Oula Farawati in Amman details how the media became the scapegoat for the controversy surrounding Jordan's cultural festival A fierce campaign against Jordan's Festival for Culture and Arts took a impulsive U-turn last week, days before the start of the festival last Tuesday. The festival, which is hosting big names in the industry, including Amr Diab, George Wassouf and opera singers Placido Domingo and Monica Yunus, was expected to completely fail after many Arab and Jordanian artists were about to boycott it as a response to a campaign led by Jordan's Islamists and the professional associations. The entire storm which was going to send the festival into an abyss was stopped by King Abdullah of Jordan, who, in a hard-hitting interview, lashed out at the campaigners and criticised "irresponsible journalism." The campaign was instigated by an article in the independent daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm which stated that a French company, Publicis Groupe, was organising the festivity after it arranged Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations. The article was used by the professional associations to launch a ferocious attack on the festival, calling for its abolishment and urging Arab and foreign artist to cancel their participation in it. The government has had conflicting statements about the organising company of the festival. Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Maha Khatib said the company was only involved in "contracting a few Arab and foreign artists", at a time when Managing Director of Jordan Tourism Board Nayef Al-Fayez was saying that "the organisation of the festival has been purely Jordanian. Al-Fayez denied any involvement by Publicis Groupe and added that French company Les Visiteurs du Soir was the one involved in contracting some artists." Last minute, the king said that the "government contracted a foreign firm with vast experience in events management which is Visiteurs Du Soir." He explained that due to the failure of Jerash Festival over the past few years, the government "came up with the concept of an event that would attract tourists whether they are visiting Amman or Jerash, in the hope that, if successful, it would spread to other parts of the country. In order to alleviate the fears of artists after last year's bad performance, they contracted a foreign firm with vast experience in events management which is Visiteurs Du Soir." The king's remarks put a damper on the entire campaign. Jordan Artists Association President Shaher Hadid, who had vowed to scuttle the entire festivity, made a volte-face and stated that he was fully supporting the event. "After the suspicion over the involvement of Publicis Groupe in organising the festival was clarified and His Majesty King Abdullah's statement in this regard made the situation clear to us, we decided to retract the boycott decision and I called on all Arab artists' unions to strongly participate in and support the festival, which is in the interest of Jordan, its economy and tourism," he said in a statement. This entire fiasco has put Jordanian journalists into a difficult position. The king's answer to the question about Publicis Groupe included harsh comments about the media. King Abdullah said some journalists were "irresponsible, careless and incompetent. Today Arab artists are contemplating cancelling their performances and Arab tourists that were planning on visiting Jordan are cancelling their trips. The government is now wasting its valuable time and resources trying to do damage control. All this because some so-called journalists are too careless and incompetent to do their basic work; it is shameful. This is a case study on how to shoot yourself in the foot, on how to be irresponsible, on how to do a massive disservice to your country and your people and on how to stop our development. Indeed, our worst enemies lie within. Should Jordan's future be held hostage to rumours and gossip? And should false information be the reference for our Jordanian press? Should we remain silent until the truth becomes the victim of irresponsible journalism?" The king's remarks were followed by a crusade of articles against the "irresponsible press". The government-controlled Al-Rai daily was full of articles calling on journalists to be "accurate, professional and committed to staying away from rumours." But Jordan's Journalists Association President Abdul Wahab Zgheilat said the king was blaming some, and not all, journalists. He emphasised that the rumours are being spread in the media by some politicians with private agendas: "I do not hold journalists responsible, but politicians who provide some journalists at home and abroad with information and rumours to harm the nation's achievements and the gains of Jordanian citizens." Salameh Darawi, Al-Arab Al-Yawm business editor, who wrote the story in question, said he "was responsible for the information he published. I stand by what I wrote. I double-checked my information. The government admitted Publicis Groupe was organising the event and then they changed the facts to escape from the problem," he told Al-Ahram. "Media has always been the escape goat for the failures of governments. We are the exit point for their lack of planning and sound management," he added. Columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman echoed the same sentiment. Abu Rumman believes some politicians with "cruel stances" against the media were using the king's interview to deviate from the facts. Those politicians, according to Abu Rumman, were putting the burden of their political mistakes and backward mentality on the media: "Daily newspapers didn't deviate from their professional and responsible line. The media was responsible and committed to its role in overseeing the performance of governments and serving national interests... if some writers in international media wrote doubtful stories, then this is not the fault of the responsible media... we are not to blame."
