Monday, 4 April 2016

Anwar al-Ziadat

Over the past four days, some electronic sites have carried a news item under the headline "Marry Russian Woman and Get $15,000, Citizenship." These sites attributed the news to unknown news agencies. The news item stated that "Vladimir Ba"rutush, head of the Russian Federation Council Against Spinsterhood in Russia, said that the Russian Parliament is expected to discuss a controversial law next week concerning the marriage of Russian women to foreigners, giving any foreigner who marries a Russian citizen $15,000 and Russian citizenship." 

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor, AKEED, tracked down the news item. It turned out that it was originally a "satirical" news piece first published by the site Garage on 31 March under the headline "Russia Considering New Law Giving $15,000 and Citizenship to Anyone Who Marries Russian Woman."  The following is the text of the report (the comical style appears clearly in the names and in many of the expressions):

"Moscow, Russia (Garage fabrications) -- Vladimir Ba"rutush (slang Jordanian word meaning I am not lying or exaggerating), head of the Russian Federation Council Against Spinsterhood in Russia, told Garage that the Russian Parliament is expected to discuss a controversial law next week concerning the marriage of Russians to foreigners. "Ba"rutush" added that the council would discuss a law, giving any foreigner who protects the honor of a Russian citizen by marrying her $15,000 and Russian citizenship."

"It is worth mentioning that in countries like Jordan, you need a loan from the World Bank, saving money for four centuries, the approval of the Security Council, and acquittance from university and Carrefour to marry your divorced cousin, Afaf."

Garage published this news item under "Fabrications," which is a section that features a permanent caveat, identifying it as "fabricated news and statements, far removed from the truth, concerning VIPs and celebrities."

Despite the clear comical nature of this "news item," this has not prevented it from turning into news adopted by many news sites and circulated as truthful. This has harmed the standard of accuracy by depending on unreliable sources. Since 31 March, more than 12 digital news sites have carried this news item under different headlines, most prominent of which were the following: "15,000 Dollars, Citizenship for Anyone Marrying Russian Woman," "For Anyone Marrying Russian Woman, Citizenship and 15,000 Dollars," and "For Anyone Marrying Russian Woman, 15,000 Dollars and Citizenship." Some have tried to "Jordanize" the news, using a special headline, such as "For Every Jordanian and non-Jordanian Young Man: Marry Russian Woman and Get Huge Reward."

In fact, some Arabic-language news media carried the news, attributing it to Jordanian media outlets, including: "Tempting Offer: For Anyone Marrying Russian Woman…15,000 Dollars and Citizenship," and "Law Under Study: Citizenship and 15,000 Dollars for Anyone Who Marries Russian Woman." Some of these outlets treated the story very seriously to the extent of publishing it along with background information about the number of Syrian refugees "who are close to the ruling regime" and who are currently in Russia, suggesting that they are the "foreigners" targeted by this law.

The repercussions of the news item did not stop here. A local electronic site published reactions to the news item under the headline "Saraya Receives Hundreds of Calls From Jordanians Wishing To Marry Russian Women…One Person Plans To Divorce Wife." The report said: "Saraya News Agency published a news item yesterday (Friday), which was carried by Arab and international agencies, to the effect that the head of the Russian Federation Council Against Spinsterhood in Russia said that the Russian Parliament is expected to discuss a controversial law next week concerning the marriage of Russians to foreigners. Saraya has received hundreds of calls from Jordanian citizens, inquiring about these conditions."

The news item added: "Saraya contacted the Russian Embassy in Amman; however, the information section confirmed that the person authorized to make statements was off today and that they would contact us tomorrow to clarify the details of the news."

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor, AKEED, reiterates that electronic news sites that publish such material, most often without knowing, or paying attention to the fact, that these are simply ironies, commit several professional and ethical mistakes. These include the weak practice of the rules of verifying sources since publishing the material as is without verifying the source, whether it is the source of this media material in full or verifying the sources within the media material itself, causes these mistakes.

AKEED had previously dealt with a similar case under the headline "Jameed Has Become Contraband: When It Turned From Satirical Art Into Press Item. This provides an example of how some sites find it easy to publish news material without verification, which confuses the reader and makes him lose confidence in the media outlet in question. ش