Session II: Law and Ethics

Ashraf Al-Raee, Jordanian journalist and chief editor talked about the Jordanian constitution and the Jordanian law concerning media and journalism.

According to the Jordanian law, article 15: “every Jordanian has the right to express themselves as long as he/she does not violate the law”. Participants debated whether non-Jordanians should be granted the same kind of freedom taking into consideration the International law and political structure of the region.

Al-Raee explained in details how personal accusations be it particular or general is punishable by the law and discussed with the groups the barriers faced by journalists in the Arab world, particularly in Jordan. the subject of the Jordanian Press Association law gathered the largest number of questions by the participants, showing valid concerns regarding alternative journalism and how different it actually is from traditional journalism when it comes to abiding by the press law.

As an exercise on self-censorship, participants were asked to write a topic that they want to write about but they think they can’t, and why they think they can’t.