AKEED, Anwar Ziadat

A security source has refuted news published on Sunday, 16 April, about four naked young men who constantly terrorize motorists in Deir Alla and try to seize their vehicles during the evening after appearing all of a sudden in the middle of the road. The source noted that what happened was "an incident and not a phenomenon in the area of Deir Alla."

One news story, published on two websites in the same wording, stated that "at 8 pm on Saturday, 15 April, a number of persons tried to steal the car of a family on Arda-Deir Alla road. The persons attacked a pick-up truck carrying vegetables and started throwing these vegetables at other vehicles. Afterward, they attacked all vehicles traveling on Arda road."

Another site said: "Motorists tell many stories about looting attempts by unknown naked persons while they were driving their vehicles on the road between Amman and Deir Alla." The story added: "The Deir Alla security center received numerous complaints, reporting this incident, after many locals and others faced attempts at theft."

In the previous examples, the websites were satisfied with publishing information and incidents attributed to unknown persons, such as "citizens," "a lady," etc. without contacting the relevant agencies, which are the security agencies. This undermined the standard of balance and reflected lack of accuracy in the details of the story.

Meanwhile, other websites quoted the district officer of Deir Alla, Mohammed Habahbeh, as saying that investigations revealed that "four young men were drinking alcohol and got drunk. They started taking off their clothes without being aware of it. A quarrel broke out with the driver of the vehicle who was transporting them. The driver fled the scene and they tried to follow him on foot, but they failed. Some vehicles happened to be traveling on the road when the young men were drunk and standing in the middle of the street."

This story, with its different sources, received great attention from the local media under different headlines, such as: "Deir Alla: Four "Naked" Young Men Terrorize Motorists on Arda Road," "Search for Persons Causing Panic on Arda-Deir Alla Road," "Why Is Security Looking for Three Persons in Deir Alla?" "Security Looking for Four Drunk Persons Who Caused Panic in Deir Alla," and "Jordan Valley…Several Persons Causing Panic Arrested on Arda-Deir Alla Road." Most of them, however, carried sensationalist headlines, which exaggerated the incident, thus suggesting that Deir Alla was living in terror and panic.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) observed the news carried by social media sites. Many of the comments by persons identifying themselves as locals from the area denied the existence of a phenomenon or groups attacking vehicles on Arda-Deir Alla road.

Some websites also used an old picture without noting that it was an archival picture. The picture was taken in another country. This can be seen when looking closely at the picture as it shows a white cab with orange stripes at the front and back of the car. This is an explicit violation that affects the credibility of the story.

The AKEED Monitor stresses the need for commitment to the standards of accuracy and balance, dependence on reliable sources, and contacting concerned parties, especially on security issues. Inaccurate news has a negative effect on citizens and society in general. Also, explaining a picture is important so as to not let the public fall victim to deception, which is sometimes unintentional.