Movie Script Jordan: “The Jordanian Press and Publications Law and its Implication”

by Priscilla Castro, Yasmine Ayoud, Zulaikha Afzali, Doaa Nasser, Ethar Al-Azem, September 2017

There are restrictions to register at the JPA. First, you have be a practicing journalist and work full time at a broadcast or print news outlet. Also, you can’t work for any foreign media, but to a local one. The Jordan Media Monitor says that only around 1,000 journalists are registered in the whole country.

Some journalists feel limited to exercise their profession and are excluded from many important events. The journalist Dana Jibreel says she misses many coverages because she could not register at the association.

Interview with Dana Jibreel, journalist working unregistered for more than 7 years

Media professionals face a series of challenges in Jordan. One of them is the Jordan Press and Publications Law, which bind the journalist to the obligation to register at the Jordan press association, in order to be recognized as a journalist.

Interview with Dr. Sakher Khasawneh, lawyer in the area

In August 2012, the Jordanian parliament passed an amendment to the law, requiring all websites publishing news material to register with the government and to appoint editors-in-chief that are members of the JPA. The obligation to register brings also other issues to those who fail at following the law. The media expert, Basim Tweissi, explains how the law affects the media in the country.

Interview with Basim Tweissi, media expert

Interview with Dana Jibreel, journalist working unregistered for more than 7 years