AKEED, Osama Rawajfeh

A meeting held by the Jordan Press Association (JPA) Council with Mohammad Daoudia, chairman of the board of directors of Al Dustour newspaper, has prompted the latter to drop a deal that the newspaper had concluded with a company for the purchase of a car in the name of the board chairman and paying its price by the newspaper, according to an announcement made by JPA President Rakan Saaideh. In a statement to AKEED, Saaideh said that the purchase of the vehicle, whether done in good faith or bad faith, was unacceptable, especially in light of the living conditions of fellow workers at Al Dustour newspaper. He announced that the JPA had reached an agreement with the management of the newspaper to pay two salaries for the staff before Eid al-Fitr.

The car bought by Mohammad Daoudia, chairman of the board of directors of Al Dustour, around 20 days after he was appointed to the post, has again focused attention on the question of the financial crisis the newspaper has been suffering for several years. Due to the crisis, journalists and staff of the newspaper have not received their salaries for periods up to 14 months.

The story began when a letter addressed by the general manager of the newspaper--Mohammad Daoudia was elected chairman of its board of directors on 23 April--to an automobile company was leaked. The letter spoke about buying a car and registering it in the name of the chairman of the board of directors and holding the newspaper liable for the entire cost in the form of advertisements to be published by the company in the newspaper. The letter generated reactions after its details were published on some news sites.

The letter stated categorically that the cost of the car would be paid by Al Dustour newspaper in the form of advertisements by the company. Daoudia denied this in a post on his Facebook page, which was reported by news sites. He said: "I am above all suspicions…some people have circulated a letter issued by Al Dustour newspaper signed by the general manager to buy a car for me. Some people tried to depict the letter of the purchase order as if it were an order to purchase a car for me at the expense of Al Dustour and from the money of Al Dustour, which has no liquidity. Since when do newspapers, companies, and institutions buy cars and give them free of charge to the chairpersons of boards of directors, general managers, and chief editors? I bought a car for myself and at my personal expense, which cost 30300 dinars."

He added in his post: "I agreed to buy a car worth 30300 dinars in exchange for advertisements to be published by Al Dustour, and I signed an agreement with Al Dustour to deduct the value of these advertisements in full (30300) from my monthly salary at a rate of 1000 dinars a month. The upshot of this is that Al Dustour gained advertisements worth 30300 dinars."

The clarification by Daoudia did not end the crisis; it generated further reactions. The staff of the newspaper issued a statement, in which they attacked the chairman of the board of directors and the general manager of the newspaper and called for their departure. They said in the statement that they were "shocked at the continuation of administrative and financial mishandling by successive managements of the newspaper." They added that at a time when "a large number of workers have not received their salaries for three months in a row, we find that the management has paid itself all the salaries on the basis of cronyism and favoritism without any regard for any fair, ethical standard."

The recently elected JPA Council held a meeting to discuss the crisis in light of the protests by workers in the newspaper. The Council issued a "calm" statement, which did not speak about the car. However, it asked for paying the overdue salaries of fellow workers for 14 months in two installments, the first before the holy month of Ramadan, and the second after Eid al-Fitr.

In a press release, the Council noted that it held an emergency session on Saturday evening to discuss developments in the crisis at Al Dustour. It underlined its full support for the interests and rights of fellow workers at the newspaper to ensure the stability of the establishment and protecting the rights of workers in it.

Journalists and workers in Al Dustour every now and then protest financial conditions at the newspaper and the fact that they have not received their salaries. The last such move was a sit-in staged in the middle of 2013 to put pressure on the management of the newspaper to pay them their salaries and replace the management to ensure improving the conditions of the newspaper in the future.

Clearly, the letter addressed by the newspaper to the automobile company was genuine. The clarification offered by the chairman of the board of directors was also genuine. It clarified what was not specified in the first letter that was posted on news sites. However, some journalists say that the fact that the chairman of the board of directors purchased a car based on this arrangement under the current circumstances is what angered workers in the newspaper.