Media outlets and social media sites have been busy over the past three days with the story of the Iraqi student, Mariam Bayati, who came first in the General Secondary Education Examination in the Kingdom. A story circulated to the effect that, because she is non-Jordanian, Bayati would not be able to study medicine in the Kingdom except through the "International Program," which costs a lot of money. This turned out to be untrue as it became clear later that the student has two chances to study medicine in Jordan. The first is by obtaining one of the seats designated for children of staff at the Hashemite University where her father works as a teacher at the Faculty of Engineering. The second is through the cultural exchange program between the governments of Jordan and Iraq.

By following the media coverage of this story, it becomes clear that what contributed to the dissemination of what turned out to be incorrect news was the coverage of Al Sabeel, which had some missing information. The newspaper published a report under a banner headline on its front page reading "First in Tawjihi Deprived of Studying Medicine."

In the report, the newspaper said that despite her top achievement, Bayati would not be able to fulfill her dream of studying medicine at the University of Jordan as the fact that she does not have Jordanian citizenship prevents her from submitting an application to the university on the basis of "competition." It said that she "will have to submit her application for competition within the International Program, which is not possible in view of the high tuition fees and the inability of her father to pay the required amount."

The report did not mention at all that the student, as noted above, had two chances for studying medicine so that readers of the news would understand that the obstacles the report spoke about concern studying at the University of Jordan, which the student specifically wishes to go to. Dropping this piece of information, plus the misleading headline of the report, suggested that the student was totally deprived of studying medicine in the Kingdom.

Electronic sites and social media carried this report under the same headline on a large scale. The method of handling the news, which continued to ignore the fact that the student indeed has a chance to study medicine, helped maintain its erroneous substance. Thus, Fahd Khitan wrote that "it is regrettable that student Bayati cannot, due to her non-Jordanian citizenship, compete for a seat at a Jordanian university within the consolidated lists of admission." Under the headline "How Filthy We Are! Living With Most Contemptible Laws of the Age," Hussein Ulayyan recalled that "Jordanian students used to receive excellent treatment at Iraqi universities and study free of charge," while Jordan applies "racist laws" that do not heed "rights of neighborliness and Arab brotherhood."

The story quickly turned into a public opinion issue to the extent that campaigns of solidarity with the student were launched on social media sites, including one dubbed "We Are All Mariam." The social debate generated by this issue was noticeable in the huge number of comments whose parties exchanged insults against the background of refugee versus citizen, Jordanian versus Iraqi, and Sunni versus Shiite.

The above shows that reporting on this story violated one of the standards of professional coverage, which is comprehensiveness. The report of Al Sabeel did not cover all aspects of the story and left out some information, which was essential for readers to understand the incident within its correct context.