Minister of Political and Parliamentary Affairs Haditha Jamal Khraisha and Minister of Government Communications and government spkoesperson, Muhannad Mubaidin, on Monday evening met with President of the Jordan Press Association (JPA) and its council members. Mubaidin underlined the government’s keenness to enhance partnership and cooperation with the JPA, in a way that contributes to addressing challenges facing media outlets, both public and private, lauding JPA’s role in organizing the journalism profession as “the Jordanian Press House and an umbrella for journalists.” He pointed out the importance of the media’s role in conveying the state’s mission and defending it to the world, in addition to performing its oversight role by highlighting shortcomings and deficiencies in the performance of some institutions, in addition to its development and awareness roles on many issues and topics of concern to society. Mubaidin commended media institutions’ national role in their coverage of the war on the Gaza Strip and conveying it to citizens. He lauded their efforts in conveying the angry voice of Jordanians towards the war on the Strip, which citizens expressed in the marches carried out in most of the Kingdom’s governorates. For his part, Khraisha said that the media is an important and essential partner for the government in advocating and supporting the political modernization system, by spreading awareness and education about laws of political parties and elections, and conveying media mission about the importance of enhancing citizens’ participation in the political process and involvement in parties, especially youth and women. He pointed out to the solid Jordanian position towards the Palestinian cause under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah and its emphasis on the necessity of stopping the war on Gaza, preventing the displacement of civilians from the Gaza Strip, and delivering humanitarian, medical and relief aid to the people of the Gaza Strip, in addition to the King’s directive to the government to allocate a JD3 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which is suffering from a financial crisis, to continue to play its role towards the people in Gaza. Khraisha underlined the importance of citizens’ right to express their patriotic feelings regarding the war on Gaza, while emphasizing the necessity of adhering to the law and preserving public and private property. JPA President, Rakan Al-Saayda, said that His Majesty’s position is solid and strong towards the war on Gaza, stressing the importance of supporting this position in the Arab world and building on it in order to stop the Israeli plans aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause. Al-Saayda added that media outlets supports the state’s firm position on the Palestinian cause and the war on Gaza, and expressed it explicitly through press releases and solidarity stands with the people in the Gaza Strip that the JPA carried out on Sunday at several media institutions, in addition to seminars hosted by the JPA to talk about the war on Gaza and the Arab-Israeli conflict. During the meeting, the JPA president highlighted challenges and issues facing journalists, including the implementation of the career path for employees of the Jordan News Agency (Petra) and the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV), activating the National Fund to Support Journalism, and the necessity of building a network of relations with external media outlets with the aim of conveying the mission of the Jordanian state abroad. JPA vice president Jamal Shteiwi stressed the importance of the government’s support for the public media and improving the conditions of its workers, given the great role it plays in conveying the state’s mission to the world, especially in the crises and circumstances that the Kingdom is going through. Members of the JPA council highlighted a number of issues and observations, including preserving the living rights of workers in media institutions, including public media institutions, in addition to enhancing the training and qualification of journalists and the necessity of having advanced foreign language departments in media institutions to convey speeches of His Majesty the King and the state’s mission to the countries of the world. The meeting was held in the JPA building and attended by Secretary-General of the Ministry of Government Communications, Zaid Nawaysa

Source: Jordan News Agency