JORDANIAN PRESS: WHEN IN A PICKLE, PRAISE THE KING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 004555

SIPDIS

NEA FOR A/S BURNS, DAS SATTERFIELD; NEA/PD FOR QUINN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2010
TAGS: PA PREL KPAO IO
SUBJECT: JORDANIAN PRESS: WHEN IN A PICKLE, PRAISE THE KING
AND BASH THE U.S.


Classified By: Ambassador Gnehm for reason 1.5 (b) (d)


1. (C) Summary. Given the anti-American sentiment on the
street and the recent events of Abu Ghreib prison and the
violence in Rafah, the Jordanian news media have not missed
an opportunity over the past month to attack not only U.S.
policy, but American institutions and society in general.
The volume and intensity of this strident anti-Americanism in
the government-dominated media contrasts with the close
strategic and economic ties between Jordan's leadership and
the USG. Opinion polls already show an overwhelmingly
negative impression of America's role in the region regarding
issues such as Palestine and Iraq. The GOJ's apparent
acquiescence in the negative press on the U.S., especially
given the King's frequent trips to Washington and the
high-profile U.S. development assistance and Jordanian-US
cooperation in Iraq, seems only to pour oil on the flames.
End Summary.

America: The Bad, the Ugly, and the Even Uglier


2. (C) The perceived U.S. failure to curb Israeli violence
against the Palestinians or America's purported designs
against Iraqi oil and sovereignty have long been staples of
the negative picture presented by Jordan's major Arabic
dailies. But increasingly, columnists and editorialists are
attributing these allegedly anti-Arab policies to American
history, culture and religious extremism. A growing number
of media commentators link what they describe as the American
plot to impose hegemony over a fragmented Arab world with
what they call the genocide against Native Americans, slavery
and racism, and the perceived violence of American culture.
Springing out of this fertile ground, according to the
self-styled analysts of American history, is the
Zionist-inspired stereotyping of Islam and Muslims.

Don't Argue with Popular Passions


3. (C) Almost completely lacking is any effort to balance
this picture of an American nemesis. One of our contacts,
the head of a prestigious social research institute, claimed
that he spoke out on this issue to a gathering of local
journalists. "The U.S. (in response to Abu Ghreib abuses)
just put its top brass on trial. Their Generals were getting
their stars melted down, but you (the Jordanian journalists)
said nothing about this," he told his colleagues. Our
contact quoted a member of an oversight group at Jordan TV as
complaining over the lack of critical discussion of local
issues in a televised mock parliament made up of university
students. "I'm more anti-Israel and anti-US than any of
you," she said. "But is there nothing else to talk about
except Zionism and Imperialism?"

A Free and Outspoken Media -- When it Comes to the U.S. and
Israel


4. (C) Post has noticed a correlation between the pitch and
placement of Anti-American rhetoric in the press and the
presence or absence of reporting on domestic scandals, which
occasionally do make it into the local press. Recent
articles and editorials about the alleged corruption of
former Prime Minister Abu Ragheb, generated by allegations
against him among members of the reconstituted Jordanian
parliament, for example, abruptly disappeared, unresolved,
after a week. They were replaced by above-the-fold
sensationalism about the latest US "outrages" in Iraq. The
bulk of press reporting on Iraq consists of wire service
reports and photos, with locally written -- and usually
highly negative -- headlines and subheads. Photo selection
also reflects an inclination towards highlighting chaos and
civilian carnage.

When in Doubt, Just Praise the King


5. (C) Meanwhile, coverage of the King and Queen has reached
new heights of fawning overkill, with an above-the-fold space
reserved daily for the King, frequent multi-page spreads of
paid congratulatory ads and occasional supplements for
special occasions, displaying the King and Queen in heroic
poses, such as the recent Independence Day celebration, or
the King's birthday. Naturally, any pronouncement, meeting
or travel by the monarch is ipso facto the lead story in all
media. We are told by straightfaced GOJ officials close to
the court that "His Majesty really doesn't like this sort of
thing and has asked the press to tone it down." One Palace
contact told us following the King's May visit to Washington
that he hoped the King's real accomplishments would not be
lost in the hyperbolic press coverage, inspired by the
Palace's own media advisors. The publishers, according to
these contacts, find the Royal Supplements a good way to
persuade the private sector to take out expensive
advertisements. Media contacts also report a requirement
imposed by the Royal Court that the media (print and
broadcast) run its press releases or announcements verbatim.
One journalist told us that he was suspended from his paper
for refusing to write enough stories about the King. The
wall-to-wall, servile praise of King and family in the press
is unparalleled here, in the view of long-time
Jordan-watchers at post --unparalleled in its extent and in
its discord from public opinion.

Just Who Are the Gatekeepers?


6. (C) Our contacts in the media assure us that the
Government owns a controlling interest in at least one of the
three Arabic dailies and that it exercises strong influence
through advertising revenues. Moreover, the General
Intelligence Division (GID) is widely alleged by our
journalist contacts to exercise control over local
journalists, especially when they cover domestic issues. We
are told, for example, that there is a special GID division
which monitors the press, and that a number of columnists and
commentators make no secret of faxing their articles to GID
officers for prior approval, or of writing articles based on
instructions from the GID. If true, this would reflect the
concern with which the security services continue to view the
media, a historic battleground of inter-Arab and ideological
rivalry, and a potential shaper of -- or brake on -- passions
in the street. It is inconceivable that the editorial staff
determines the overall slant of the news or the tone of the
commentary over the long haul without a lively appreciation
of the regime's red lines. The publisher of a weekly that
sometimes features exposes of second-tier Ministers and other
officials and has adopted a violently anti-American tone in
the past was recently jailed on charges of blackening
Jordan's image and threatening its relations with a "friendly
state" (Saudi Arabia) at a time when the GOJ was negotiating
an extension to a vital oil concession. The journalist later
"voluntarily" suspended his paper and agreed to write a new
article in praise of Saudi-Jordanian relations.

The Official Paradox: Both Sides of the Mouth


7. (C) Given the control that the GOJ exercises over the
media when it wishes, why does Jordan's leadership tolerate
such an unbalanced and unrelenting distortion of U.S. goals
in the region and of American society and history? The
King's strong links to the U.S. are well known, and an INR
poll last fall showed that most Jordanians, although they
strongly reject U.S. policy, believe that their country, down
to the ordinary citizen, benefits from that relationship.
One explanation for the media's stance is that the GOJ hopes
to provide in the media a "safety valve" for the passions of
the street. The other motive may be to divert popular
frustration with political oppression and economic pressure.
A third motive may be to balance the scales a bit against
its strong association with unpopular U.S. policies
--although rapid attacks against U.S. policy in the long run
must reinforce negative public views of Jordan's reliance on
the U.S.


8. (C) As one media analyst recently put it to the IO, "the
security services are concerned first and foremost with the
regime's survival. They know there is anger in the street
aimed at the government -- price hikes, the King's frequent
travel and apparent high living -- and therefore see it as
necessary to channel popular anger in the only acceptable
direction, at the U.S. and Israel. And they don't have to
work hard given the very real anger out there about Iraq and
Palestine. It's more an issue of letting it go and not
getting in the way." The IO commented that that sounded like
a dangerous game. After all, the relationship with the U.S.
is also vital to the regime. Evoking public passions against
the U.S. could make it difficult over the long run for the
government to maintain the close level of cooperation on
issues like Iraqi or Israel that it has shown in the past.
But the contact replied that the security services saw no
other path. He maintained that the tenor of local coverage
of the King's "triumph" in gaining assurances (papers used
the verb "snatched") from President Bush regarding the final
settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was part of
the same tactic.

Needed: Press Freedom --The Real Thing


9. (C) It would be against American ideals and interests (as
well as counterproductive) to urge the GOJ to stifle
editorial opinion against the U.S. The USG cannot attempt to
direct editorial policies while maintaining that reform,
including press freedom, must come from within the Arab
world. We should not, however, ignore distortions or
inaccuracies or the absence of any countervailing voice in
the Jordanian news media. The Post works hard to rebut
individual cases of misrepresentation with newspaper editors
and individual journalists, and our efforts often result in
corrections and even follow-up stories reflecting the
Embassy's complaints. But these are insufficient to stem the
volume of distorted and pejorative coverage of the U.S. and
the long-term poisoning of popular emotions.


10. (C) We should make Jordanian journalist and media owners
and managers aware of how truly virulent anti-U.S. articles
affect the image of Jordan and the Arabs among Americans who
follow their media. One of our contacts recalled the
astonishment of a senior columnist known for his anti-U.S.
diatribes, who was on a recent visit to the U.S. and
encountered several Arabic-speaking USG officials and
scholars who had read his attacks on U.S. society and
culture. He was astonished by their interest. "That toned
him down for quite a while," our contact said. In our
opinion, it would be useful to arrange a series of dialogues
between Jordanian and other Arab journalists and informed US
counterparts who could compare and contrast mutual news
coverage and its impact on popular perceptions and political
trends in both societies.


11. (C) Finally, if America-bashing is indeed tolerated by
the regime to divert their public from their own failings, we
need to encourage more -- not less -- press freedom, ensuring
that journalists are free to examine local issues. We
should encourage freedom to report honestly and without
inhibition on issues that affect daily life, including
corruption, nepotism, the lack of jobs or political
participation and other issues that affect the ordinary
citizen. Solid investigative reporting on these issues, we
suspect, would prove much more riveting than rehashed attacks
on U.S. policy and might even result in a cooler, more
balanced treatment of the U.S. role. The conversation about
press freedom would need to happen at the highest levels.

GNEHM