Monday, 1 June 2016

AKEED

Some Jordanian media outlets insist on misleading readers through the use of attractive and eye-catching headlines, which are extremely sensational and bizarre. In this case, the content of the news report completely contradicts the headline, in an unethical practice that conflicts with the main function of the profession of journalism; namely, to provide clear and accurate information to the public. 

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) gave examples of these headlines in many of its reports, which it published recently.  However, the new development is that dozens of electronic sites carried a news item on an incident that occurred in Brazil, using a headline that suggests that it took place in Jordan. On 30 and 31 May 2015, these sites carried a report headlined "MPs Watch Porn Movie Under the Dome (Pictures)," which is a shocking headline that is greatly sensational and bizarre. This headline makes the reader believe that the incident happened in Jordan, while the content reveals that this occurred in Brazil. This reflects a professional and ethical violation, according to the standards that AKEED uses in evaluating the content produced by the Jordanian media.

The report said: "Cameras inside the hall of the Brazilian Parliament captured an MP while he was stealthily watching a porn movie on his mobile phone during a parliamentary session. The MP was not satisfied with this; he asked fellow MPs sitting next to him, and behind him, to watch with him."

On Saraya News, which published the same headline, readers of the news item totaled more than 22,500. This headline was also carried on pages of social media. Here, we should note that social media pages show the headline, but not the content.

Publishing the news under this headline violates professional standards vis-à-vis press headlines, most important of which is that they must reflect and indicate the material in question and that they must not promote or incite hate. This example promotes hate toward the Lower House of Parliament.   

The AKEED Monitor can confirm that this headline violates the standards of clarity, which must apply to news items and headlines as headlines are part of the news material. This can be achieved by avoiding concepts and expressions that could be interpreted in different ways. Besides, the material, including the headline, must be specific and clear in mentioning incidents, persons, and names.  

The Monitor, which attaches great importance to credibility, indicates that the headline is part of the news item and that it has characteristics that the press must observe to convey the truth to the reader without deception or distortion. These include:

- Avoiding sensationalism at the expense of accuracy because this will make the reader doubt the credibility of the media outlet when he reads similar headlines in the future, even if the headlines were correct afterward.

- Simplicity and clarity, away from misleading or vague meanings.

- Indicating clearly the news material that will follow it. Also, the headline must be related to the content.

- Harmony between it and the nature of the news item. The headline of a serious piece of news is different from the headlines of light or entertaining news. Also, there should be harmony between the headline and the nature of the newspaper in which the news item is published, such as the accidents page, art news, and others.