(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency)
Amman, Dec. 29 (Petra) – The Lower House Finance Committee, chaired by Nimer Sleihat, held a meeting on Sunday to discuss the 2025 budgets of the
Ministry of
government Communication, Jordan
radio and Television Corporation (JRTV), Jordan News Agency (Petra),
media Commission, and Al-Mamlaka TV.
Attending part of the meeting, Lower House Speaker, Ahmad Safadi, praised the genuine partnership between the Lower House of Parliament and both public and private media. He commended the media's role in conveying the Parliament's efforts accurately.
Safadi emphasized the committee's dedication to finalizing the 2025 general budget and submitting it to the Senate at the beginning of next month to expedite the allocation of funds for developmental projects.
For his part, Sleihat emphasized the importance of public media's role in conveying the correct news and achieving media transparency through constructive dialogue and enhancing communication, in line with the increase in participation on social media platforms.
He added that the Ministry of Government Communication budget amounted to about JD2 million, an increase of JD320,000, the budget of the Radio and Television Corporation about JD29 million, an increase of JD2.5 million, the budget of the Jordan News Agency JD3.2 million, an increase of JD312,000, and the budget of the Media Commission is JD1.5 million, an increase of JD216,000, mostly current expenditures, while the Al-Mamlaka TV allocations amounted to about JD10 million.
He demanded that the Finance Committee be briefed on the tasks of the Ministry of Government Communication and its national mission, its 2024 achievements and its goals in 2025, the adequacy of the financial allocation for JRTV, the impact of digitization on Petra's news articles, in addition to its 2024 achievements and its goals in 2025, and the Media Commission's 2024 achievements and its goals in 2025.
Minister of Government Communication and Government Spokesperson, Mohammed Momani, said that the Royal Directives and the directives of Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan are clear to guarantee the citizen's right to information and promote its smooth flow to the media with transparency and clarity.
Momani pointed out that the public media institutions are doing their duty despite the lack of financial resources, praising their national role and their keenness to deliver the state's messages and defend them against various challenges.
He added that the public media is keen to give a platform to national voices in a way that does not detract from the country's achievements, in addition to its important role in raising awareness and education about many national issues and projects.
Zaid Nawayseh, Secretary General of the Ministry of Government Communication, said that the ministry is working in cooperation with partners to enhance government efforts in the media and information education fields. The ministry conducted a series of educational seminars for government employees on this concept and its dimensions during the past year and will continue to hold these seminars during the coming year, based on its mission to spread media and information education because of its importance in countering rumors and hate speech.
He added that the ministry's budget is focused on completing its establishment and creating the appropriate conditions to implement its tasks and themes of the general policy of media and communication, pointing out the importance of focusing on the digital transformation of the media, which enhances its role in a world where the trend towards digitization is increasing.
For his part, JRTV Director General, Ibrahim Bawarid, said that the growth in the corporation's budget came to introduce a new system that links all systems within radio, television, broadcasting, and archives, which saves time and effort and accelerates achievement.
He added that during the past two years, the JRTV achieved a savings of JD1.3 million by obtaining a discount of more than 50 percent on satellite broadcasting.
Bawarid presented the corporation's key projects, including modernizing the entire news system, installing solar cells to save electricity, building a glass studio, and maintaining studios, noting the significant growth in JRTV's viewership on e-platforms, reaching 12.5 million followers.
For her part, Director General of the Jordan News Agency (Petra), Fayrouz Mubaidin, said that digital media plays a pivotal role in delivering information, promoting communication, and supporting innovation.
She emphasized the importance of developing integrated strategies that reflect the importance of digital transformation as a tool for positive change, in addition to developing effective operational plans.
She explained that digital transformation requires strategic investments and partnerships between the public and private sectors to ensure the sustainability of development and direct it towards achieving national goals.
Mubaidin pointed out that Petra has highly qualified cadres, explaining that news editing goes through several stages starting from sending it from the reporter, through editing, to broadcasting it on the general bulletin.
She pointed out that there is a shortage of human resources, and Petra is working to fill this gap through appointments during the coming year, noting that the agency's training center provides training opportunities for graduates, public sector employees, and university students, as the center provided 462 training opportunities during the current year.
The Media Commission Director General, Bashir Momani, said that national policies are a strategic tool that is developed in cooperation and partnership with various government agencies, namely the Ministries of Planning and International Cooperation and Government Communication, indicating that the commission plays a key role in developing social policies related to media resources and organizing this vital sector.
He added that the commission allows all nationalities to invest in the media sector, whether in satellite or print media.
He explained that the commission works to regulate the media sector under the Printing and Publishing and Audiovisual Media Laws, where the law is applied according to the media medium.
Jaafar Zoubi, Al-Mamlaka TV director general, said that the channel is a complement to Jordan's media arms, explaining that more than 50 to 60 of its employees have been recruited abroad.
Zoubi explained that the Gaza war took up a large part of the screen and social media platforms during 2024, in addition to focusing on Jordan's role as a supporter of its brothers in Gaza and the West Bank.
MENAFN29122024000117011021ID1109040167