‘Media should be utilised to combat extremism’

AMMAN — Media can be a weapon to counter extremism or to promote it, and outlets have the responsibility to combine knowledge with experience to fight radicalism, according to a local radio station director.

“The time has come for Jordanian media channels and entities to stop spreading biased news to the public and provide them with objective reports,” Hind Khleifat, UJ radio station director, said this week at a conference marking the station’s sixth anniversary. 

“Nowadays, our youths are exposed to different media channels that only care about profit. We find our children listening to many reports and news stories that fill their minds with empty thoughts leading them nowhere in life,” Khleifat said.

“Many entities are moving forward and combating this monster [extremism] — the plague that is surrounding us in media and invading our children’s minds,” she added.

Commenting on extremism in the media, UJ President Ekhleif Tarawneh said radicalism does not emanate from culture.

“Media extremism is an act of ignorance and lack of knowledge about religion; it is also not related to culture or traditions,” he argued.

Tarawneh said media should be a means to unveil the truth of terrorism and warn the public of its dangers, adding that media outlets should focus on serving young people especially in an ever-changing world.

Also speaking at the conference, the chairman of UJ’s board of trustees, Adnan Badran, said the Arab world is currently going through a “dark cave” fraught with civil wars and conflicts that focus on the differences between individuals instead of uniting people and promoting democracy and transparency. 

Badran said the message media should convey must be based on analysing facts.

“Media is a sword that can be wielded to combat terrorism and extremism by eliminating extremist ideologies in societies and among young people,” the former prime minister added.

HRH Princess Rym Ali attended the conference and honoured some of the early pioneers who contributed to the development of local radio stations.