AKEED, Husam Assal

Jordanian and Arabic sites carried a false story, which includes a statement allegedly made by Saudi Intelligence Chief Khaled Humaidan, in which he criticized Jordanian-Egyptian rapprochement with Russia in connection with the recent Astana talks to resolve the Syrian crisis. According to the story, Humaidan made the statement in an interview with the London-based newspaper Al Sharq Al Awsat. He reportedly lashed out at Jordan and Egypt because of their bid to have close ties with Russia while marginalizing Saudi Arabia, which, according to the story, would not ignore this act.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) checked the story, which, it appeared, was not published in Al Sharq Al Awsat. It called Mohammed Da"meh, correspondent of the newspaper in Jordan, who denied the story altogether, saying: "The story was falsely attributed to Al Sharq Al Awsat, which did not publish it at all." He added that a Jordanian government official had contacted him to verify whether the story was true or false.

The story was published by the Russian site Sputnik, which is affiliated with the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, on 11 February 2017 under the headline "Saudi Arabia Concerned Over Jordanian-Egyptian Close Ties With Russia." It was then removed from the site and published by a Jordanian news site under the headline "Saudi Arabia Concerned Over Jordanian-Russian Close Ties." It was then removed from the site. Two other electronic sites in Jordan published the story and did not remove it, using two sensational headlines.

The sites that published the story were lured by the sensational nature of the news without verifying its credibility. This could cause tension in relations between Saudi Arabia on the one hand and Jordan and Egypt on the other. Also, the two sites that published the story and then removed it did not apologize for its lack of credibility.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) had previously monitored the phenomenon of incorrect news, which it verified in many of its previous reports.

This violation is against the standard of accuracy and avoiding incorrect content, as well as the standard of fairness and integrity in reporting incidents without causing harm to the parties involved. This is part of the standards for verifying the credibility of press coverage. It is also a violation of the Press Code of Honor, which stresses the need for "not publishing unconfirmed, misleading, or distorted information," and observing accuracy, objectivity, and commitment to correcting erroneous information. According to the code, press establishments are obliged to offer an apology for the mistakes they make.