AMMAN, Jordan (4/20/2006) – Hey everyone! Another unbelievable day. For me at least. We headed out at 8:30 am for the Al Hussein Boy's Public School where four of our MEDIA students attend: Abdel, Ihab, Mohammed, and Ahmad. Being the first American girls on the premises, you can imagine that we made quite a stir entering the courtyard in our large bus.
As we stepped down, all of the boys outside started cheering and all the boys in the buildings around us went to the windows and cheered, sticking their hands out through the rod iron bars. The four MEDIA students quickly ran to meet us and were obviously quite proud to be identified with the Americans. Especially the American girls, who I found out later from Ihab, made them very popular. We toured the facility, sitting in classes and visiting the library, computer labs, and gymnasium.
The school was pretty sparse and bare, packed with boys from grades 10 to 12. They had a couple soccer fields but that was about it. Their hospitality, as always with the Arab people, was immaculate (out of this world). They served us pastries loaded with whipped cream, bottled water and then soda and cookies- all at 9 am in the morning!
After the school experience, we headed to the offices of the Al Ghad newspaper on Makka Street: an independent publication that has only been in circulation for a little over a year, but has already risen to the second best newspaper in the country with nearly 50,000 copies the paper printed daily. I was in heaven. The building was absolutely gorgeous with glass walls and doors so that every floor was open to see all of the activity within each office.
The editor in chief, Ayman H. Safadi, spent almost two hours in the newsroom answering our questions as well as touring the facilities with us. The professional level of this specific publication was really quite amazing. As a totally nongovernmental paper, the Al Ghad competes with the top governmentally Funded publications and still manages to sell their paper for less than the price of production. About 90% of their finances come from advertising and the other 10 from circulation. Over 60% of the employees at the Al G had are between the ages of 20 and 30 years old, catering to the large percentage of the Jordanian population under the age of 18. Although most of the reporters were out on the field during the day, Fuad Abu Heijah, the Managing Editor, was able to discuss the goals that these journalists uphold and strive to reach.
"We should create and help others create a new generation of journalists who work in a new and better way to display the Jordanian press," said Heijah. Another fascinating aspect of the paper was their total integration of computers and the newest technology - making the entire place very appealing not only physically but also in theory.
" We are trying to be a paperless paper" commented Heijah, saying that really the only paper forms they have in the office are the final product papers themselves, printed. The publication uses the computer program "Knowledge View" to do everything from reporting to editing to proof reading to layout to Indesign to color separation to the press, which is also digital and gorgeous! The students were able to ask many different questions - everything from limitation for the pres to the actual printing process.
Despite the many limitations Safadi admitted to still encountering the world of journalism, he also said "Times of controlled information are over". He meant that information gets out no matter what. But he also stressed that the Al Ghad's main focus is to be as professional as possible. They cannot get a story wrong. They hire outside companies to supply statistical facts on polling they might need in order to avoid any errors, accusations of fraud etc. They work hard to give the truth.
The whole experience inspired me and Safadi himself actually told me to contact him about an internship next summer, after hearing about how I was going into the field of journalism. He attended a university in America also.
By CATHERINE MOORE, camoore@bu.edu
