Amman – Dr. Ziad al-Rifai, the dean of the Jordan Media Institute and the editor-in-chief of Akeed media credibility monitor, has called upon citizens to think critically about the content of media before they publish in order to avoid contributing to the spread of rumors.
On Friday during the Jordanian television program “Yis’id Sabahak,” al-Rifai maintained that the spread of rumors deepens the crisis, highlighting the importance of thinking critically about information as a means to control and mitigate the crisis’s impact.
Al-Rifai confirmed that the crisis surrounding coronavirus has persuaded the Jordan Media Institute to expand the scope of their media and information education initiative.
This initiative, which began over three years ago, was adopted by the government, with JMI as its implementer. The institute also continues to work through Akeed, the media credibility monitor which monitors the spread of misinformation and rumors in order to address ethical practices in Jordanian media.
Al-Rifai highlighted that of the different types of rumors, the most dangerous are the ones intended to incite confusion but are mistaken as factual. Therefore, he held that everyone must be critical about news content and take precautions, like “counting up to ten,” before sharing information.
Al-Rifai explained that it is human nature to be interested in stories, adding that with new forms of communication where people act as both recipients and distributors of news, it becomes difficult to regulate the large amounts of information and news being transmitted. In this regard, he emphasized the importance of media education and raising society’s awareness of media consumption, whereby media plays an important role in crisis management.
Al-Rifai reflected that society has been leaning into official sources for information, especially during times of crisis, yet the risk of spreading misinformation and rumors is still present, noting that this risk can be alleviated by preserving the transparency, credibility, and abundance of information from credible sources.