AMMAN — The
Jordan Media Institute (JMI) launched
a training program for government spokespersons, starting with a series of
workshops as part of a capacity building program that coincides with political
and administrative reforms undertaken by the government and serving as a key
component in upgrading and modernizing the government apparatus.
اضافة اعلان
The training program, according to Minister of State
for Media Affairs and government spokesperson
Faisal Shboul, will help provide
“rapid and direct response” to events taking place around the clock, and
deliver to the media and to the public readily available information with the
various government institutions. It also aims to curb false and incorrect news,
hate speech and stop the violation of personal privacy, “all of which have
become common practice in some news and social media platforms”, Shboul said at
the opening of the program at JMI headquarters.
“This is a new phase in government PR performance,
during which officials in charge of communicating messages to the public will
be performing more professionally as they address reports, rumors, and fake
news,” said Shboul.
Through a set of
activities, using modern high tech equipment, provided by the UN Development
Program (
UNDP), government spokespersons will be trained on effective
communication with the public, media strategy preparation, how to deliver a
press conference and address broadcast outlets as well as crisis management.
The capacity building program is organized in
partnership between the JMI and the UNDP with the participation of
distinguished media professionals, politicians and communication experts.
Deputy UNDP Representative in Jordan Majeda Assaf
said government spokespersons play an important role in delivering information
to the public, “information that must be based on clear and accurate data and
presented with full transparency.” She said the UNDP seeks to enhance “bridges
of confidence between government and citizen, and to combat hate speech and
extremism, stop rumors and the tendency to deny others’ achievements.”
JMI’s Dean Merna Abu Zeid stressed that the
institute will field seasoned experts in the media from Jordan and abroad to
provide the training, with focus on the aspect of crisis management and honing
the skills of government PR officials to better communicate their respective
agencies’ messages to the public.
Speaking to
Jordan News on the sidelines of
the event, Shboul underlined the “challenge” faced by government institutions
of fake news and harmful rumors, saying “the training program will help the
relevant people to respond swiftly to nip them in the bud.”
He acknowledged that the flow of information between
officials and the media “is a very old issue”, stressing that professional and
skillful journalists perform better when they are able to swiftly and
accurately obtain the information they need to build their stories.
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