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24 Nov 2015
24 November 2015<br />
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Several media experts and officials gathered at the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) on Tuesday, 24 November to discuss Jordanian media ownerships.<br />
JMI Dean Basim Tweissi said Jordan’s legislation continues to support monopoly and centralization in the media whereby most outlets are concentrated in the capital Amman which in turn affects the media content and services. He explained that media owned by the public sector do not work along public service principles, but rather represent the government; while private sector media have so far failed to present successful economic models that would ensure their independence. He added that Jordan has a great opportunity to be a regional model in public service broadcasting, in addition to the fact that the Kingdom has one of the best media investment climates in the region.<br />
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The participants had opened their discussion with a report entitled “Who Owns the Media in Jordan?” by Sawsan Zaideh from the online magazine, 7iber. <br />
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Representatives of the Jordan Media Commission stressed the government’s keenness to ensure a safe environment for media investors and highlighted efforts to develop legislation and reduce cost of licenses and subscriptions to encourage the spread of media to the governorates. <br />
They outlined the number of media outlets registered in Jordan until the end of 2015. Those include 18 Jordanian satellite television stations; 23 Arab and foreign stations most of which are Iraqi and Saudi; 38 radio stations, 25 of which are private and 13 public, in addition to 172 news websites and 213 specialized websites. <br />