Jordan Media Institute – Amman
The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) has launched a series of training programs to enhance the resources and capabilities of the Jordanian media in combating extremism and terrorism, with a focus on media literacy, content quality, and media performance. Over the course of an intensive, three-day intensive day program, it is training 10 journalists in the instruction of those skills, in partnership with the Hedayah International Centre of Excellence for Combating Violent Extremism.
The Institute recently concluded the first workshop in the training series, held between July 19th-21st, 2020, in which participants were introduced to instructional methods for sharing knowledge and experience in media and information literacy, as well as key concepts for a media that is professional and committed to journalistic ethics and its own societal role.
One of the participants in the training, Hiba Jawhar, said that the program entailed an in-depth review of the ideas and forms of violent hate speech, especially insofar as these change over time alongside developments in media and interaction with difficult and complex issues that contribute to the spread of extremism. She added that the program puts journalists on a path toward the adoption of a code of conduct for media professionals that is more closely aligned with the principles of objectivity, human rights, and the acceptance of others.
Through its series of trainings, the program aims to increase the ability of established Jordanian journalists, newcomers to the profession, and social media activists to confront extremism and terrorist messaging by improving the quality of press reports and media communications. This will also serve the goal of monitoring and increasing awareness about hate speech and ethics violations. In completion of the program, participants will subsequently train 150 of their colleagues in a variety of radio, television, and social media outlets and online news sites.
In that context, the journalist Suleiman Qubeilat underlined how the training had presented an opportunity to become acquainted with new methods of disseminating and verifying information. Pointing to his upcoming role as a trainer, he felt it necessary to be able to present to trainees the concepts and terms relevant to hate speech and extremism in a way that is clear and will help them identify and avoid such terms in their own media content.
JMI provides specialized trainings in Jordan and across the region, having carried out more than 330 instructional programs over the last decade for approximately 7,000 trainees. It does so on the basis of a belief in the mission of the media in serving and addressing the needs of society, as well as in the importance of the press for equitable, just development.