Gap in trust most important challenge facing official media — Ghunaimat

AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Jumana Ghunaimat on Saturday said that the most important challenge facing official media outlets is the gap of trust between citizens and the government.

Ghunaimat made her remarks during a dialogue meeting organised by the Jordan Democracy Improvement Association in the Greater Salt Municipality, titled “challenges facing the official media”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

She pointed out that other challenges have also arisen, in terms of keeping pace with social media in the midst of the” tsunami” of information circulating on platforms. The minister highlighted the spread of rumours and fabricated news, noting that bridging the gap is the responsibility of the government.

She said that the government had developed a plan of action for official media outlets for the years 2019-2020, adding that such a plan needs time, work, standards and strategy. The ultimate ambition of the plan is to reach a concept of state media that supersedes the concept of government media.

Ghunaimat added that the government is also working on implementing a parallel programme to empower media spokespeople in various ministries and institutions, in order to establish the rights of media and media professionals to obtain information and create a favourable atmosphere for media freedoms.

On the government’s efforts to combat corruption, Ghunaimat highlighted the work of the government and various relevant bodies. She referred to the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (IACC), which dealt with over 500 cases last year and referred 123 of them to the public prosecutor, in addition to more than 50 cases referred by the government to the IACC in accordance with the Audit Bureau’s 2017 report.