Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN3399
2005-04-28 14:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN'S STIFLED (BUT EXPANDING) MEDIA SECTOR

Tags:  KPAO PHUM ECON ECPS KMPI JO 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003399 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015
TAGS: KPAO PHUM ECON ECPS KMPI JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STIFLED (BUT EXPANDING) MEDIA SECTOR

Classified By: CDA DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B)(D)

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Summary
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 003399

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015
TAGS: KPAO PHUM ECON ECPS KMPI JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STIFLED (BUT EXPANDING) MEDIA SECTOR

Classified By: CDA DAVID HALE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B)(D)

--------------
Summary
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1. (C) Jordan,s media sector has seen rapid expansion
recently, driven by government measures to open the
broadcast sector to private ownership and a booming
advertising market. Private radio has begun broadcasting
in Jordan for the first time, while plans are underway for
Jordan,s first private television broadcasts. Print media
is also booming, with new daily newspapers and glossy
magazines riding the ad revenue wave. Content,
however, remains stifled. A 50 percent premium on the cost
of a radio license to broadcast news has discouraged
anything but pure music formats to date, and a recent survey
of journalists by a government-appointed press
council indicates widespread dissatisfaction with government
intimidation and meddling in media issues. The new
Badran government will have to demonstrate progress in the
field of press freedoms if it is to demonstrate
a real commitment to reform. End Summary.

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Radio Booms, Absent the News
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2. (SBU) Jordan,s media landscape has undergone rapid
expansion recently as a result of both government and
business-driven trends. The first is implementation of a
2002 law to open Jordan,s radio and television sectors for
the first time to private broadcasts. After a lengthy period
during which a new Audio-Visual Commission (AVC) was created
and its bylaws drafted and approved by the Cabinet, the
country has seen (or rather, heard) half a dozen new radio
ventures licensed and on air. To date, new broadcasts have
only appeared in the capital Amman and have been limited to
music-only formats. One reason for this is that a license to
broadcast news is priced by the new AVC at 50 percent higher
than a license for "entertainment" broadcasts. The head of
the AVC has defended this policy by arguing that news is more
popular, so ad revenues can be expected to be higher, but the
effect has been to maintain so far the government,s monopoly
on domestic radio news broadcasts. (Note: the GOJ does

license foreign news broadcasters such as Radio Sawa, BBC and
Radio Montecarlo. End Note.)


3. (SBU) The current state of affairs may be tested soon,
however, as "Ammannet", a popular on-line radio station
focusing on local affairs was granted an FM radio license in
early 2005 after a long delay. Ammanet is a non-profit media
venture targeting and staffed by young Jordanians and was
founded with financial support from the Open Society
Institute and the European Community. Ammannet,s license
application languished for months at the AVC while other
licenses (some filed subsequent to theirs) were promptly
approved, reportedly due to a stalemate within the Cabinet
wherein the AVC Director lobbied against issuance while
prominent Cabinet reformists -- reportedly Spokesperson Asma
Khader and Deputy Prime Minister Muasher among them -- argued
persuasively in favor. Like other new licensees, Ammannet
received approval for an "entertainment" license, which
Ammannet,s founder Daoud Kuttab told IO would be interpreted
"loosely" by the station, enabling it to produce social and
cultural programming that impacts local issues. Kuttab also
told IO he had been advised not to seek a pure "news"
license, as the GOJ may not have been inclined to approval.
He speculated that licensing authorities are not likely
worried about the activities of a mainstream NGO such as his,
but rather the precedent that could thereafter be exploited
by other potential applicants, namely the Muslim Brotherhood
which already operates a highly successful weekly newspaper
in Jordan.

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Television, Too
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4. (SBU) Perhaps more important is the GOJ,s recent
decision to license private television broadcasts. Media
mogul Mohammad Alayyan, publisher of Arabic daily Al Ghad
(launched in 2004 riding the same ongoing ad revenue boom)
applied for and received a license from the AVC, then
purchased the rights to broadcast over one of the
government,s terrestrial channels for a reported 2 million
Jordanian Dinars (USD 2.8 million). He has brought in set
designers and newsroom consultants with prior experience at
the UK,s Independent Television News (ITN) and Dubai,s Al
Arabiya and plans a high-production value station that will
produce local news and compete with Jordan Television for a
local audience, and internationally via satellite. Alayyan
told IO he believes Jordan,s television advertising market
has been left almost completely undeveloped by Jordan TV and
has strong profit potential given the current rapid growth in
advertising revenue. Alayyan is close to the palace (he was
the only journalist appointed to the Palace-formed committee
preparing a new "National Agenda") and is said to be
operating with the support of the King, long rumored to be
dissatisfied with the performance of JTV as it has steadily
lost viewers to Al Jazeera and other outlets that do not
represent his own thinking.

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Ad Wars Driving the Boom
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5. (U) Driving this new activity is dramatic growth in
advertising revenue. Total "media spend" (print, radio,
television, outdoor) increased 25 percent from 2003 to 2004,
according to the Jordan office of international market
research firm IPSOS, and has continued this upward trajectory
into 2005. Much of the increase has come from economic
sectors recently liberalized as a result of government
reforms, notably the telecommunications and banking sectors.
Telecom and related industry advertising accounted for $17
million of media spend in 2004, while banking accounted for
$11 million. The next highest sector was automobile
manufacturers and dealers at $4 million. Soft drink
manufacturers, once the kings of the local ad market,
according to analysts, came in at just $3 million in spend
that has remained steady for many years. The GOJ opened the
mobile phone market to competition in the late 1990,s, and
last year gave up its monopoly on fixed line services,
decisions that have led to fierce competition among telecom
companies. Similarly, in its decision over the past year and
a half to license several new foreign retail-oriented banks
as a means to encourage improved service and business
activity, the GOJ touched off an ad war among banks fighting
for retail and business customers. These facts bear out the
analysis of many in Jordan who say that GOJ decisions to
reform and deregulate the economy are driving multiple
changes through the culture and society. Among other
manifestations of the boom are a slew of high society glossy
magazines (many in English) built on ads for luxury goods,
travel destinatinos, fashion photographs and haute cuisine
recipes aimed at a growing and consumer driven elite
audience.

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What about Content?
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6. (C) While the business side of media seems to be taking
hold in Jordan, these developments have not until now led to
a dramatic change in content. Restrictive laws remain on the
books that prevent criticism of the King and Royal family,
the army or security services, or reporting that is "harmful"
to Jordan,s relations with other countries. The security
services are said to be heavily infiltrated into most media
organizations and to intimidate journalists and editors into
avoiding discussion of sensitive topics, most dealing with
domestic issues. Al Ghad, an independent Arabic daily
established in 2004 has featured some groundbreaking
reporting on controversial subjects, for instance a series of
articles on radical and Salafist Islamist movements in
Jordan, but continues to face pressure from security services
according to a number of journalists who work there. The
paper was forced in late 2004 to stop reporting information
it uncovered detailing abuse within Jordan,s prison system,
for example. A report released recently by the
government-appointed Higher Media Council showed that many
reporters and editors complain of undue government
interference in their work, citing threats and summoning by
the security services. GOJ officials have cited release of
the report as evidence the government is prepared to
acknowledge the current poor situation and is determined to
improve it. Encouraging greater access to information and
media freedom was cited specifically in the King,s recent
letter of designation to Prime Minister Adnan Badran. Al
Ghad's Alayyan told Charge the King advised him simply to
ignore security services' requests -- and if need be, inform
him directly of any persistent pressure.

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Comment
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7. (C) The ongoing media expansion in Jordan is a positive
sign, though it remains too early to tell if the result will
be added content and a press that begins to contribute more
meaningfully to Jordanian society. As it is, the press
remains stifled by a security apparatus that continues to
view media openness as a threat or at least with great
suspicion, an attitude developed over decades where the media
was used as a propaganda tool by rival governments and
political movements. Given that the recent expansion is due
largely to GOJ decisions to open the media sector to new,
independent ventures, it would appear there is either
disagreement or a good deal of ambivalence within the GOJ as
to how free and independent the media ought to become. At
the very least, the current developments are creating the
basis for financially-independent media, itself a significant
step that could make a positive contribution to Jordan,s
reform process.
HALE