Newspaper heads praise government ad price increases

AMMAN — Heads of local newspapers in Jordan on Thursday praised a recent decision by the Cabinet to increase advertising fees for government institutions in a bid to ensure the sustainability of the cash-strapped entities.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet decided to increase the fees for government advertisements and government tender advertisements in daily newspapers to JD1 per word instead of the previous rate of 55 piasters.

The decision aimed to enhance governmental support for daily newspapers, enable them gain sustainable revenue streams in light of current challenges, safeguard the rights of workers and bolster their competitiveness within the media field.

Minister of State for Media Affairs Faisal Shboul highlighted governmental efforts to support the media, including daily newspapers, as they jump onto the “digital transformation bandwagon” while maintaining their paper publications. 

Chairman of the board of directors of the Jordan Press Foundation (JPF) and former minister of public sector development Maher Yousef Madadha praised the step, but said that "it is not enough to solve the foundation’s financial problems".

“We thank the government for taking such a step, but the JPA’s problem is deeper, and we need additional support,” Madadha told The Jordan Times. 

The JPA chairman added that he was hopeful “that the government will adopt additional measures to help rid the establishment of its financial problems and high debt”.

One of the steps the government could adopt, according to Madadha, is to supply the JPA with the equipment necessary to help it transform from a paper to a predominantly digital publication.

Al Rai Director General Jalal Al Debei also praised the step, concurring that this move alone will not solve the JPA’s financial problems.

“Our main focus is to secure monthly salaries for the large staff, which is exhausting most of our budget and financial resources,” Debei told The Jordan Times.

Debei added that he was hopeful the government would adopt measures that would “funnel more financial support”.

This, Debei maintained, would go hand-in-hand with “our plan to improve our digital platforms so we can ensure the sustainability of the JPA, as well as ensure financial security and employment stability for our workers”.

Editor-in-chief at Al Dustour Newspaper Mustafa Ryalat said that the government took a “distinguished step that came at the right time, given the financial crisis most newspapers are facing”.

“The government’s step will further boost the presence of newspapers in the local market,” Ryalat told The Jordan Times.

Ryalat, who is also a member of the JPA, added that he was hopeful that the government will adopt additional measures to secure the newspapers’ sustainability.

“We suggested to the government in the past… that 30 per cent of school textbooks could be printed in our printing press as a form of financial support,” Ryalat added.

Ryalat added that an additional suggestion involved placing some of the billboards owned by the Greater Amman Municipality under the management of the newspapers as an additional source of income. 

“These two suggestions will not cause the government any financial burden, and would help us get over our financial problems,” Ryalat noted.

JPA member Khaled Qudah also praised government’s recent decision to support the press.

However, he stressed that the decision lacked one element, which is ensuring that all advertisement revenues go directly to the newspapers.

The government’s advertisements in the local press usually go through an advertising agency, “which ends up taking a percentage of the amount”, Qudah told The Jordan Times.

“We need to ensure that the entirety of government advertising money will go directly to the press without a middle-man,” he added.