Two Tourists Die in Dead Sea…Incomplete Story and Analyses Without Information

  • 2017-04-23
  • 12

AKEED

On Wednesday, 19 April, and Thursday, 20 April, electronic sites published preliminary investigations into the death of two tourists at a hotel in the Dead Sea (American woman, 56) and (Romanian man, 76). Meanwhile, Issa Gammoh, secretary general of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, denied to AKEED that the committee had issued any results.

Last Thursday, 20 April, an electronic site published a news item under the headline "Incident in Dead Sea…Stroke and Drowning in Sea, and Not in Swimming Pool," in which it indicated that the results of preliminary investigations showed that "the first tourist died of a stroke, while the second died as a result of diving in the Dead Sea by mistake when his head brushed against a salty rock." The website noted that "the hotel has reopened for business based on a decision by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities."

Gammoh confirmed to AKEED that the beach area at the hotel was still closed, pending a final decision by the committee. Thus, he denied that the hotel has been reopened, saying that a year ago, the Ministry set rules for the use of swimming pools at hotels and other tourist facilities. These rules require that safety features be available before the facility is licensed.

It is noticed that news coverage of this incomplete incident jumped from providing information that answers the key questions to trying to explain how the death occurred and where it occurred by depending on analysis and explanation, i.e. opinions, although the investigating agencies have so far not issued any information that answers these questions.

This was not the only flaw in the handling by different media outlets of the incident. In an item that confuses news with commentary and opinion and that includes inaccurate information, an electronic site reported on the "drowning" of the two tourists under the headline "Disaster Hits the Dead Sea…Two Tourists Die Within 24 Hours. This reflects sensationalism and exaggerates the incident by describing it as a disaster.

The news item included comments by the woman writer on the incident without commitment to the elements of professionalism, which dictate reporting the incident from its sources in an objective manner. These comments included "tragedy and shock in the form of a disaster that shook the Dead Sea area and Jordan as a whole," "Dead Sea again dominates TVs and news as killer of foreign tourists," and "is the five-star hotel a remote pool in a canal or an abandoned pool at one of the dams?"

Other electronic sites handled the incident with more moderate headlines that reflected the content of the news. However, some of them carried fallacies and inaccurate information on the nationality and gender of one of the two persons who drowned in a swimming pool at the hotel. Meanwhile, the website of a daily newspaper quoted a security source as saying that the Romanian tourist had died of a stroke while swimming.

Moreover, electronic sites differed over the decision of Lina Annab, minister of tourism and antiquities, to close down the hotel "temporarily until the investigation into the two incidents of drowning is completed." Some of them considered the word "temporary" to mean closure of the hotel, including all its facilities, for a period of time until the decision of the investigation committee is issued, while others considered it partial closure of the hotel facilities, suggesting that the hotel will continue to receive guests. This issue was settled by the secretary general of the ministry, in his statement to AKEED, by saying that the beach areas of the hotel would remain closed.

In addition, some electronic sites mentioned the name of the owner of the hotel, while "implicitly" holding him partly responsible because of what they described as "lack of safety features." Other sites and media outlets refrained from mentioning the name of the owner despite mentioning the name of the hotel, which also witnessed the death of two persons last year, according to another daily newspaper.

AKEED notes that it is necessary to make a distinction between different journalistic arts and formats when reporting news since a news story should be reported objectively by journalists, while other journalistic formats allow for criticism and analysis, but responsibility will fall on the writer since these formats express his own opinion only.

Besides, information should be reported accurately, especially when news has to do with the death of persons in different incidents so as not to cause concern for the families of victims and the story would not be used to hurt persons and blame them before the results of investigations into any incident are issued. This is meant to avoid character assassination of businessmen since their reputation is directly connected with their business.

Covering incidents at tourist areas requires special journalistic sensitivity. Such coverage could harm public interests and the national economy since the tourism industry is largely and directly affected by reputation. At the same time, media outlets must not abandon their task of protecting the right of society to know what is happening. This requires that Jordanian media outlets develop clear and transparent editorial policies in handling incidents in tourist areas.

The AKEED Monitor had published a report on the death of the child, Eziddin Oweiwi, and his mother, Cerine Shawar, of poisoning at a Dead Sea hotel under the headline "Deaths in Dead Sea: Media Succeeds in Turning Them Into Public Opinion Issue and Is Quick To Pass Judgment." In the report, the AKEED Monitor cautioned of the influence of distorted reporting of such news on the tourism sector in the Kingdom, especially with the approach of the summer season, which witnesses the arrival of expatriates and Arab communities in the capital and other Jordanian cities.