The problem is that our people tend to be a bit gullible. An Israeli newspaper spreads rumours and Jordanians readily embrace them! I am glad the misunderstanding is cleared.

doesn’t the government have a spokesperson to deny or affirm stories. If the government keeps on distancing itself from openly discussing news reports, being transparent, and learning that nothing will be hid for ever, people are more than likely to find another source of news that satisfies their curiosities.

I am not accepting nor rejecting the pet’s story. But, who is 7iber to defend, investigate, and argue on behalf of the government. Is 7iber “People powered journalism” or is it government powered…?

misunderstanding is cleared but damage is done. most people don’t go back to read retractions or half ass apologies.

to sound a bit conspiracy theory-ish it reads like a typical case of character assassination — spread something simple, believable and destructive to ruin HM’s credibility. this is especially poignant as it touches on the Palestinian/ Israeli issue since it so carefully links the timing to the siege on Gaza.

the apology will be forgotten. the original story will stick. after all, who doesn’t love remembering something bad about their leaders? (as pathetic, and foundation-less as this is)

iraatus: let’s be fair here, 7iber isn’t defending or investigating on behalf of anyone. this was a news story concerning Jordan, it was investigated and discovered to be false – is this not the underlining point here? it’s a matter of journalism and not futile defenses of the government. truth is truth. if there are charges levied on the country of any shape or form, journalists have a right to investigate them, see if they are valid, and write about them – whether they turn out to be true or false. do journalists not have a right to do that? moreover, citizens have a right to talk about these issues openly, and 7iber supports that on this platform. do we, as citizens, not have a right to do that?

as for the government spokesperson…well that’s there business. i essentially agree with you about the need to be more public and transparent, it’s an art form the government has yet to perfect. but that being said, i wonder what would happen if the government did come out and say the story was false…would it change public perceptions? i’m not so sure.

n.m: you’re right…people usually don’t go back to read retractions.

- Can we please get a name credit for the above piece…
Although 7iber naturally has its staff of editors, and the “investigation” may have been done collectively, the nature of the platform probably does not warrant “op-eds” and (7iber-dash news feeds) – unless it is a public announcement (and this is not).

-And before Naseem takes offence to the above request or feel “personally” targetted, it is clearly demonstrated by his angry reply above (and by older posts elsewhere) that Naseem is usually quick to jump on such stories that get proven false, pointing out how hasty the public was in mistakenly judging the virtuous royal family. (As if a few minor non-worthy stories proven false vindicate decades of collaboration.)
[As a side note:(and if the issue is merely about "journalism and people reactions"-(as it is often presented)- the people are quick to conclude that such stories are true not because the lack of "transparency" but because this is what they've come to expect from the royal family.]

-Finally, can Naseem please explain how are these “charges levied on the country”??!!

What’s so offensive about the story even if it were true??! The “normalisation”? the Zionist state having better vets? The king having a dog? The king’s dog getting premium health care? where was I supposed to be shocked and offended to the point that I demand further details and answers??!!

If it were the rumour that his majesty secretly visited with Ariel Sharon on the eve that Sheikh Ahmad Yassin was assassinated that was debunked, then that may have been a story. In this case, other than cheap tabloids, no sane Jordanian is waiting for such an obscure story to draw conclusions on the strength of the Zionist-Hashemite ties.

Dear Musa: lol an insightful comment that, as always, tickles my funny bone. but i’m just wondering where you got the idea that i wrote an angry reply earlier? man, i knew i should’ve used an emoticon to better express my tone :-)

anywho…anything prefaced with “7iber -” is merely a piece of news produced/written by 7iber as a team. no one takes credit for it so you can chastise us all in your next comment, or better yet, write up a “letter to the editor” and we’ll publish it.

as for “levied against the country” – perhaps a better choice of words were in order but i was not referring merely to this piece of news, but rather anything related to Jordan.

as for “quick to jump on stories”…woah, woah, woah…come on now. it sounds like i must have such a lengthy precedent of jumping on these stories that i implore you to remind me of it. oh, are we talking about the conddie rice story?

and i’ll end this with an emoticon just in case you think this too is an angry reply :-)

Even though Yedioth Ahronoth has came out and denied the story ,I believe it did happen especially the official propaganda machine in Jordan did not even try to defend the king because they know it is true story..

would you have believed the propaganda machine in Jordan if they denied it?

who gives a hoot if the King has a dog or a parrot or a monkey as a pet? I’d be severely disappointed if the story was true, but who honestly cares?

“But, who is 7iber to defend, investigate, and argue on behalf of the government. Is 7iber “People powered journalism” or is it government powered…?”

@iraatus – 7iber is a group of Jordanian who care about this country and her people. We want to hold everyone accountable – companies, ministers or farmers – for the work they do or don’t do. We aren’t arguing on behalf of the government, we are trying to find the truth and hold institutions accountable and “monitor centers of power” in the eloquent words of Arundhati Roy. So when an newspaper prints a false story, we want to be able to investigate the truth behind it.

If you want to help us hold people accountable and develop more transparent models, please let us know. We are always looking for people who care and are willing to do something about it. We should be upset when the government lies but at the same time, we need to develop mechanism to hold them accountable for it. New media is one of those mechanisms.

You sound like exactly the person we want on our team, iraatus.

- Ramsey, editor

the story was puplished by ammannet.net. but someone asked the editor to delete it.
thanks

I don’t know if its only me or what but I always know when the government uses its methods to defend something or hide a certain story. In this case, I don’t know but the only thing I can check for you guys if the king has a dog or not ;)