Investigative Journalism

I have deep respect for the work of investigative journalists. They often work under very difficult circumstances – risking persecution, law suits and harassment. But investigative journalism is indispensable. We have a saying in my country: The tabloids keep the democracy clean. Journalists are the ones that make sure that the authorities are held accountable for their actions – or lack of action.

In my part of the World, the relationship between journalists and officials has generally been tricky – it is like a love/hate relationship – without much love. Within the public sector many used to live by the saying: “I have the right to remain silent – otherwise I will be misquoted and my statement used against me”. Very few had any interest in speaking to journalists for exact this reason and because speaking to journalists would never ever do you any good in your career. If you where so unlucky to actually talk to a journalist and if – god forbid – you actually got quoted for something – you could be quite sure that the upper ranks were not amused.

This phenomenon is changing in many ways. For start, we know that is it no longer possible to keep a lid on stories. Freedom of speech for public servants as well as for everyone else, the right of access to documents and a generally very high standard of investigative journalism makes it pointless to try to hide information that mostly is available if you know how to look. History has also thought us that it is not the misdeed itself that makes a government fall or cost civil servants their career. No, it is the cover-up after something has been discovered that bring down governments. So the lesson is quite clear – if an investigative journalist is on to something it is generally better to take the issue seriously – maybe even cooperate – in order to try to solve the problem before it is too late. The story will go to press anyway. Journalists would probably say that the government is trying to outsmart them. I would say it is a more professional way of dealing with the press.

I know this reality is very far from the one that investigative journalists are facing in this region but for governments and states that take freedom of press and freedom of speech seriously they have to go down this road. And don’t worry – there will still be stories to investigate.

There is another phenomenon that also is changing. Journalists on established media are no longer alone in doing investigative reporting. New media is transforming the landscape and traditional journalists now face competition from bloggers, You Tubers and informal networks and NGO’s. For the printed press the outlook is not rosy at all. But as with all competition there is also an opportunity – and the opportunity is to be better, be more relevant, and in particular to become much more credible.

Credibility has very much to do with skills and techniques. If a critical investigative story is based on good journalistic research and sound criticism of sources it will become irrefutable. And with increased credibility the readers will come back. Yesterday, to my great interest I heard that Al Masri al Yawm as a result of their recent investigative reporting on the pollution of the Nile had had a substantial increase in sales. Readers want that kind of stories. And this is exactly why government-owned press and papers will face a hard time – they will not be credible in investigating their owners.

We have been told, that “for freedom of press – the sky is the limit”. As Danish ambassador I cannot be more in agreement with that statement – and it saddens me to see, that according to Jordanian journalists themselves, self-censorship is the common rule. Self-censorship is to do the dirty work for the otherwise would-be censors - how can we then reach the sky? It is not enough to stand on our toes – we have to build the ladder ourself.

We have also been told that the level of criticism and boldness in articles should be matched by an equal level of research techniques, fact check and scrutiny. This is a crucial point and not only for investigative journalism. Because what use is freedom of the press if journalists are not capable of conducting proper research? We all have agendas that we want to promote. Good journalists know that and take this into account when researching and writing their articles. I am sorry to say that – based on a number of personal experiences in Jordan – this is not always the case in Jordan. Sources are accepted at face value and let far too easy off the hook. Add to this that systematically fact checking of numbers, dates, names etc. is often absent in articles.

Maybe other journalists should take one of the ARIJ classes on how to prepare for that crucial confronting mother-of-all-interviews? Or at least read and learn from the manual ARIJ published yesterday (.pdf – and really worth a read)

This brings me to ARIJ. Last year we celebrated the first ARIJ conference for Investigative Journalism in the Arab region. It was a milestone and rightly praised by Tim Sebastian in an article in New York Times. This year is also a tribute to all who care for good, professional, solid and not least credible journalism in a region where that is not a given thing.

On the Danish side we are very proud to be part of the ARIJ project since its inception in 2004 through a number of Danish institutions and foremost among them International Media Support.

The team that ARIJ have put together, from the extremely qualified persons on the board over the outstanding and high profile trainers participating in this year’s conference to the amazing general manager Rana Sabbagh is second to none. The mere fact that ARIJ have been able to get such an outstanding group of people involved is a clear sign of its success – and of its necessity both for the region but also for the profession. As I said – the competition is fierce and the product has to become better. Investigative journalism is one of the areas where the traditional press still can have an edge. And it is needed for the sake of society.

(Excerpts of a speech on the occasion of the second Conference for Investigative Journalism in the Arab Region on November 21st)

Oprah goes to Denmark – Watch this

Followers of this blog will know that my country have had its share of bad press coverage. So now to something totally different.

Oprah Winfrey recently visited Copenhagen in Chicago’s unsuccessful bid for the Olympics 2016. During her stay she shot a sequence about danes and the way they live for her show. It is a quite rosy story but it also give some insights to some of the things that Danes value in their life.

If you’re into Oprah this is something for you.

I think I am going to have a look at how they live in Dubai – the contrast must be remarkable

Freedom of Press

Reporters Without Borders have made their 2009 index of press freedom public. 

Jordan is 112th on the list – an improvement from last year. Reading the Methodology paper RSF mentions that the Index ”measure the level of self-censorship in each country and the ability of the media to investigate and criticise” which is probably what puts Jordan in the lower half.

On top of the list you find a group of Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland – and Ireland) – all at an equal high score of zero points meaning full freedom of Press.

The first 15 countries are all small and highly developed countries and no one more than roughly double the size of Jordan in population. It seems that size does matter…and there is room for Jordan in the club.

BAD 15. October 2009

What happened in Jordan?

during the last two months? Not much according to Jordan Times and Petra which are the two main stream media I have had the opportunity to follow on-and-off from Denmark. Well, don’t you say “no news is good news”?

What also struck me in the last couple of weeks was the lack of blogging from the Jordanian bloggers I usually follow. Maybe they have gone “tweeting” as another observer stated recently. I certainly do not hope so – 140 characters might be good for breaking news, slogans or personal image building but not for more in-depth analysis. But now it seems that most are back in force. Black Iris is of course leading but other good ones have taken of their summer hat and started blogging again. I guess that bloggers also need to take some time off once in a while.

One thing I did notice was that king Abdullah – like last summer – felt the need to speak to the nation. I must say that you really have to have a close understanding of the intricacies of Jordanian politics and societal structure to understand what that was all about! No many analytical comments or surprising reactions in the media on that one – and even Jordanian blogs a bit absent. Wonder what happened to journalism – or political culture

Ohh- and I should send a RAMADAN KARIM to everyone. It is hot and long days in Jordan – but did you know that Muslims fast for as long as 21 hours in Denmark during summer – and for only 6 hours during winter.

Courtesy of Sawsan at the embassy the following is an uofficial translation of an article from Al Arab Al Yawn yesterday:

Al-Arab Al-Yawm newspaper
30.08.2009

Muslims in Denmark fast for 16 hours
By: Osama Al-Habahbah 

Copenhagen (Petra) – Muslims in Denmark whose number is not more than 150 thousands live in different circumstances than the other countries in the world during the holy month of Ramadan, as they fast for 21 hours a day in the summer while in the winter their fasting time does not exceed 6 hours.  This year, it reaches 16 hours.
The holy month of Ramadan gives them a push of faith and a spiritual encouragement as it is considered as an educational school, which returns to Muslims their faith and spiritual brilliance.  It is a clear call to maintain the threatened Islamic identity, which Muslim families seek to preserve especially for the new generations born in Denmark.

Muslim families in Denmark avail themselves of this opportunity to take advantage of the atmosphere of faith during the holy month of Ramadan to make up some deficiencies and shortcomings that affected family members due to the Danish environment around them.  They also share the Islamic unity with fellow Muslims in the world.
The Danish Imam, Abdul Wahid Petersen, stated to the reporter of the Jordanian news agency (Petra) in Copenhagen that Ramadan is a religious event through which Muslims worship God and perform a lot of prayers, calling on all Muslims to show tolerance and love the man on the earth.  

Moroccan national, Abdel Aziz Musdad, said that some female worshippers prepare collective breakfast meals on Saturdays and Sundays aiming at meeting with other Muslim families and eating together.

He added that Muslims turn the weekend evenings into Ramadan evenings similar to those take place in Arab cities, which often occur on Saturdays and Sundays – the weekend in Denmark- as it is difficult to go about it on Fridays being working days in Denmark. He stressed that Muslims in this country try to make use of any religious event such as Ramadan to observe their religious rituals and consolidate the social ties among them.