Khaberni - Tariq Al-Momani, head of the Journalists' Syndicate, said on Saturday that a journalist performs his professional role, and if he makes a mistake, his institution holds him accountable. In contrast, Deputy Hussein Al-Amoush confirmed that the House of Representatives holds accountable the deputies who make mistakes, noting that being preoccupied with phones during sessions is the wrong behavior represented by limited cases.
Al-Amoush, the head of the parliamentary media committee, said that journalists and photographers should focus on the performance of the deputies and their commitment to attend the parliamentary sessions and public issues, through constructive criticism within the framework of public criticism, denouncing the focus on what he called "trend issues" through coverage and filming excerpts from the deputies' discussions.
He added via "Al-Mamlaka" channel that there is an institution, the House of Representatives, that holds accountable the deputies who get distracted by their phones or use the phone as a way for entertainment during the discussions of the parliamentary sessions, describing those who do so as mistaken deputies, pointing out that these cases represent a simple percentage and might be one among 138 deputies.
Al-Amoush explained that the violation of privacy is represented in filming the private phone screen of the deputy, asserting that journalists are allowed to film everything they want except privacies.
He pointed out that the House of Representatives has opened a room specifically for journalists; it is available for all journalists, and also mentioned that the council requested that those covering its work should be members of the Journalists' Syndicate.
For his part, Al-Momani said that the media and the press are a supervisory authority that monitors all authorities, and are in turn subject to the supervision of the law, affirming that this role is not new and exists in all houses of representatives.
Al-Momani added that the coverage of the House of Representatives sessions was interrupted in previous periods; due to an unjustified attack on journalists and photographers, pointing out that a journalist performs his role and if he makes a mistake, his institution holds him accountable, and the deputy has the right to criticize the journalist or photographer if he exceeds in his work, confirming that the journalist performs his role perfectly.
He pointed to the engagement in conflicts in successive houses of representatives, drawing attention to the fact that the Journalists' Syndicate supports journalists in performing their role within the framework of the law, and pressures towards facilitating information.
Al-Momani explained that the Syndicate receives observations and negatives related to the performance of journalists who violate the ethics of journalistic work, noting that some practices described as extortion are conducted by individuals who are not members of the Journalists' Syndicate.
He added that the Syndicate is moving to amend its law and is working on expanding the base of membership and affiliates, confirming that a journalist and a photographer under the parliament's dome represent their institutions, not themselves.
In turn, the photographer Mohammad Al-Ananzah said that photographers signed a code of conduct for journalists in the House of Representatives; and they are committed to it, confirming that they do not involve their work in the privacies of the deputies or breach these privacies.
He added that the code of conduct includes not using phones, and not eating or drinking under the dome of the House of Representatives.
