Gov’t to resume weekly press conferences with limited media presence, Adaileh says

AMMAN — The government will resume its press conferences this week, with the attendance of a group of media representatives, Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh said on Sunday, highlighting that this move aims to facilitate interaction and allow reporters to ask questions.

Adaileh, in remarks to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said that the weekly press conference will be held in the presence of media representatives “to enhance transparency and communication”.

The daily press briefings involving televised statements will continue, while meetings will be organised with groups of representatives from various media outlets, he said.

The press conferences will be organised based on the back to work manual for government institutions, which was approved by the Cabinet last week.

The manual, published on the Prime Ministry’s website, includes procedures to follow while inside government department buildings, including physical distancing of at least one metre, wearing face masks and gloves and ensuring ventilation.

Adaileh said that 14 media representatives will be invited as follows: One representative from Jordan News Agency, Petra, one representative from each local TV station that broadcasts news bulletins and one representative from each daily newspaper.

He added that representatives from local radio stations, including Arab and foreign news stations operating in Jordan, will be invited. These representatives will be rotated on a weekly basis by the Prime Ministry’s media department to allow for each to attend the press conferences.

The minister pointed out that in light of the large number of news websites registered with the Jordan Media Commission, totalling 124, the commission will organise attendance with representatives of two websites at each press conference.

Media outlets that cannot be represented at a conference due to the attendance schedule, can submit questions via the e-mail address mcd1@pm.gov.jo, or through the “At your service” platform. Part of the 45-minute press conferences will be allocated for answering these online questions.