JMI – Amman
On Wednesday, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) launched a project to enhance the Jordanian media’s capabilities in combating terrorism and extremism. The project aims to train more than 165 persons, to monitor and address hate speech and incitement, and to produce professional and ethical content promoting awareness.
The one-year EU-funded project is being implemented in collaboration with the international Hedayah organization which specializes in combating violent extremism. The project seeks to present effective tools to the media and those working in the field, to confront hate speech, while also developing the quality of published media content.
During an introductory session to the project and its goals, the JMI team hosted a number of project partners at the institute and presented the phases of project execution. These phases include building the capacities of journalists and social media activists for content improvement to counter hate speech, enhancing skills for monitoring abusive and unethical content, and producing educational material related to media and information literacy (MIL). This will include a training guide and a code of conduct which will be a reference to combat extremism in the media.
The dean of JMI, Dr. Ziad Rifai, explained that several media outlets have become manufacturers of exclusion and radicalism, encouraging community violence and attracting terrorist thought. He added that traditional and modern media, whether intentionally or otherwise, are presenting the content that stimulates recipients thereof to adopt predetermined hateful attitudes that threaten societal peace and coexistence. Jordan and the region generally have witnessed this issue through painful events that “affected each and every one of us,” said Rifai.
Rifai pointed out that JMI is working alongside other national actors, with programs for training, monitoring, and production of content. He stated that this complements the efforts to confront violent zealotry and terrorism while promoting a culture of tolerance and the acceptance of others. JMI seeks to involve as many entities and people as possible in the Jordanian media in its initiatives, including daily newspapers, news websites, radio stations and press agencies, recent media graduates, social media activists, and others.