AKEED, Lana Kazkaz

Sixteen Arab and international news websites ignored the Jordanian denial of an Israeli story that "Israel offered a Merkava tank as a gift to Jordan." The websites published the story, quoting the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, which ran the story under the headline "Israel Gives Jordan an IDF Merkava Tank for a Museum." Meanwhile, three Arab and international news websites published the denial by a Jordanian source.

The Israeli story ran as follows: "Israel recently transferred a Merkava tank to Jordan. The tank is one of Israel's most sophisticated military platforms manufactured domestically. The tank will be placed on exhibit at the Royal Tank Museum, along with other important tanks from around the world. The decision to transfer the tank to Jordan was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman due to the sensitivity of providing an Arab country-even one with which Israel has diplomatic relations-with one of the country's most top-secret weapons."

Moreover, 14 local websites were satisfied with reporting the story of the Israeli newspaper without considering the Jordanian opinion under headlines, including the following: "Occupation Presents Jordan With Merkava Tank…Top Secret Weapon" and "Israel Gives Jordan Merkava Tank as Gift." Meanwhile, 12 websites were satisfied with running the Jordanian denial under the following headlines: Informed Source: Amman Denies…Israel Gives Jordan Merkava Tank as Gift, and Sources Deny Jordan Received Israeli Merkava Tank for Display at Tank Museum. The websites did not run the original story of the Israeli newspaper.

Three local websites only published both the story of the Israeli newspaper and the news of the denial under the headline: "Hebrew Newspaper: Occupation Offers Merkava Tank to Jordan as Gift…Official Source Denies." The story ran as follows: "Informed sources have denied the truth of reports that Jordan received an Israeli Merkava tank to be displayed at the Royal Tank Museum. The sources affirmed that the story was false and baseless and was meant to discredit the Kingdom. The sources noted that the doors of the Royal Tank Museum are open to the public."

A Google search showed that local and Arab media carried 48 items on the news, including 42 stories, 87.5%, which reported the Israeli version and not the Jordanian denial. Meanwhile, 6 stories only, 12.5%, published both versions. Professional standards require that media content reflect the element of balance.

Dr. Khalaf Tahat, media professor at Yarmouk University, told AKEED that "the spread of rumors or false news in the media, such as giving a Merkava tank to Jordan as a gift, is due to two reasons. The first is that some people working in this profession are unaware of the standards of media content, including accuracy, objectivity, credibility, and balance. The second reason is the low public confidence in Jordan's official rhetoric and the fact that official agencies monopolize information and do not handle it in a professional and quick manner."

He said that "official agencies are the ones that could pay the price or sometimes a heavy cost due to the spread of rumors of this kind, especially since it is often difficult to contain a rumor unless it is treated professionally. However, a quick response could greatly help in stopping it and not letting it cause further damage." He called for "changing the official media rhetoric based on principles, most important of which are flow of information and transparency with citizens."

Dr. Tahat pointed out that "issuing a denial or official information through a source weakens it. This explains why numerous media outlets do not deal with it." He wondered "why the names and positions of official sources are withheld when denying information taken from an Israeli newspaper, which did not depend on known sources in its original story."

Ayman Hneiti, a journalist specialized in Israeli affairs, told AKEED that "the story was published in The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli newspaper that is directed at the outside world. Therefore, we are talking here about propaganda. This requires that the websites that carried the story confirm it, or at least present the viewpoint of the other side to maintain objectivity, professionalism, and balance."

He added that "most of these websites depended on the Israeli story as a source of the news. Also, the first to pick up the story from the Israeli newspaper were media outlets that are in the habit of promoting such news about Jordan." He underlined "the need for verifying news published in the Israeli media, especially when it has to do with Jordanian and Arab affairs."