AKEED, Aya Khawaldeh

On 22 February, a Jordanian daily newspaper published a report headlined "Economic Violence…Men Pouncing on Ladies" Pockets," in which it relied on a press item published in the Lebanese newspaper Al Nahar in 2013. The report of the Jordanian newspaper contained two paragraphs that were copied verbatim, without referring to the source, from the original report published in the Lebanese newspaper under the subhead "Financial Independence." The original report had 90 words, while the Jordanian newspaper report contained 71 words.

The following is the text of the two paragraphs from the original source:

1. Studies on the financial behavior of women here agree that working women participate effectively in covering family expenses. Three quarters of women contribute 50% or more. This is particularly the case of middle income households. This means that women"s work definitely contributes to the welfare of the household.
2. Most working women participate in covering the expenses of their households, with full satisfaction, while some of them feel that this is unfair, especially since some husbands register major assets, such as cars or apartments, in their names and exclude their wives. Some women are not allowed to spend their salaries freely. Very few dare to hide a part of their money from their husbands.

The Jordanian Media Credibility Monitor (AKEED) verified the information and figures in the report. It turned out that the information provided in the report about a study on the financial behavior of women was contained in an article by Azzah Shararah Baidoun on 7 April 2013 in Al Nahar newspaper headlined "Work of Lebanese Women: Profiting Them and Others." It was published by a number of Lebanese news sites at the time.

The writer relied on the results of Lebanese studies carried out on limited samples. These studies concluded that Lebanese working women participate effectively in covering the expenses of their families and that three quarters of them contribute 50% or more. This is the percentage offered by the Jordanian report and associated with the situation of women in general.

Besides, the writer of the article stated that the study could not be generalized because it was conducted on a limited sample and that she was not aware of the source of the study or the party that supervised it. She said: "I relied in my article on the results of Lebanese studies conducted on limited samples. This is what I assume. My assumption needs proof."

The other professional violation committed by the newspaper involves publishing 170 words, copied verbatim from a study conducted by Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI)-Jordan and published by local media outlets on 28 May 2014 under the headline "Deception and Blackmail To Seize Wives" Salaries." It spoke about the figures of the Department of Statistics concerning Jordanian women in 2013. The newspaper did not indicate the date of the study. The content of the report suggests that the newspaper had contacted SIGI-Jordan and held a conversation with them about the issue.

By visiting the website of SIGI-Jordan, AKEED established that it published a report in January 2017 based on a study conducted by the Association of Banks in Jordan in 2016 with the approval of the Central Bank of Jordan. The study indicated that 108,000 women had taken loans from banks, accounting for 19% of borrowers, who total 565,000. This study is more recent and should have been cited instead.

The AKEED Monitor had revealed in previous reports this recurrent phenomenon of republishing old material and presenting it as recent coverage and reporting old studies and figures as new or plagiarizing entire paragraphs from old reports. This conduct violates the Press Code of Honor in terms of abiding by objectivity and high professional accuracy. It is also a violation of Article 9, Paragraph C, of the Code, which stipulates that journalists shall exercise "the maximum degree of objectivity in "attributing" the material published by the press to its sources and mentioning the source of each press item or text that is published. They may not make attributions to anonymous sources unless it achieves a public objective or interest or if it is impossible to obtain information except in this manner."

Furthermore, this conduct runs counter to "Standards for Verifying Credibility of Press Coverage," particularly the standard of accuracy by always attributing opinions to their sources, placing quotes within the context in which a statement or opinion is made, and not making attributions to collective sources except in limited cases in which expression is collective, clear, and public. It also involves the standard of clarity by referring to archival content and providing its date, and not presenting old content as new.

Details of Plagiarism                                        

The paragraph below refers to the paragraph published in the Lebanese article, which was based on a study related to Lebanese women:

The below photo is of the report published in the Jordanian newspaper:

As for the information published and attributed to SIGI-Jordan concerning a study it conducted in 2013, below is the text published in the newspaper report: 

By going back to the study conducted by SIGI-Jordan and published in the media in 2014, below is the plagiarized part: