AKEED, Husam Assal

Several Jordanian electronic sites and local newspapers have been busy with news about the "ban" of the film "Blessed Benefit" at local movie theaters. The media outlets that handled the story have fallen into the trap of showing bias toward one party at the expense of the other. Meanwhile, other media outlets have handled the story objectively.

The story began with a statement issued by film director Mahmoud Al Massad on 20 February 2017, in which he said that the Jordan Media Commission "banned the screening of Blessed Benefit at commercial movie theaters after rejecting, and expressing reservations over, the majority of its scenes." He added that "the ban has to do with some scenes, which the Media Commission said undermine state authority," as he put it.

This statement was enough for many media outlets to report on the case. The coverage clearly excluded the other party, against which accusations have been made. Thus, these media outlets have not observed the standards of balance in presenting views and conveying information equally and without any judgment or evaluation.

Other electronic sites published news to the effect that the film was banned based on a decision by the Media Commission, according to Al Massad"s statement, without going back to the other party, which is the Media Commission, and seeking clarifications from it and giving it the right to reply to the statement. Also, one of the daily newspapers published an article, which criticized the decision of the Media Commission.  

Meanwhile, a daily newspaper published a report on the subject, which presented the views of both parties to the case. Thus, it gave the Media Commission the right to reply and offer clarifications. It also inquired from the director of the film about the details of the case. This practice achieves objectivity and accuracy in reporting news and other issues to public opinion.

AKEED has observed, while following the case, that an electronic site handled the story in two separate items. The first item carried the headline "Jordan Bans Screening of Blessed Benefit Film," depending on the statement by film director Al Massad. On the second day, the site ran another story headlined "Media Commission: We Have Not Banned Blessed Benefit Film," in which it gave Mohammed Qtaishat, director of the Media Commission, the right to reply and clarify the situation.  

Numerous websites published statements by Qtaishat, in which he denied the issuance of any ban decision by the commission. This was either through calling Qtaishat directly or reporting what was published by other sites.

The AKEED Monitor contacted both parties to the case. Director Mahmoud Al Massad explained that he had not submitted an official request to the Media Commission for screening the film and that contact was initially made with the Royal Film Commission, which spoke to the Media Commission about this via email. Then, Al Massad visited the Media Commission in person, saying: "I was surprised that there was a printed decision to ban the screening of the film." When he requested a copy of the ban decision, the commission refused to give him a copy," as he put it.

Al Massad added that the commission had reservations over some scenes of the film and considered them damaging to the Jordan Customs and the image of judges. He said that he would submit an official request to the Media Commission so as to have the film screened at movie theaters in Jordan.

In a call with AKEED, Mohammed Qtaishat, director of the Media Commission, explained that the commission had not banned the screening of the film and had not received any official request in this regard. He denied the existence of a printed decision banning the screening in Jordan and that the commission had refused to give Al Massad a copy, saying that this "has never happened."

Qtaishat added that the film was not screened at the Media Commission for the purposes of official evaluation and that an official request has to be made through the owner of the intellectual property rights or through the movie theaters that wish to screen it in order to evaluate the film and make a decision on its screening. He said that "this is the case in all countries."