Amman – In cooperation with the Forum of Federations – Canada, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) organized a symposia for a group of female members of the House of Representatives on "Best Practices in Dealing with Media Outlets”.
The two-day seminar, which was held at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dead Sea, aimed at empowering women in leadership roles and at strengthening their capacity in order to fulfill their potential in society and perform their leadership duties to the best of their ability.
During the opening, JMI Dean, Dr. Basim Tweissi, said that the Parliament should support the professional media to ensure that the influential force is not monopolized by a certain party, and to achieve more justice for women. Tweissi also pointed to the sensitive relation between the Parliament and the media; as democracy in a society generally leads to a more professional media, which contributes to lessen the inappropriate impression which often falls unfairly on the parliament.
For her part, the Director for Empowering Women for Leadership Roles Project in Jordan, Sawsan Tawil, said that the importance of this seminar comes from the importance of media outlets, social media platforms and from the society’s high demand for both – as the project aims to enable female Members of the Parliament to efficiently and effectively deal with the different media outlets.
Member of the Parliament, Haya Al Shibli, said that the seminar targeted improving the leadership skills and the ability to deal with the media by reviewing former professional interviews and by highlighting the mistakes committed in dealing with these outlets and in trying to avoid engaging with them, specifically when it is relevant to social media.
Dr. Alia Abu Helil, a Member of the Parliament, stated that the importance of empowering women in various fields, especially in the parliament, will help them in concluding the assigned duties. She added that the seminar focused on media outlets; especially within social media websites, and on trying to change some of the negative perceptions about the Parliament’s performance.
The seminar was part of the activities of JMI, implemented in cooperation with the Forum of Federations. Two more courses on gender and governance issues are scheduled to take place within the same project and will be targeting junior journalists with experience in writing reports.