Media Supports Launch of Harrison Ford Public Service

UNCLAS AMMAN 001752 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/PPD, OES, and IIP/NEA-SCA STATE PASS TO USAID EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL DOI FOR INTERNATIONAL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV PGOV ETRD PREL KPAO JO SUBJECT: Media Supports Launch of Harrison Ford Public Service Announcements on Wildlife Trafficking REF: STATE 50722 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. ¶1. (U) In celebration of World Environment Day, Embassy Amman, in cooperation with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN),organized the launch of Harrison Ford's Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on wildlife trafficking at the Wild Jordan Nature Center on June 5. Forty individuals representing the NGO community, academia, students, government, and the media attended the event funded by State/OES. ESTH Officer introduced the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) and a visiting team from the Department of Interior (DOI) gave a presentation on USG efforts to prevent wildlife trafficking and issues related to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). ¶2. (U) The CAWT launch in Amman received extensive media coverage by many local and international media networks. The pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera began on June 5 to repeat airings of a three-minute report about the worldwide effort to combat wildlife trafficking. The report covered the launch ceremony in Jordan and Harrison Ford's PSAs on the need to end the demand for illegal wildlife products. Jazeera's report focused on Jordan's efforts to protect wildlife, and showed archival footage of endangered species in Jordan, such as the oryx and the falcon. It also featured on-camera remarks by ESTH Officer and the RSCN spokesman, who spoke about the importance of protecting wildlife and the challenges involved. ¶3. (U) All Arabic daily newspapers in Jordan, except Al-Arab Al-Yawm, featured reports on June 6 about the Embassy launch event. The reports relied extensively on the Embassy press release and quoted remarks by ESTH Officer, as well as officials from RSCN and the Department of Interior on the importance of wildlife conservation. ¶4. (SBU) Al-Arab Al-Yawm instead published on June 4 an article entitled "Harrison Ford's Anti-Arab Statements Precede Him to the Region." The article asserted that Ford's movies are anti-Arab and portray Muslims and Arabs as "terrorists." The reporter believed that Ford would be in Amman and concluded the article with "We demand Harrison Ford to provide clarifications about his anti-Arab and anti-Muslim statements...or else it would be a shame for the media outlets to attend his news conference." Note: Embassy Public Affairs contacted the author and clarified the purpose and context of the launch event. The journalist was invited to attend the June 5 event but did not show up. End Note. Visit Amman's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman HALE