Omar Rifaj, newly appointed member of the ARIJ board. Photo: Philippa Geisler Crone/IMS

With Omar Rifai a special board member has joined 'Arab Reporters for Investigatove Journalism' (ARIJ). As diplomat and government employee Omar Rifai is used to experiencing journalism from the other side of the table. He tells IMS of his relations to journalism and diplomacy during a visit to Copenhagen

Omar Rifai smiles and leans back in his chair. He is taking a break between discussions at an ARIJ board meeting in Copenhagen - the first board meeting he is attending during his two months as a board member of the organisation. Although he is working in the Jordanian diplomacy and has little experience with journalism, he doesn't feel like a stranger in the journalistic organisation.

- I've always been interested in the power of journalism. I think journalism and diplomacy are very close to each other. They are both dealing with presenting opinions. Maybe diplomats present it more diplomatically, but in the end it's all about sending out a message! It's all about exposure and communication, he says.

ARIJ on the right track

After two months as a member of the organisation Omar Rifai sees a great potential in ARIJ and reckons that journalism is on the way to change in the Arab world.

- The future needs to see responsible journalism. It's a question of making journalists and authorities aware of the responsibilities and obligations of journalism. There's a lot to be done, but I think we're on track now.

Concerning the time perspective of a development of a critical press and a more democratic society, the former diplomat is not so sure.
 - Training of journalists is important to improve democracy. But democracy is not an event, it's a process. You can't wake up and say: today we are democratic. You have to teach people and show them that journalism is also responsibility, he says.

Long diplomatic career

Omar Rifai served as a diplomat for 34 years and has been the Jordanian ambassador to Egypt, Israel, Italy, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, to mention some of the places. After a long career of constant travelling he is now settling with his family in Amman, teaching at the Jordan Diplomatic Institute.

Through a position as director of the Jordan Media Institute last year he entered the field of journalism, and this led to a post as board member in ARIJ. The organisation which was established by Arab media organisations in cooperation with IMS and the Danish Association for Investigative Journalism (FUJ) in 2005 supports and trains journalists in investigative journalism in a number of Arab countries.

Representing the other side

As former diplomat Omar Rifai has a long experience with journalism, but always as the target of journalists.
- I served in Egypt and Israel, and in these countries there is a lot of exposure to journalists. So I'm used to journalists and I know their way of thinking, he says.

He is convinced that ARIJ will benefit from having a board member who sees things from a different perspective. As a diplomat he is representative of his country, but also of the government; a position which is strange to combine with the work of promoting critical journalism, one should think. Not at all, Omar Rifai says.

- I think it's good to have people in the board who can give a different perspective on things, especially because we are in the Arab world where journalism is not as free as in Europe. The government is always blocking journalism here somehow. So if you have someone who has been in government and can explain how things are perceived from their side, it can shed some light on things, he says, and rejects that his government duty is other than a benefit to the organisation.