Jordan Press Foundation publishes the Arabic-language daily newspaper Al Ra’i, which is the best-selling newspaper in Jordan, and The Jordan Times, an English daily newspaper published in Amman, Jordan’s capital city.
Media assets
Publishing: Al Ra’i, The Jordan Times
State Media Matrix Typology: Captured Public/State-Managed (CaPu)
Ownership and governance
Jordan Press Foundation is majority-owned by the government of Jordan. The company is secretive about its corporate affairs. The government currently controls some 55 % of the Jordan Press Foundation via a state-controlled company, Social Security Corporation. Jordan Press Foundation also floats part of its shares on the Amman Stock Exchange.
The top management of the company is traditionally filled by people with a history of working for authorities. In February 2023, Shehadeh Mohammad Al Kayed Abu Baqar was appointed chairman of the board of directors at the Jordan Press Foundation. Among other jobs before his appointment, Abu Baqar worked as an adviser to the prime minister and the Senate president.
Source of funding and budget
There is no detailed, publicly available information about the Jordan Press Foundation’s financial performance. Local journalists and experts say that Al Ra’i is one of the largest recipients of state advertising, which significantly impacts its editorial independence. However, insufficient information allows us to say whether state funding accounts for over 50% of the publisher’s turnover.
According to an internal balance sheet, the company had total revenues of JOD 8.5m (US$12 m) in 2019. The following year, its revenues plummeted to JOD 4.6m (US$6.6 m). According to an investor relations report from the corporation, the company incurred a loss of JOD 7.6m in 2020.
Editorial independence
Al Rai’s is known as a pro-government newspaper, often being referred to as a government-run publication. The Jordan Times is considered editorially independent, yet a content analysis applied to the news coverage of The Jordan Times during three periods of times in January, February and March 2024 found overt bias in favor of the royal house.
No domestic statute and no independent assessment or oversight mechanism to validate the editorial independence of the Jordan Press Foundation’s publications have been identified.
July 2024