The Reports of Ammannet are Independent – a Rarity in the Arab World

A white office building in the Jordanian capital, surrounded by inconspicuous looking office-entrances and some low-key import-export shops. Nothing tells the visitor that the voices behind the closed door on the fourth floor can be heard throughout the entire country. This is where AmmanNet resides – the first independent, uncensored and democratic (internet-) radio in the Arab world.

Around 25 young journalists, almost none of them older than 28, are sitting in front of their computers, editing audio and setting up the news. Inside the capital, AmmanNet can be received terrestrial on 92,4 FM .

“Many Arab radio stations report without interviewing witnesses or the persons involved”, says Daoud Kuttab. “But we instead set a high value on credibility and give the concerned persons the possibility to have his words recorded. That is the only way to avoid that news are hidden, changed or simply made-up; which is unfortunately sometimes the case in our region, when a station’s program follows the request of governments.”

Daoud Kuttab has founded the internet radio channel; a white haired Palestinian with chirpy brown eyes and a pointed beard. The 55-year old former professor for journalism in Princeton nowadays also teaches young Palestinians at the Al-Quds University in Ramallah.

Six days of the week he spends at the Radio al Balad/AmmanNet newsroom; underneath a picture that shows him with Jordan’s King Abdullah and a certificate that displays Daoud Kuttab as the “hero of press freedom”.

In one corner Ernie and Bert of “Sesame Street” huddle against each other. “We produce the Palestinian version”, explains Kuttab –

He takes a lot pride in AmmanNet, for which he gained the German media prize at Leipzig in 2003. UNESCO, the Institute for Open Society and some western NGO’s support the project financially.

“This is one of our best staff members”, he introduces a colleague with a peach coloured veil while strolling through the hallway of the station. “She is young, but tough. Some men  are afraid of her.”

The young journalist smiles meekly. She has researched cases at the Jordan valley, where the owners of large farms literally cut the smaller farmers off the water. The news came on AmmanNet – bringing no joy to the influential farmers. But at the end of the day they had to give in.

The Priority goes to the Local News – an Innovation

Kuttab’s young crew investigates grievances, from the missing waste disposal to the corruption occurring at some dubious oil businesses with Iraq. The speciality: There is always a local reference. AmmanNet doesn’t want to talk about world politics, the conflict in the Middle East or similar topics, but broadcasts news locally researched.

“The Arab governments are afraid of local reports. They run away from them like they run away from the devil; they escape to Lebanon, Palestine, Australia or Guatemala. No matter where, essential is that it is as far away as possible. They do it because they want to avoid raising local problems as a topic. When we started our radio, we knew: The priority has to go to local news.”

This is the difference to Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya: the main Arab channels cover world issues and represent quite often a critical point of view. But when it comes to their own country, they are in bonds and not allowed to say much. The rulers of the Gulf or Saudi Arabia prefer to be treated softly and don’t want journalists to harm their image.

Kuttab knows of the thin line of freedom inside the Arab world. And he is also aware that one needs to take a chance whenever it is possible. When he covered the corruption inside the Palestinian Authority in 1996, Arafat’s police threw him into prison. But at the beginning of 2000, it was his time. When he was visiting a media conference in Amman, the Jordanian minister of information gloated over the vision of Jordan  as a hub for a free online media landscape – competing with Beirut and Dubai.

Kuttab took him at his word: Would it be possible to get a license for an independent internet radio? And at the end of 2000, AmmanNet was online  for the first time.

What is the Queen thinking? She twitters

“Maybe some regret to have given us the license”, Kuttab assumes sitting behind his desk, “but they cannot take it away. By doing this, they would cast a negative light on media freedom in Jordan, a country trying hard to open up to Western tourism and to market its heritage.”

In the meantime, AmmanNet has become something like an institution of democracy. Young journalists monitor the meetings of parliament and keep records on which parliamentarian has attended, who never takes part and how many talked at all - outrageous in an Arab country – and the members of parliament felt attacked.

A few years ago, a young journalist called the parliament “a house of donkeys”. Thereupon the government withdrew the right of live coverage. Until now, Kuttab is fighting for broadcasting again from the parliament. And he is full of hope for a new minister of information.

And the Queen? What does she think about the radio? “Everybody knows that Queen Rania twitters quite often and that she is one of the biggest fans of the new media”, explains Sawsan Zaidah, the editor-in-chief. “She likes the technology young people use. Sometimes she even comments on local blogs. “

Kuttab is convinced that quality radio is the “future of journalism in this region”. He adds that most satellite channels are owned by foreign companies, at home the state runs the media as a  monopoly the media and one can find a strange relationships between business and the media sector.

The future? Is there a chance for a free radio to develop? Kuttab reflects on this. With a few hundred dollars for a microphone and suitable software for editing, he says, everybody nowadays can broadcast. And there will definitely be enough people who listen to it: “During the evenings we cannot compete with television, but radio is definitely the king of the day.”

And the king of the day is recruiting good employees. “We have had many interns from Saudi Arabia or the Gulf states.” Kuttab says, “The young colleagues take their work very serious. They take it as a privilege.” It’s a new generation of Arab journalists, who have grown up with laptops and flash records. They learn how to handle the technology in less than half an hour.

Kuttab sees himself just at the beginning. He is encouraging the creation of online stations in Syria, Yemen and in Morocco.