First regional conference held by ARIJ in Amman. Photo: Lotte Dahlmann/IMS

Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) is in controversy with Jordan’s independent newspaper Al-Ghad over an investigative report on abuses committed against children living in Jordanian orphanages

The controversy was sparked by a two-series ARIJ investigation that Al-Ghad published on 28 December 2009. The stories uncovered sexual, physical and verbal abuse in Jordanian orphanages, and painted a bleak future awaiting orphans once they turn 18 and have to leave these shelters because they have not been properly trained to deal with real life issues, have poor academic achievements, and no family support to help them cope with stress.

Right to protect the sources

The deeper end of the controversy concerns the right of journalists to protect their sources from being revealed. This right forms an essential part of independent and verified journalism as it serves to allow witnesses of crimes, abuse or other wrongdoings to share their story without being at risk of retribution from the perpetrators.

Getting eyewitnesses to step forward and share their accounts is key for journalists in order to enable journalists to document facts for the issues they raise through their work. In the public sphere documented case stories help to put faces on important issues and call decisionmakers to act.

In investigative reporting, documenting facts is a universal rule and a cornerstone. ARIJ follows this principle as it operates as a center of excellence and a training institution in investigative reporting for journalists in the Arab region.

In Jordan, the press and publication law ensures full secrecy of sources for any journalists, and only the prosecutor general has the right to ask journalists to disclose their sources of information, in specific cases dealing with national security. Also, journalists have the right not to disclose their sources to their chief editor, and he/she has to respect that right and try to verify the story at stake from other sources.

Abuse of children living in orphanages

The two reports about the Jordanian orphans were written by Majdoleen Allan, who won the first ARIJ prize in the print category in 2009, and her husband, Imad Rawashdeh, a local radio journalist.

Neither of the journalists works for Al-Ghad, but the paper had previously published - on an exclusive basis - four other investigations by ARIJ fellows who could not find an outlet to publish their reports. Al-Ghad did it in line with its drive to promote in-depth reporting and it was done on the basis of mutual “good-will” and trust, between Al-Ghad and ARIJ according to Ms. Sabbagh-Gargour, executive director of ARIJ, one of six media professionals who helped set up Al-Ghad in 2004.

- ARIJ also uses the national news agency Petra to publish investigations when journalists do not have a full-time job at a media outlet, explains Rana Sabbagh-Gargour.

Both Ms. Allan and Mr. Rawashdeh spent almost four months talking to orphans – 70 in total. They also visited orphanages – some of which were facilitated by Ms. Hala Lattouf, the Minister of Social Development (MOSD).

Before publication, the journalists got the Minister's responses to their findings, and the report was screened for legal issues by a lawyer as part of ARIJ’s standard procedure before publishing any ARIJ-supported investigations.

The final stories were sent to Al-Ghad on 23 December 2009 and published five days later, on 28 December. The newspaper ran the two stories in the same day on opposite full pages.

Sparking media attention

The Investigation shook the nation. The story got picked up by several local websites, and some columnists, including one who asked for the Minister's resignation.

-   The feedback was clearly in support of the orphan's plight, and many commentators questioned how this could happen in a state, which promises rule of law to its people, explains Rana Sabbagh-Gargour.

The story developed politically. King Abdullah 11, and Queen Rania, as well as Prime Minister Samir Rifai, quizzed the minister on the results of the investigation and asked her to conduct a separate investigation of Jordanian orphanages based on the stories revealed.

According to Rana Sabbagh-Gargour, the real trouble began when the Minister asked Al-Ghad to provide the Ministry with a list of information to help their investigation, including the “real” names of orphans that were interviewed by the two journalists, and all evidence the newspaper might have. Both journalists had given the orphans other names to protect them, and made that clear in the published investigation.

This prompted the editor of Al-Ghad to ask the two journalists and ARIJ to provide the newspaper with a list of the names of the interviewed orphans.

As the newspaper wound up in a delicate position between the two journalists and the Minister, ARIJ took the initiative to contact the Minister in a bid to get Al-Ghad out of the picture, explains Rana Sabbagh-Gargour:

- We asked if the Minister could meet with us as well as the authors to clarify the issue.

In a response, the Minister’s assistant, Ms. Zein Zheimat, told ARIJ that the Minister would accept nothing less that "the names and sources to be provided in a file and put on her desk".

- By doing so, the Minister herself violated the Press and Publication Law on the secrecy of sources clause, and a new code of ethics that the recently-formed government just issued, promising not to put any pressure on local media, to impact content or positions, says Rana Sabbagh-Gargour.

Orphans file complaint - the story develops a life of its own

ARIJ held several meetings with the editor at Al-Ghad to reconcile differences and come to a mutual understanding. In the latest attempt so far, ARIJ offered the editor to see a list of names as well as other pieces of audio documentation under the condition that he signed an agreement according to which he could not share it with anyone else.

The editor refused to sign anything. Instead he published a statement in Al-Ghad declaring a termination of the cooperation with ARIJ on the grounds that ARIJ failed to provide him with the needed documents to boost his argument with the minister. Ironically, Al-Ghad had published two investigations on the bad state of affairs inside Jordanian orphanages in August by staff reporter Hadeel Ghabboun.

- After the publication of the ARIJ investigations, the same newspaper published two features painting a rosy picture of improvements at several orphanages, initiated by the Minister. The ARIJ investigation had already taken note of these improvements, says Rana Sabbagh-Gargour.

ARIJ responded by submitting a letter to the editor explaining things from the ARIJ perspective and asked for it to be published on the same page where Al-Ghad had published its decision to terminate all cooperation with ARIJ in line with the press and publication law. So far, the letter to the editor has not been published in Al-Ghad, explains ARIJ's Executive  Director:

- The chief editor says he will not publish the ARIJ reply because most websites had already carried it. ARIJ’s lawyer has sent a legal note asking the paper to publish the ARIJ letter, and if nothing happens, then the network will take Al-Ghad to court. She goes on to add:

- The editor insisted in every meeting with us, that he is 100 percent sure of the findings of the investigation and that he stands for it.

This is where things stand today.

In the meantime, at least 11 orphans have filed complaints with the National Centre for Human Rights regarding mistreatment at the orphanages  The Centre has sent a formal request to the Minister, asking her to take action. Two regional satellite channels, inspired by the ARIJ report, are producing their own investigation on orphanages.

Rana Sabbagh-Gargour expresses sadness over the controversy for many good reasons. Herself a senior journalist and co-founder of Al-Ghad, she has been a staunch supporter of Al-Ghad until now.

-   Also, Al-Ghad has been good to ARIJ and helped us publish ARIJ investigations when other editors backed out. It would be very sad to end the collaboration with Al-Ghad, she says.

At the same time, she feels strongly about pursuing the case, as legally ARIJ has done what was right in terms of insisting to support the journalists in protecting their sources. Based on the lessons learnt, ARIJ is also finalizing a content sharing agreement to be signed in the future with any local media that commits to publishing an ARIJ-sponsored report.