Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned that Jordanian authorities have harassed and censored journalists on several occasions since your government was formed in April. Several journalists interviewed by CPJ in recent weeks said that authorities have pressured printers to delay the publication of newspapers until editors agreed to remove critical articles. Further, editors have received phone calls from security officials instructing them how to cover certain events.
MAY 8, 2005 Posted: June 15, 2005 Al-Majd CENSORED Fahd al-Rimawi, editor of the weekly newspaper Al-Majd, told CPJ that publication of his May 8 edition was delayed by the printer under pressure from security officials. Authorities objected to Al-Majd’s planned interview with a member of parliament who said he supported the Iraqi insurgency and…
APRIL 10, 2005 Posted: June 15, 2005 Al-Wihda CENSORED Publication of the weekly Al-Wihda was delayed on April 10 by security authorities until an article by journalist Muwaffaq Mahadin was removed. Mahadin told CPJ that the article was critical of how Prime Minister Adnan Badran’s government was formed, claiming that its selection was undemocratic and…
OverviewBy Joel Campagna The conflict in Iraq led to a harrowing number of press attacks in 2004, with local journalists and media support workers primarily in the line of fire. Twenty-three journalists and 16 support staff—drivers, interpreters, fixers, and guards—were killed while on the job in Iraq in 2004. In all, 36 journalists and 18…
JordanGovernment promises of modernization and reform have not led to greater press freedom in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In a May survey by the local Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, 70 percent of responding reporters and editors said media liberties had remained static or had deteriorated. Sixty-five percent believe that the media do…
Committee to Protect Journalists This article appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on February 22, 2005 Posted: February 17, 2005 The media was abuzz over comments attributed to CNN news executive Eason Jordan that some of the several dozen journalists killed in Iraq were deliberately targeted by U.S. forces. Pundits, bloggers, columnists, and members of Congress…