"150,000 dinars that a woman hid in the ground before her death is now rotting,” where is the truth?

  • 2021-02-06
  • 12

Akeed

Content being circulated:

Multiple media outlets have reported that, before her death, a Jordanian woman had hidden 150,000 dinars by burying them in the ground, with the money now rotting due to water exposure.

Content source

Media outlets said that the story and related photos had been shared from accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Whatsapp, and had not been attributed to any verified source.

Professional Media Violations

The media’s publication of this material violated a number of professional standards that Akeed refers to in evaluating media content. Among these criteria:

  • Ensuring accuracy by relying on verifiable sources with a recognized history of credibility.
  • Locating the content and abiding by the principle of comprehensiveness.

Akeed’s verification of the content

Akeed identified several resources in an attempt to verify the media content, including:

First: the Public Security Directorate, whose media spokesperson told Akeed that this story was unrelated to security but that it would deal with relevant information within the scope of its powers.

Second: Akeed tried to track the source of the content from the social media accounts cited by press outlets. It monitored 35 posts that said nothing about the source of the photos or the story. There were no more than a few lines that made reference to an old or deceased Jordanian woman.

Third: Akeed monitored about two thousand comments on public Facebook pages that it sought to contact and verify the source of the information. None of these comments mentioned the source or provided any data indicating that the story had occurred in Jordan. Hence, it could not be determined that it had taken place in Amman, Zarqa, or any city in Jordan.

Fourth: Akeed decided to verify the photos that were being published alongside the story. These images featured remnants of paper that may have been cash (bearing the number “50”), in addition to several containers amid the dirt. The photos were processed through Tineye, but the program did not yield any details about them.

Media Content Assessment

After subjecting the content to professional standards, Akeed found that it lacks a credible source, accuracy, and comprehensiveness; misleads the readers; bears no professional or news value for people; and, on platforms that don’t regulate user comments, provoked deeply insulting and harassing language toward women.

Akeed calls for the professional and legal standards governing the work of the media to be observed. These standards can be found on Akeed’s website, and are derived from codes of conduct and best practices for journalism. They are intended to provide readers with information and protect them from being misled, confused, or belittled.