perhaps more important is the GOJ,s recent 
decision to license private television broadcasts.  Media 
mogul Mohammad Alayyan, publisher of Arabic daily Al Ghad 
(launched in 2004 riding the same ongoing ad revenue boom) 
applied for and received a license from the AVC, then 
purchased the rights to broadcast over one of the 
government,s terrestrial channels for a reported 2 million 
Jordanian Dinars (USD 2.8 million).  He has brought in set 
designers and newsroom consultants with prior experience at 
the UK,s Independent Television News (ITN) and Dubai,s Al 
Arabiya and plans a high-production value station that will 
produce local news and compete with Jordan Television for a 
local audience, and internationally via satellite.  Alayyan 
told IO he believes Jordan,s television advertising market 
has been left almost completely undeveloped by Jordan TV and 
has strong profit potential given the current rapid growth in 
advertising revenue.  Alayyan is close to the palace (he was 
the only journalist appointed to the Palace-formed committee 
preparing a new "National Agenda") and is said to be 
operating with the support of the King, long rumored to be 
dissatisfied with the performance of JTV as it has steadily 
lost viewers to Al Jazeera and other outlets that do not 
represent his own thinking. 
 
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Ad Wars Driving the Boom 
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5. (U) Driving this new activity is dramatic growth in 
advertising revenue.  Total "media spend" (print, radio, 
television, outdoor) increased 25 percent from 2003 to 2004, 
according to the Jordan office of international market 
research firm IPSOS, and has continued this upward trajectory 
into 2005.  Much of the increase has come from economic 
sectors recently liberalized as a result of government 
reforms, notably the telecommunications and banking sectors. 
Telecom and related industry advertising accounted for $17 
million of media spend in 2004, while banking accounted for 
$11 million.  The next highest sector was automobile 
manufacturers and dealers at $4 million.  Soft drink 
manufacturers, once the kings of the local ad market, 
according to analysts, came in at just $3 million in spend 
that has remained steady for many years.  The GOJ opened the 
mobile phone market to competition in the late 1990,s, and 
last year gave up its monopoly on fixed line services, 
decisions that have led to fierce competition among telecom 
companies.  Similarly, in its decision over the past year and 
a half to license several new foreign retail-oriented banks 
as a means to encourage improved service and business 
activity, the GOJ touched off an ad war among banks fighting 
for retail and business customers.  These facts bear out the 
analysis of many in Jordan who say that GOJ decisions to 
reform and deregulate the economy are driving multiple 
changes through the culture and society.  Among other 
manifestations of the boom are a slew of high society glossy 
magazines (many in English) built on ads for luxury goods, 
travel destinatinos, fashion photographs and haute cuisine 
recipes aimed at a growing and consumer driven elite 
audience. 
 
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What about Content? 
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6. (C) While the business side of media seems to be taking 
hold in Jordan, these developments have not until now led to 
a dramatic change in content.  Restrictive laws remain on the 
books that prevent criticism of the King and Royal family, 
the army or security services, or reporting that is "harmful" 
to Jordan,s relations with other countries.  The security 
services are said to be heavily infiltrated into most media 
organizations and to intimidate journalists and editors into 
avoiding discussion of sensitive topics, most dealing with 
domestic issues.  Al Ghad, an independent Arabic daily 
established in 2004 has featured some groundbreaking 
reporting on controversial subjects, for instance a series of 
articles on radical and Salafist Islamist movements in 
Jordan, but continues to face pressure from security services 
according to a number of journalists who work there.  The 
paper was forced in late 2004 to stop reporting information 
it uncovered detailing abuse within Jordan,s prison system, 
for example.  A report released recently by the 
government-appointed Higher Media Council showed that many 
reporters and editors complain of undue government 
interference in their work, citing threats and summoning by 
the security services.   GOJ officials have cited release of 
the report as evidence the government is prepared to 
acknowledge the current poor situation and is determined to 
improve it.  Encouraging greater access to information and 
media freedom was cited specifically in the King,s recent 
letter of designation to Prime Minister Adnan Badran.  Al 
Ghad's Alayyan told Charge the King advised him simply to 
ignore security services' requests -- and if need be, inform 
him directly of any persistent pressure. 
 
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Comment 
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7.  (C) The ongoing media expansion in Jordan is a positive 
sign, though it remains too early to tell if the result will 
be added content and a press that begins to contribute more 
meaningfully to Jordanian society.  As it is, the press 
remains stifled by a security apparatus that continues to 
view media openness as a threat or at least with great 
suspicion, an attitude developed over decades where the media 
was used as a propaganda tool by rival governments and 
political movements.  Given that the recent expansion is due 
largely to GOJ decisions to open the media sector to new, 
independent ventures, it would appear there is either 
disagreement or a good deal of ambivalence within the GOJ as 
to how free and independent the media ought to become.  At 
the very least, the current developments are creating the 
basis for financially-independent media, itself a significant 
step that could make a positive contribution to Jordan,s 
reform process. 
HALE