Community Media Network (CMN) - راديو البلد

National Network
Jordan
Address

PO Box 20513 Amman, 142 Arrar Street, Wadi Saqra,
Amman
Jordan

Telephone
+ 962 6 4645487
Telephone (other)
+962 6 4645487
Fax
+962 6 4630238
E-Mail
info@ammannet.net
E-Mail (2)
dkuttab@ammannet.net
Mobile Phone
079-5577646
Organisation Type
Private Company
Year of Establishment
2005
Fields of Activity
  1. Others
General Information

In November 2000 the idea of an independent radio station in Jordan, whether on the internet or on the FM waves, was nothing more than a dream. When Amman mayor Nedal Hadid and UNESCO director Martin Hadlow clicked the mouse to announce the launch of the Arab world’s first internet radio station, AmmanNet.net, we had no idea where we would be years later. Our pioneering efforts online has produced results in Jordan that are unmatched in nearby Arab countries. Tens of news websites have sprouted up offering Jordanian, Arab and international surfers up-to-date and courageous news and commentaries from Jordan. Our use of the Net to broadcast radio programming was given a boost when a Palestinian radio station agreed to rebroadcast some of our programs that they downloaded from the internet. With no physical boundaries between Palestine and Jordan, these broadcasts were heard in Amman thus allowing our internet broadcasting to de facto break up the Jordan government’s monopoly over the airwaves. Within a couple of years of our going on line, His Majesty the King issued a temporary law allowing the creation of an audio visual commission, which in turn made it possible for terrestrial broadcasting. We applied for and received a ten year FM license in 2005 and have been broadcasting news, alternative music and specialized programming since then. Our challenges with our internet and radio broadcasts are huge. We often find ourselves alone in covering certain sensitive news. More often we see that our efforts are setting the agenda for all other news organizations. We have focused a lot of our work on empowering different segments of society, from high school students to college age youths, from farming women to labor activists and the handicapped. We have encouraged volunteers to use our media operations as a platform to reflect on their own issues and as a way to have a voice in a crowded media field. On the news level we have and continue to work hard on providing high quality news around the clock. We dug deep into certain issues using investigative journalism tools as well as focus on human rights violations. Al-Balad radio staff gained experience and training and have attempted to adhere to our professional code of ethics. Al-Balad radio, our community radio station in Amman, has become a model community radio providing training services and networking opportunities for local, regional and international groups. Internationally, we were the local sponsors of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters AMARC, which held its global meeting AMARC9 in Amman. Locally we have been a driving force behind the establishment of a Jordanian Federation of Community radio stations that include Voice of Karak, New Maan radio, Yarmouk FM and Farah Al-Nas radio. Our training efforts have and continue to help journalists and community radio activists from most surrounding Arab countries. From Tunis to Iraqi Kurdistan and from Syria to Saudi Arabia we have hosted workshops in areas such as crime of war coverage, humanizing the news and community radio training. We held regional workshops looking for ways to advance the presence of female experts in media coverage. While we enjoy a successful FM radio presence, we have not forgotten that our beginnings were online. We introduced video blogging to our site with impressive results. We organized training and gave video cameras to tens of Jordanians who were asked to record, edit and upload the results of their filming. Our original website AmmanNet has given birth to four additional sites Balad.fm, eyeonmediajo.net, shababjo.net and communitymedianetwork.org. We have also expanded our work in the Arab region. We helped set up the Aswatona (aswatona.net) network which supports community media throughout the Arab region. With help from our donors we have directly helped support seven community radio stations and conducted three regional conferences on community media in the Arab region. shamma@ammannet.net; ersan@ammannet.net;  

Mission and Objectives

Mission: The challenges with our internet and radio broadcasts are huge. We often find ourselves alone in covering certain sensitive news. More often we see that our efforts are setting the agenda for all other news organizations.   Vision: Al-Balad radio, our community radio station in Amman, has become a model community radio providing training services and networking opportunities for local, regional and international groups. Internationally .

Main Projects / Activities

--

Contact (1) Full Name
Daoud Kuttab (Head of Organisation)
Head of the organisation
Daoud Kuttab