Media experts and civil society activists have recommended in a workshop held in Amman Wednesday to introduce the concept of solution journalism as part of the media ecosystem.

Daoud Kuttab director general of Community Media Network which organized the workshop believes that the digital revolution has created a huge gap that has brought about this new concept. “We have major powerful media outlets and a huge number of small media platforms and it is necessary that something needs to be done to bypass the sensational clickbait content.” Kuttab called on civil society and media not to limit themselves with uncovering problems. “We have an obligation to provide options for solving these problems and also reporting on the effects of these options from all angles.”

Former minister Asma Khader said that Solution Journalism comes at the right time to put an institutional and ideological framework for things we have been doing and working on for some time. “For some time, we have done things that look like solution journalism but we never had a framework or a mechanism to apply this and to work on it.”

Etaf Roudan director of Radio al Balad and project manager of media empowerment program said that “Jordan is in severe need today of this kind of media that supports development efforts and accomplishes the general goals of Jordan.”

Workshop participants listened to a video by David Bornstein the head of Solution Journalism who introduced the concept and ways to apply it. In addition to the video, presentations were given by Ghada Ammar from Roya TV, Zeina Hamdan from Riwaq Institute, Hiba Jowhar director of Farah el Nas Radio, and Mohammad Zawahreh from Naya Institute in Zarqa.

Participants discussed four aspects of solution journalism namely: content built on reality on the ground, character driven media, creative ideas, and solution options.

Among the recommendations of the participants were the call for more training and awareness-raising in the area of solution journalism, increase in the number of journalists especially among youth and outside the capital.

The workshop was organized by Community Media Network Supporting Civil Society through Media program which is funded by the European Union in partnership with Sisterhood Is Global Institute-Jordan, Information, and Research Center, Community Media Solutions and AMARC Association of Community Media.

Community Media Network is a not for profit media NGO established in 2007 with the aim of using media to empower disenfranchised communities. CMN runs Radio al Balad and AmmanNet website.