Image:
25 Sep 2014
Amman, Sunday 21<sup>st</sup> September, 2014<br />
<br />
“Akeed”, the Jordanian Media Credibility Website implemented by the Jordan Media Institute with the support of the Democratic Empowerment Program- a King Abdullah II Fund for Development initiative, was launched in Amman today.<br />
<br />
“Akeed” aims to achieve two principal goals: supporting the right of citizens to accurate information, and helping to improve the performance of media in Jordan.<br />
<br />
The project seeks to encourage the culture of quality journalism through continuous improvement of inputs and outputs. It also seeks to encourage commitment of the media to performance monitoring tools such as “editorial guidelines” adopted by Jordan’s Press Syndicate as well as general rules for good professional practices in journalism.<br />
<br />
Dr. Omar Razzaz, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the King Abdullah II Fund for Development said: “our partnership with the Jordan Media Institute is within the context of the empowerment of democracy and the belief that the present democratic transition in the region is fertile grounds for rumors and misleading information that lack credibility and objectivity. In such circumstances, an institutional and methodical endeavor with the Jordan Media Institute will embed a culture that shuns deceptive information, and the individualism that turns personal opinions to public facts”. <br />
<br />
Dr. Razzaz emphasized the operational independence of “Akeed”, and pointed out that tools are available to the public to monitor the credibility of the media; a step that will ultimately lay the foundations for practices that support media credibility. He added that he looked forward to the contribution of journalists and media establishments to work with “Akeed” in spreading a culture of verification of facts before circulating them. Dr. Razzaz went on to clarify that the law which guarantees the right of citizens to access information has fallen short of his aspirations. He said that the law has not changed the culture of secrecy that is endemic in government departments and added: “while striving to enable citizens to participate in processes of accountability and decision making, we need to ensure the implementation of the law to engrain it as it is a principal pillar in building the democracy which we hope “Akeed” will achieve”.<br />
<br />
Dr. Basim Al Tweissi, Dean of the Jordan Media Institute reaffirmed the independence of “Akeed” and said “we want fruitful partnerships with various media establishments to maximize the effectiveness and impact of Akeed”.Dr. Tweissi went on to clarify that the work done during recent months resulted in the development of a comprehensive methodology for monitoring, follow-up and verification. He noted that this is the first fact checking endeavor in the Arabic language. The Dean added that the Jordan Media Institute has formed a team of professional journalists to manage the work of “Akeed” after intensive training in verification, investigation and professional report writing.<br />
<br />
Dr. Tweissi also said that a committee of distinguished experts known for their objectivity and professionalism will help with laying the criteria of successful performance. He also added that “Akeed” will deal with all media equally, and with absolute transparency to support its performance. He said that a number of training workshops will be held during coming weeks for anyone wishing to acquire fact verification skills through application of professional criteria; the aim being to improve the performance of journalists and editorial staff.<br />
<br />
Dr. Tweissi added that “Akeed” has already started to apply professional criteria to the daily newspapers in the context of a gradual process that will eventually include news websites as well as radio and television. He stressed that there is an ambitious plan to expand and improve the work of “Akeed”.<br />
<br />
The Editor-in-Chief of “Akeed” Omar Al Assaf indicated that “Akeed” will realize its mission through a number of specialized daily and monthly reports in addition to verification request services, the information transparency indicator, news trends, incomplete follow-up of certain news stories, inaccurate news as well as the right of reply and correction of errors published in “Akeed”. He pointed out that “Akeed” is developing a number of resources to be made available to journalists in the form of articles, studies as well as manuals for professional practices in journalism to help raise performance standards.<br />