Making Radio Waves
by Bob Edwards
The Middle Eastern country of Jordan has become increasingly familiar to Americans. Tucked between Syria, Israel, The West Bank, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Jordan is located in the midst of an area that historically has suffered tremendous religious, political, cultural, economic and social strife. It’s not an area that is readily associated with the concept of freedom of speech, or with indigenous, independent media.
This summer, America became a little more familiar to some citizens of Jordan. And the reputation for strict government owned and operated media may be slowly changing.
In conjunction with the Princess Basma Youth Resource Center in Amman, Jordan and the International Journalism and Media Management Training (IJMMT) program, six Jordanian radio professionals arrived on Western Kentucky University’s campus in July to begin a three-week training session on producing “Autostrad” – a news-oriented radio program for their native country. While here, the Jordanian broadcasters had the opportunity to interact with some of WKU’s celebrated broadcasting staff and journalism school faculty, as well as some of the nation’s top news and media management professionals.
The visit by Jordanian journalists was a follow-up to a session in May in which Jerry Barnaby, program manager of the IJMMT, and Dr. Pam Johnson, director of the School of Journalism & Broadcasting, traveled to Jordan to participate in a workshop and training session with the Autostrad staff.
In August, the unit will begin producing the news program and market it to the growing number of independent radio stations in Jordan.
According to Barnaby, there has been progress in the area of media freedom and autonomy, but there is still a long way to go. Recently, two Jordanian journalists and an editor were jailed for their public position on the cartoon characterization of the prophet Mohammed. “There were two sets of laws for journalists in Jordan,” said Barnaby. “One is very oppressive still and journalists can not say certain things. The second, or more recent laws, are more moderate where journalists can be fined or fired, but not necessarily jailed”.
The IJMMT program is working with Yarmouk University in Jordan to build a community radio station and establish new curriculum standards for journalism there.
It’s gratifying to see WKU’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting participating as an agent for change halfway across the globe. The creation of a locally produced, independent news program in the Middle East creates hope that a democratic product can exist where it had been forbidden before.
WKU is on it’s way to fulfilling it’s mission of becoming “A leading American university with international reach” by making radio waves.
Bob Edwards is the assistant vice president for University Relations.
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