Jordan Media Institute - Amman
On Tuesday, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) hosted an introductory meeting for representatives from more than 18 civil society organizations active in various parts of the Kingdom, in order to engage them on the National Initiative to Spread Media and Information Literacy launched on June 17. The initiative aims to integrate concepts and provide media and information literacy skills to the Jordanian education system, as well as to cultural and youth foundations, and civil society and media organizations.
This meeting comes as part of the fourth axis of the national plan, which aims to raise awareness against rumors and misinformation, combat hate speech, bullying, and stereotyping, and support and strengthen human rights and pluralism. The Norwegian Embassy in Jordan is supporting JMI in this effort under the title “Media Education to Confront Misinformation and Strengthen Rights and Freedoms in Jordan,” as JMI’s advisor Bayan al-Tal confirmed.
Community organizations in Amman, Irbid, Mafraq, Ma’an, Karak, Tafila, and Wadi Musa welcomed the opportunity to build a partnership with JMI, in order to begin implementing the axis designed for them, and to integrate these educational and informational concepts and skills within their cultural, youth, human rights, development, and creative and performing arts activities, through a media literacy guide.
For his part, the Executive Director for the Karak Creativity Club in, Hussam al-Tarawana, said that he is eager to execute a national plan of partnership with expert institutions like JMI, due to the importance of building youth capabilities, informing public opinion, and supporting skills to engage with the digital revolution that has, in his words, affected the youth’s vigilance and capacity to withstand misinformation.
Dr. Nahla al-Moumani, the facilitator of the Protection Commission at the National Center for Human Rights, stressed the importance of consolidating rights within the national plan as a foundation to empower different groups within society to exercise their right to expression and freedom of opinion through the various platforms that have come to possess an impact on decision-making. Khaled al-Qadah, a member of the Jordanian Press Association, agrees with her that the media and information literacy guide that JMI will provide to its partners strengthens the quality of content presented on social media in order to elevate the capacity for expression and to avoid intimidation from the legislation governing these outlets.
In the same context, Yazan al-Shudaifat from the Foundation for the Support of Knowledge in Mafraq governorate, indicated that societies need media literacy skills and that civil society organizations need support to assist them in providing knowledge and skills in the most appropriate manner.
Maryam al-Nusrat, a member of the Board of Directors for Bayt al-Anbat in Wadi Musa, said that her foundation aspires for the community to engage wisely with media content, and to reinforce its ability to verify the information.
JMI will coordinate with these foundations in order to support them, in addition to other projects that it will undertake in partnership with the Ministries of Education and Culture, and with the support of local and international institutions.