AKEED, Aya Khawaldeh

Ro"ya news site spread fears among citizens after publishing breaking news yesterday evening under the headline "Intelligence Foils Plot To Target Army in Zarqa and Declare Wilaya for Daesh in Maan." This prompted a judicial source to issue an official statement, dispelling these fears and confirming that the news was old and that there was nothing new in it except the fact that the Court of Cassation had issued a ruling a month before, upholding the verdicts handed down against the persons involved in the case, which dates back to 2015.

The site suggested to readers, through the headline, which was carried by local and Arab news sites, that there was a new terrorist cell that had been foiled by the General Intelligence recently since the news was published under the banner "breaking news." The headline did not refer to the court ruling, thus misleading readers and raising their fears.

The body of the news item is old and was published previously. It states that four accused persons were handed down a 15-year prison sentence with temporary hard labor for plotting terrorist operations against some military headquarters in Zarqa in favor of the terror group Daesh in Syria. The proceedings of the case date back to 2015.

The website of the TV station published the original news under the headline "Intelligence Foils Plot To Target Army in Zarqa and Declare Wilaya for Daesh in Maan" at 8:45 pm. Around half an hour later (9:14), the news had details and the following headline was used "Court of Cassation Upholds Hard Labor Verdict Against Four Jordanians Who Plotted To Target Militray Headquarters in Zarqa."  The website published a news item at 11:17 pm, in which it quoted the statement made by a judicial source to the effect that "media reports about foiling terrorist plots are old."

Fellow journalist Mohammed Khalidi, news director at Ro"ya TV, said that "the mistake by the editor is unintentional. The mistake is that it was not breaking news and that the headline misled readers and was not appropriate for the content since the news included a ruling by the Court of Cassation upholding the verdict of the State Security Court regarding a number of persons accused of plotting military operations in Jordan."

In a statement to AKEED, Khalidi referred to "the measures taken by the channel 15 minutes after publishing the breaking news. The headline was modified and the story was published in full. Also, the words "Court of Cassation" were added to the headline. The story was posted at 8:47 pm and was modified at 9:05 pm.

The website apologized the next day under the headline "Apology by Ro"ya News Site," in which it said: "At exactly 8:47 pm on 30 May 2017, Ro"ya news site published a story with a headline that contained unacceptable mistakes. The story referred to an incident as if it had happened the moment the story was published, while it was only a ruling by the Court of Cassation. Also, the story was understood in a different context because of its headline. This generated comments by many of our esteemed readers."

Ro"ya site added that "it was an individual mistake. Ro"ya reiterates pride in, and respect for, all citizens, specifically the people of Maan. It also confirms that it has taken administrative action against the person who mishandled the story."

Many other media outlets fell into the trap when they published the story with the same headline. This includes a daily newspaper and a number of news sites. Some of these sites modified the headline, while others kept it unchanged.

In this context, the Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) stresses, based on the standards used in measuring ethical professionalism, that the headline must be clear and related to the story and reflective of it. It must also refer to the content of the story and must not promote or incite hatred.

As for publishing court rulings in the media, AKEED confirms that court rulings may be published. When publishing them, the story must begin by saying that "such-and-such court has issued a ruling." In this case, the publishing and the issuance of the ruling must be simultaneous.

Moreover, news about foiling an operation must come from official sources. When the court issues a verdict, there must be a reference to the court ruling. It cannot be published as if the event were new. Using a misleading headline is a legal and professional violation that contradicts accuracy in reporting news.

This story violates the Press Code of Honor. Article 9 states the following: "The mission of journalism requires accuracy and objectivity, and its practice requires confirming the accuracy of information and news before publishing it." It is also a violation of the Standards of Verification of the Credibility of Press Coverage, including accuracy by avoiding incorrect content and incomplete information because lacking some information distorts facts. In addition, information should be reported as received from the source exactly without any addition or deletion. The same applies to the standard of balance in reporting information and citing sources equally and without any judgment or assessment, as well as the standard of balance in the use of language away from exaggeration.