Critical Response to a Code of Conduct Regulating Media and Government - Essay Example

? Critical Response to the Jordanian Governments Published of Conduct Regulating Relations between the Media and the Government In any regulation involving government’s relation with the media, the actual application of the policy matters more than the written text of the guidelines. This is specifically true with the government of Jordan who have released such guidelines though it does not have a history of genuinely upholding press freedom. If the text from the blog is to be believed, it basically stipulates the guidelines on how government and its agencies should ensure the independence of the press. If the spirit of text is to be followed, it clearly makes a demarcation between media and the government so that the media is guaranteed with a freedom of expression as stipulated in the Constitution of Jordan. It even went into details as to prohibit government in providing “the provision of financial incentives or in-kind designed to influence the journalists or the media and work on the subject of any practice inconsistent with the laws and the Charter of the press approved by the JPA”. This meant that government and its agencies are prohibited to give bribes to media in any form or kind that will influence its function as a press agency out of fear of black mail or to pursue its own popularity by influencing media through incentives. The text also circumscribed the state’s power of the purse to ensure that it does not influence media by the leverage of its ad placement. To prevent this, it directs its “departments and institutions through a direct purchase from the market” to ensure that it will not meddle with the media that would compromise its independence. Meaning, government and its agencies will buy its subscriptions from the market and not through the free subscription given by the media. The guideline also prohibits government institution from employing any entity from the media to prevent it from having a close relation with the press which might induce it to influence the press. It ensures the objectivity of the media by guaranteeing, through the guidelines, that the media as an institution is separate and apart from the government and thus independent. Again, if the spirit of these guidelines is to be strictly followed, it can be considered as revolutionary in terms of upholding press freedom in Jordan because government is distancing itself from the media to ensure its independence and objectivity that can be likened to the code of regulations that govern the press in non-Arab countries. The text might have been the original draft of the National Agenda Committee which was a response of the government to prevent any similar uprising in Jordan that happened in its neighbouring countries. It is important to note that in March 7, 2011 hundreds of Jordanian journalists emboldened by the wave of Arab uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia demanded an end to government’s curtailment of media freedom in Jordan (al-Khalidi 2011). There is a big probability that the draft was just a political move of the government to quell a possible uprising in Jordan and did not necessarily mean it. The draft was obviously not final because a month after the publication of such guidelines, Daoud Kuttab, a prominent journalist from Al Arabiya was called by the National Agenda Committee headed by Marwan Muasher in April of 2011 to consult his opinion in the government’s initiative “to design a strategic media plan” (Kuttab a 2011). Series of meetings happened after the initial meeting where a suggestion to adopt a media council and ending the mandatory membership in journalist association were adopted. “The new strategy also recommended revision of a dozen or so laws related to the media” (Kuttab a 2011). The progressive initiative to uphold media independence and freedom was however temporary as a draft of Press and Publications Law was also forced through the Cabinet in parallel to the strategic media plan. The draft of the Press and Publications Law in essence was basically to curb media’s independence and freedom again. What was more interesting was that during those strategic meetings with the National Agenda Committee, the idea of controlling the internet and electronic media also came about. Though it was recommended that self-regulation would be more effective because even if a law will be passed to restrict Jordanians on their use of the internet, it will not still be effective because such law cannot extend itself internationally because of the global nature of the electronic media. In addition, popular social media such as YouTube and Facebook are based outside of Jordan and there is no way that Jordanian law can be applied to these social media sites. Although the committee agreed to this conclusion, idea that the government is seriously contemplating of regulating media is already reflective of its attitude to control entities and agencies that may be critical to it. It is important to note that the successful revolution of Egypt and Tunisia gathered international support through the use of popular social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook (Pintak 2012). Also, this social media sites also provided the means of communication among protesters when the government restricted communication during the uprising. In a way, the Jordanian government is already doing precautionary measures to control the internet in advance just in case that the Arab uprising will spread to Jordan. This analysis is very plausible because even today, the Jordanian government has not abandoned the idea of controlling the internet even if it already agreed with the conclusion of Daoud Kuttab during their strategic media meetings. In fact, the Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Rakan Majali announced in January that the government is planning to hold a big conference involving the senators, representatives of professional associations, civil society and electronic news outlets whose main discussion will focus on drafting a mechanism on how to regulate websites (MENAFN 2012). It is also interesting to note that the government is also working on how to obtain an 80 percent discount instead of its 40 discount when in April of 2011, it clearly stated in the guidelines of the code of conduct it wrote that government’s departments and institutions will [purchase] through a direct purchase from the market”. Clearly, the April 2011 draft of the code of conduct regulating relations between the media and the government was just a political move to prevent an uprising than actually implementing an honest to goodness reform in the government’s relation with the media. This is the reason why it was stated in the beginning of this paper that more than the written text of the guidelines that regulates the relation between the government and the media, it is the practice and application of such regulation that matters more. The government’s retraction of its own code of conduct is no longer a surprise however. The Jordanian government had a longer history of curbing press freedom than upholding it (Pies and Madanat 2011). While the Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech that should be reflected in press freedom, the practice is however different as restrictive mechanisms are well in place through various government agencies that curtails freedom of the press. Direct censorship may have been removed years ago but government intervention through its intelligence services still impedes the operation of the press. “Jordan's constitution enshrines press freedom but legislation allows authorities broad powers to restrict the media” that is a legacy of martial rule and restrictive press laws that was lifted in 1989 (al-Khalidi 2011). The usual argument thrown in curtailing press freedom is that Jordan is not yet ready for it (Hazaimeh 2012). While the text of the blog can be construed as similar with the regulation of the press that pervades the non-Arab world, that is the guarantee that the media in Jordan is free from the influence of the government. Nor does it guarantee that it is free from its intervention that would enable it to be objective in its reports and editorial because in practice, it is more similar to authoritarian regimes. Such that to consider the extent whether this code can guarantee freedom of the media in Jordan is more an assurance in paper than in actual practice. Previous experience have demonstrated that once a law that governs media becomes inconvenient to the government, or it became too critical with the government and the King, the government cannot help itself but revise the guidelines to suit its interest and continue to interfere with the media operation. True, the media has a responsibility to the Jordanian society but the practice of this responsibility must not come at the price of dictating what it has to say. The media, or the press in general, has also a responsibility to report and inform and educate the public about the truth regardless how inconvenient it is. As one of the stakeholders of Jordanian society, the media must also bear in mind what is best for Jordan. But the search for what is best for Jordanian society does not come from the control and hegemony of the state but the perpetual search for truth so that the Jordanian public will not only be informed, but also enlightened on the prevailing issues of the day. Being critical to the government and even to the King does not necessarily mean sowing dissent but rather a quest to better itself; as a government, a country and a kingdom. It is never a part of the journalists mandate to destroy the society which he or she belongs for what benefit does one gain in a chaotic society? But the quest of finding the truth that does not only inform but also educates can be an inconvenient and sometimes a painful process to some sectors in society particularly the government. For truth can sometimes crystallized only after the clash of opposing ideas, resulting in a synthesis of debates that does not initially agree but can only merge after a thorough discussion of any issues. Government regulators has to bear in mind that genuine discussion that makes a society grow could never happen in government controlled environment. It must be left on its own, to find its own truth until it settle to a consensus that considered all the perspectives of the participants. Such, government must restraint itself in curtailing or controlling the press. While it may initially gain the upper hand with the absence of a critique or opposing opinion, it will later backfire because it will only breed resentment among its citizens that stunt its own growth as a society. The experiences in the neighbouring Arab countries have shown that no amount of government control can quell the volcano of resentment of its citizens. Jordan must learn from this lesson so that it will not become a victim to it. The real guarantee of freedom of the media in Jordan is not through the codified regulations of defining how the relationship should be between the government and the media. Experiences have shown that written rules and regulations can easily be broken or modified to suit ones preference. This happened in Jordan and elsewhere in the world. The real guarantee of the freedom of the media in Jordan is in the mindset of not only those who govern but also its various stakeholders. To accept that there will always be differences in opinion, that media can be critical, but that does not mean putting Jordanian society asunder. The experience of the free world is replete with disagreements with a media that could be rabid in criticizing the authorities for any wrongdoings. Yet, their government remains strong and intact. And strangely, the same elements in society who are critical to the authorities are also the ones who are vigilant to defend their government when their government is under threat. The only governments who were toppled by the people through mass action, revolution or dissent are those governments who do not allow differences to exist among its various members in society. So what can best guarantee the freedom of media in Jordan? Certainly not its code of regulation which can easily be broken or altered. But rather, when its various stakeholders, particularly the government, has adopted the mindset to agree that they will disagree. Bibliography al-Khalidi, Suleiman (March 07, 2011). Jordan media protest state meddling, urge freedom. Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/07/us-jordan-protests-media-idUSTRE72643Z20110307 [Accessed March 02, 2012] Pintak, Lawrence (2012). Reporting a revolution: the changing Arab media. http://www.arabmediasociety.com/?article=23 [Accessed March 02, 2012] Kuttab, Daoud a (June 24, 2011). Daoud Kuttab: Independent media hopes-a setback. Al Arabiya News. http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/06/24/154648.html [Accessed March 02, 2012) Kuttab, Daoud b (2010). Jordan’s Media Fails in Times of Economic Difficulties. http://www.daoudkuttab.com/?p=699[Accessed March 02, 2012] MENAFN (January 04, 2012). Jordan-Gov’t hold conference on online media regulation. Jordan Times. http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?storyid=1093469443 [Accessed March 02, 2012]. Pies, Judith and Madanat, Philip (2011). Beyond State RegulationHow Online Practices Contribute to Holding the Media Accountable in Jordan. Media Act. http://www.mediaact.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/WP4/WP4_Jordan.pdf [Accessed March 02, 2012] Hazaimeh ,Hani (February 29, 2012. Online media regulation must not harm press freedoms. http://jordantimes.com/online-media-regulation-must-not-harm-press-freedoms [Accessed March 02, 2012] Read More