Jordan's largest newspaper closes "due to government interference"

Jordan’s largest newspaper, Al-Rai, closed its doors on Monday as journalists announced an open-ended strike in protest at alleged corruption and government interference in the media. The closure of the state-run newspaper came after the failure of Jordanian legislators to sort out a six-week dispute between the management and journalists. The administrative side of the newspaper’s operation and the management is controlled and appointed by the government.

The journalists accuse managers of corruption and paying low wages. They say that they will not return to work unless and until the prime minister resigns, accusing Abdullah Al-Norour of “interference” in the newspaper’s affairs. In a protest in Amman on Sunday, journalists lined up to condemn the fact that their newspaper has become a mouthpiece for the government. “However,” they claimed, “it is impossible to silence the media.”

Journalists voted to dismiss ex-prime minister Mazen Al-Saket from his position as head of the Jordanian Journalism Organisation; Al-Rai is an offshoot of this group.