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08 Mar 2017
Amman -- In a ceremony it organized today, Wednesday, marking International Women's Day, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) launched the "Khabirat Jordan" portal, in partnership with the Jordan Press Association (JPA), the Jordan News Agency (Petra), and the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV). The initiative is within the MedMedia project "Maidan," which is funded by the EU, in cooperation with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). <br />
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The initiative, which is considered a part of "Khabirat: Women Experts in the Mediterranean," is an online directory that posts the profiles of Jordanian women experts, after obtaining their approval. It also lists their achievements in various sectors and specializations for the benefit of journalists and media persons in Jordan and the Arab world. <br />
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The initiative, which welcomes any Jordanian women experts to join it in the future, seeks to increase the visibility of women as experts to draw on their opinions in the audiovisual and printed media. It also seeks to highlight the role of Jordanian women as experts on the national, regional, and international levels. It aims to do this through establishing connections between women experts, journalists and partners to change the prevailing stereotype about women in the media and public opinion.<br />
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During the launch ceremony, JMI Dean Dr. Basim Tweissi said that the Khabirat Jordan Initiative emanates from the JMI's awareness of the urgent need for increasing women representation in the media by boosting their presence as a source of information and drawing on their opinions. This will reflect positively on society and on women themselves. He indicated that previous media studies used to focus on the volume of media coverage of women affairs without paying attention to their actual presence as sources of information and communicators. <br />
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He pointed out that the presence of Jordanian women in the media is still less than what is hoped for, specifically in leadership positions, newsrooms, and producing opinion pieces. Their number in political and security affairs is still far below what is needed. He said that the JMI is committed to a policy of gender justice in all its programs, whether in capacity building, training, or postgraduate studies. The JMI observes fair standards vis-à-vis women representation. He called on all national media establishments to launch their own policies on gender justice. <br />
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Basma Nabulsi, director of development programs for women and youth sectors in the EU Mission in Jordan, said that the EU in Jordan is working on supporting gender equality, which is based on the economic empowerment and political participation of women. This is in addition to psychological and physical protection of women. She underlined the important role of the media in achieving these aims. <br />
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She added that International Women's Day provides an opportunity to start working and to support women and civil society organizations that seek to advance these efforts. She pointed out that the directory of women experts would work on this objective through women experts who can participate in dialogue and decision-making equally alongside men.<br />
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Faisal Al Shboul, director general of the Jordan News Agency (Petra), affirmed that this initiative is laudable because it builds a database of women experts who represent us and reflect a society that is full of outstanding expertise, enlightened minds, and serious voices. He stressed the need for supporting this initiative through disseminating the directory to local, Arab, and international media and taking advantage of the experiences it offers for the benefit of Arab public opinion in various domains. It is also necessary to support the needs of women experts for training on handling the media to enhance their ability to communicate a true intellectual message and influence public opinion. <br />
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Asma Khader, an activist on women affairs, delivered a speech on behalf of women experts, in which she hailed the initiative and its importance in enhancing and expanding the limited involvement of Jordanian women as experts and shapers of public opinion in the media, specifically in programs, news, and talks shows. This will achieve better gender balance. She called for completing the database of the initiative and continuously updating it to include Jordanian women experts abroad and Arab experts as well. She underlined the importance of giving room to women to shape public opinion by viewing them as citizens who have a great responsibility, like men, whether within families, society, or in the workplace. <br />
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Samar Haddadin, member of the JPA council, delivered a speech on behalf of the JPA. She underlined the importance of having a blog on style that determines the language and terms that the media must use when writing about women. These terms must not imply gender discrimination. She said that involving women in the process of media decision-making helps to expand the media vision of various issues that the media handles. This also makes it possible to listen to the views of women as experts in various fields and helps produce women-friendly language.<br />
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Hala Zureiqat, consultant for the project, said that this project is an effective contribution by the JMI. It seeks to provide a resource for local and Arab journalists and media persons, including the names and addresses of women experts in the various sectors in the Kingdom, to use it as a reference and elicit their views on various issues that are proposed for discussion. <br />
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She added that women do not have large visibility on the media scene. This applies to leading positions, working in the media, or hosting women on radio and television programs. It even applies to the issues raised in the press, particularly political programs and topics. This has led to this project, which offers successful examples of women in various domains. This will strengthen the status of women and their role in public life.<br />
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Bayan Tall, director of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in the JMI, spoke about the importance of media literacy in the creation of an enlightened and educated generation, as well as society, which respects women and diversity and renounces violence and extremism. <br />
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Sandra Zawaideh, who is in charge of the initiative project at the JMI, highlighted the future objectives of the initiative and its role in closing the gender gap through media handling of public affairs by providing a platform for easy access to women experts and achieving better gender equality in the media in Jordan. This is in addition to providing success stories of women in various fields. She referred to similar international experiences in a number of countries, such as the United States, Britain, and Canada. <br />
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She urged contacting Jordanian women experts through Khabirat Jordan Facebook, Khabirat Jordan Twitter, and Jordan.Khabirat.org. <br />
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