Khaberni - A media observer writes:
When power transforms from a regulatory tool into a means of pressure, it no longer remains a public institution but becomes a testing ground for justice. What is happening in Jordanian television today provides a glaring example of what can happen when the misuse of powers is emptied of its primary goal, which is to serve the work and protect the rights of those involved.
The project “People”, which was born as a dramatic idea that respects the Jordanian individual and restores the local narrative, did not have a problem in the script or execution, but in the environment that surrounded it.
The project, meant to be a meeting point, turned into a line of division within the institution: a team for the project, and another against it.
The irony is that the disagreement was not for artistic or production reasons, but because some decision-makers wanted to impose working standards that do not match the level proposed and when the team did not succumb to these pressures, the punishment began.
The punishment here was not direct or announced, but came through the most harsh and quiet tools of power: withholding rights. Delaying the dues of the employees, pushing them towards a long legal process, and shifting the burden onto them instead of solving the problem internally.
The irony is that those who made the decision are fully aware that the judiciary would eventually vindicate the aggrieved, but they bet on exhausting them before reaching it.
Perhaps the most dangerous example, which reaches a clear legal violation, is what some workers were subjected to during filming injuries and instead of the institution taking its legal and ethical responsibilities, they were informed after the shooting ended that the costs of their treatment would be deducted from their dues.
This measure cannot be justified administratively in any way, as it affects a fundamental workers' right enshrined in the legislation, including the Jordanian labor law, which requires employers to cover work injuries and the consequent treatment and compensation, without imposing any burdens on the worker.
In this context, the direct administrative responsibility of the general manager of the institution is highlighted, not only as the decision-maker but as the entity that should ensure the institution's compliance with the law before any other consideration. When powers turn into a means of pressure, silence about them becomes implicit participation in their perpetuation.
What is happening is not a mere administrative disagreement, but a real test of the concept of the public institution: Is it an entity that protects the work and its people, or a tool used to impose wills?
Project “People” was not punished because it failed, but because it refused to be reduced. And this in itself, in any respectable professional context, should be a source of strength, not a reason for punishment.
In the end, power that is not checked... turns into a privilege. And privilege, when misused, not only harms individuals but undermines the community's trust in all institutions.
