Significance of the Project:

The genuine participation of the citizens in the decision making process represents the mission and vision of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs and is the higher aim of the political reform program undertaken by the Jordanian State. This places a compounded responsibility and a substantial challenge in the face of a newly established Ministry (after merger), namely the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs, which signifies that the Ministry must strive to enhance the level of the capabilities and skills of its cadres and to train them for the sake of shouldering the required responsibilities while achieving the vision and mission of the Ministry. Hence, emerges the importance of the training course held by the Ministry in conjunction with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung to build the capacity of its employees in the fields of documentation, reports authoring and writing news items.

Among the foremost mechanisms adopted by the Ministry since its inception is to deepen continuous dialogues between the decision makers in the various sectors on the one hand, and all the segments and institutions of Jordanian society on the other, particularly political parties and civil society organization of all orientations, fields of activity and levels of representation. In this context we find that the Ministry has held in record time a large number of such dialogues, encounters and sessions which brought together directly the citizens and officials to discuss the various topics and issues which concern the citizen. Accordingly the need became evident for building the capacity of employees and those concerned in the processes of documentation and reports authoring and what is connected with this in terms of the processes of assessment and follow up of the outputs of those dialogues and recommendations, in addition to the role of the Ministry in developing the relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government, and follow up of the supervisory, legislative and specialized committees parliamentary sessions, and to document this activity in order to develop and regulate the relationship between the two branches of government.

The goal of the project which was implemented is to impart to the employees of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs the required skills, of which we may cite the following:

-Writing of reports and minutes and documenting the sessions.

-Follow up on the recommendations and outputs.

-Communication skills and arrange encounters with various quarters.

-Archiving systems and maintaining files.

-Supplying the Ministry with an electronic system for audio and visual documentation of sessions and dialogues while also maintaining and archiving them, and also training a team from the Ministry of Labor in this system and means for sustaining it.

Target Group:

(20) Employees of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs.

Project Activities:

1-Training workshops specialized in the themes and needs referred to above.

2-Supply the Ministry with an electronic system for the audio and visual documentation of the sessions and dialogues, while maintaining and archiving them, and also to train a team from the Ministry of Labor in this system and the means for sustaining it.

3-Cooperate with specialized consulting institutions which would implement the process of documentation using modern techniques, which would commence work side by side with the employees of the Ministry for a defined period (Job Shadowing), and thence the employees of the Ministry , trained and qualified, would shoulder responsibility for work and ensure its sustainability and continuity.

4-Organize training study visits of some institutions that are endowed with substantial experience in this field.

The Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs held a training workshop on the writing of reports related to the work of the Ministry of Political Affairs, the news item, and the writing of news reports and preparing them within the framework of empowering their employees, particularly the employees working in the directorates of political and parliamentary affairs, and to impart skills in writing reports through training them in several undertakings including: writing reports, documentation, and the formulation of a news item and the writing of texts, photography and video filming, and the formulation of the news report. The training aims to develop the skills and capacity of employees in writing reports, news items, and the activities of the Ministry in political, parliamentary, and civil society affairs activities, while also enabling them to develop the website of the Ministry and to maintain it.

In order to achieve those goals a host of training workshops were held in the meeting hall of the Ministry of Political and Parliamentary Affairs during the time period extending from July until October with around two training workshops weekly, where the number of training days amounted to 17 days in which 20 employees participated.

Among the foremost skills acquired by the trainees was a set of knowledge skills related to the concept of the press news item as a basic item in the print press arts, or the audio or visual arts, which is represented by conveying information about a particular event, with objectivity and precision, while the press news item includes responding to the largest number of the five questions, namely: (Who? When?, What?, Where? Why?. The scoop and the publishing by a newspaper or radio station or station of a particular news item is considered among the objectives which the media seek.

Moreover, the training workshop involved honing the skills of the trainees in identifying the characteristics of the good news item which is represented in several parameters:

1-The news item should be new and abreast of events.

2-The news item should include an aspect that concerns people and their interests.

3-The news item should be of interest to the largest possible number of people.

4-The news item should be suspnseful causing the reader to follow its unfolding details.

5-The timing of the news item shall be suitable to increase interest in it.

6-Attractiveness and interesting nature of the news item is among the important elements of light news.

7-News which arouse and stir human emotions of the reader are considered to be among the successful news.

Moreover, the training workshops included the goal of developing the skills and knowledge concerning identifying the types of press items which are represented by the following:

1-The simple news item: which is based on a description of a single event.

2-Complex news item: which is based on describing a number of events and identifying connections between them.

This is in addition to identifying the technical forms of the news item: such as the news item that is based on a narration of events, the news item based on narrating statements, the news item based on narrating information. Moreover, the training also included discussion and explanation.

And there are three technical forms for writing the news item: the overturned pyramid form, the sloping overturned pyramid form, and the upright pyramid form.

The training included practical applications undertaken by the trainees in writing the news item within various forms concerning a host of social and political issues.

And in harmony with the development of technical means as media tools that are available to the majority of people, the Ministry has also inclined to developing the skills of its employees insofar as the electronic press which constitutes the media scene façade given that the print press, with its advanced tools, is considered a brief form of communication and uses the tools of the new media such as links, hypertexts, sound additions, video, opinion polls, and readers’ comments.

Moreover, the training workshops included imparting to the trainees the skills of photo journalism, and identifying the dimensions and qualities of the new photograph, and the foremost defects which render the photograph unfit as a press news item. The significance of the photograph lies in the fact that it is a completing part of the press or media material presented to the newspapers. Hence, it would not be possible for the reader or one viewing the newspaper to read the news item without there being a photograph illustrating the news item, for it is not necessarily a conveyor of the event in all its details but is rather necessarily an expression of the reality with honesty and spontaneity.

Moreover, the photograph summarizes events which a journalist spends hours and hours writing about, whereby the product is pages upon pages, and they document an event, but in many instances they save the reader from having to read the material, and all of this depends on the photojournalist who must enjoy several qualities that qualify him to be a skillful photojournalist.

Moreover, the workshop included training in the foremost social media such as Facebook, Twitter and the method of dealing with those new media in developing the media activity of the Ministry: And following are the foremost subjects in which training was provided:

1-Ethics of journalism and laws

2-Foundations for writing a press news item

3-Method of writing a press news item and the types of headings

4-Method of writing a press news report

5-Electronic press and public opinion

6-Advertising and public opinion

7-Public and private media, and the monitoring of news

8-Media discourse

9-Method of preparing a television report (scenario)

10-Electronic press

11-Art of photography (lighting distribution)

12-Media discourse and the art of debate and dialogue

13-Method of developing the website of the Ministry

At the conclusion of the workshop the training days were assessed and the participants were assigned the task of preparing reports on the subjects in which they received training, and their works were evaluated by the trainer.

Among the foremost results of the training and its impact on the employees:

1-Build the capacity of the employees in writing the daily work report relating to the activities of the Ministry pertaining to parliamentary and political issues.

2-Enhance the capacity of the participants in writing the objective news item and differentiating between the good news item and the poor one.

3-Develop the media skills of the participants in the field of writing and report authoring.

4-Develop their skills in photography and video filming.

5-Present proposals in order to develop the website of the Ministry with a view to contributing to presenting accurate information to Jordanian citizens concerning participation, and parliamentary and political life.

It may be mentioned that the opinions of participants were positive concerning the training, and this was in evidence in the commitment of the employees to the training days and participation in the various training activities, and their expression of interest in partaking in workshops related to this field; not to mention the colleagues who did not have the opportunity to participate in this training workshop involving the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung who wish to receive training in the coming year, such given the importance of the training.

There were numerous recommendations for future work and joint cooperation:

1-Hold advanced training in social media means

2-Develop specialized training in electronic sites (websites)

3-Increase the days of training in the field of photography and video filming

4-Hold a specialized course in writing political news