AMAN Organizes a Workshop on “Palestinian Official
Media: Its Current Situation and Needs for Combating
Corruption”
March 16, 2006
The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity – AMAN
had organized a workshop in Ramallah on “Palestinian
Official Media: Its Current Status and Needs for
Combating Corruption”.
Journalist and academics who attended the workshop
stressed the importance of issuing legislations that
regulate the work of the media and protects the rights
of the journalists. They also recommended that each
Ministry should have an activated website that would
allow for the public to access information freely and
easily. They also stressed the need for capacity
building and training for journalists.
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, PLC Member and Board Director
MIFTAH, spoke of the initiation of AMAN Coalition as a
Palestinian initiative for setting a comprehensive
reform program that aims at combating corruption and
promoting integrity and accountability in the
Palestinian society. She added that AMAN was able
through its hard work within the Palestinian society to
gain recognition and to become the national chapter for
Transparency International; an international
organization that works on combating corruption
worldwide. Dr. Ashrawi raised some questions regarding
official media in Palestine noting that contemporary
media has transcended the traditional concept and became
a real intellectual and cultural interaction process
within societies. She stressed that the concept of
official media is an expression of the citizens’ rights
in accessing information which helps in disseminating
transparency and integrity concepts within a society.
She also spoke of the professional dimensions of
journalism such as the immunity and protection of
journalists. She said that in order to provide
journalists with a wider space for freedom of
expression, laws and legislations should be revised. She
also mentioned that there is the idea of establishing a
Council for Official Media to include journalists and
academics to act as reference body for official media.
Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, General Coordinator, AMAN Coalition
pointed to the fact that official media is not seriously
discussed in Palestine. He added that lately the
Palestinian Authority delegated the Acting Prime
Minister to draft a comprehensive vision for Palestinian
official media. However, that attempt was obstructed by
the latest PLC elections and a struggle between the two
PLC major parties (Fatah and Hamas) over the issue has
started.
Dr. Ahmad Soboh, Deputy Minister of Media, spoke of the
Ministry’s achievement in developing the legal framework
for official media in Palestine. He pointed to the fact
that the Basic Law clearly ensures freedom of speech and
expression. The law also guarantees the free
establishment of media institutions in Palestine and
prohibits illegal control over their work. He stated
that currently there are 28 radio stations in the West
Bank and 9 in Gaza. There are also 32 TV stations in the
West Bank. He stated the Ministry has tried to play a
coordination role among the different media institutions
yet their experience failed. Instead there was a
suggestion of establishing a National Official Media
Council in Palestine.
Dr. Ali Khahsan, Secretary General of the Palestinian
Constitution Formulation Committee spoke of different
international views on official media. Some provide it
with absolute freedom; others put limitations on it and
force it to work in coherence with the political system
of the country. Official media in Palestine follows the
Palestinian Basic Law. However, he pointed to the
discrepancy between the Basic Law and the Publication
Law. Therefore, he stressed the need for amending the
latter.
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