This post. Is carefully worded. Because words. Still matter.
They put you in a small room. Very small. No cell phone. No keys. Just walls. They send a soldier every now and then. He pretends to be your friend. He asks stupid questions. You give him stupid answers. They wait for you to get […]

I know it might feel a bit redundant after the past few days of picking on the subject extensively, but today there seems to be an overkill of news on our favorite topic.
First, a new study.
Around 46 per cent of the Kingdom’s journalists believe that the status of press freedoms did not change last year, […]

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. - Walt Whitman
Well today is World Press Freedom Day, and there’s not much for me to say that hasn’t already been said on the Black Iris before. So I will spare everyone the […]

…flow my tears, the policeman said…
A study released on Thursday revealed that though many Jordanians support media freedoms, a majority support government restrictions when it comes to destabilising issues.
In the study, performed by WorldPublicOpinion.org and supported and coordinated by the Centre for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, 78 per cent of respondents agreed […]

HM Queen Rania’s latest YouTube video attempts to showcase the evolution of women, specifically in Jordan. It presents a series of jobs and/or roles that women have taken on in the Kingdom.

I agree that we’ve come along way, and that’s an accomplishment that deserves to be highlighted because there are many women who have broken […]

A few of my delicious pickings from the past few days. Pay particular attention to the more new-media-meets-real-world articles on Facebook and Flickr. I really found those interesting. Makes the world feel a bit smaller than it is.
Staring Contest: An Italian man was given a suspended jail sentence for staring too intensely at a […]

A video grab shows the last frame of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana before he was fatally wounded by an Israeli shell whilst working in the Gaza Strip April 16, 2008. Shana, a 23-year-old Palestinian, died after he stepped from his vehicle, apparently to film Israeli forces positioned several hundred metres (yards) away. Soundman, Wafa Abu […]

As Fox News creates a documentary on President Bush, The Daily Show’s John Oliver produces a documentary on Fox News. It’s both fair and balanced:
Part 1:

Part 2:

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When the international media focuses mainly on elections in African countries and the Tibet issue, you know it’s been a really slow news week.
Sad, but true, no?

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Arabian Business published its 100 Most Influential Arabs list, and only 3 Jordanians made the cut. Wadah Khanfar, who runs Al Jazeera (all of it) at only 38 years old, is ranked 8th, while Fadi Ghandour of Aramex ranks 82. Emad Hajjaj however, is a new entry on the list, and now ranks 43, with […]

Despite my own daily rounds of the online world, I unfortunately missed an important event that took place a few weeks back on March 12th, and I’m kind of disappointed in myself. But I suppose, it’s better late than never, right? Well, apparently, on March 12th, a very interesting initiative took place, as Reporters Without […]

Let me put aside the obvious shocking factor of being utterly disgusted by the event (is there a way to be shocked and yet not surprised), but there is something that interests me here and that’s the international media’s reaction. Did anyone notice that this crime took place in August of 2007 and is only […]

Ammon has been reporting about a book written by an Iraqi author, called “The Rain of God”, which seems to “insult God” and has slipped Jordanian censors and made its way onto the market. It’s kind of ironic because I’ve never seen Ammon so much in favor of censorship! What makes this more interesting, is […]

Entitled the “Sarhan Well” - with the word sarhan meaning “daydreaming” as well as the name of the oil well in the valley known as “Wadi Sarhan” - I think Emad Hajjaj’s latest caricature perfectly describes this country’s pipe dreams when it comes to oil production; a topic that has picked up some steam recently […]

To break the political monotony of the last couple of posts here are a few of my delicious pickings for the last couple of days that are more entertaining than serious.
- Recycled Wonderlands: Simply put, some of the craziest architectural creations you’ll ever see.
- Muppet President: You know how they say every president is […]

Read this, and this, in addition to this if you’ve missed it.
When HM King Abdullah said some time ago that “the sky is the limit” when it comes to press freedoms, I don’t think this is what he had in mind.
What more can I say?
Nothing.

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