Beirut, 13 July, 2010

Press Release

SKeyes organizes a panel discussion on media and cultural freedoms in

Jordan

Amman – SKeyes Special Report

On Sunday, July 11, 2010, the SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural
Freedom, in collaboration with the Community Media Network (C.M.N),
held a panel discussion in the Jordanian capital Amman. The discussion
dealt with the circumstances surrounding media and cultural freedoms in
Jordan, and the prospects for improving the margin of these freedoms. It was
attended by 12 Jordanian journalists, intellectuals and publishers, in addition
to the director of the Centre, the journalist Saad Kiwan.
In the course of the discussion, the participants warned against the continued
practice of book banning, and stressed the need to amend the laws on the
press and publications, and other laws that impose restrictions on freedoms,
such as the law on state secrets’ confidentiality and the freedom of
information law, in addition to revising the role of the National Library in
the publishing process and putting an end to that of the Press and
Publications Department in censoring books.
The participants also tackled the issue of the relation between intellectuals,
publishers and journalists, and the need for communication and coordination
among them in light of the lack of information on book banning that can
otherwise be easily accessible by the press. Ultimately, this adversely affects
media coverage of these issues and the freedom of expression and creativity.
The panel then adopted a number of recommendations including the creation
of a coordination committee that brings together journalists, intellectuals and
publishers to follow up freedom issues, in particular book banning, and
which then raises them in the media. The panel also recommended the
endorsement of cases involving intellectuals and journalists and to defend
them in courts, in addition to training specialized lawyers to defend writers,
novelists and poets.

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Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org