Feb 15 2010
Jordanians to enjoy Kids News soon
Jordanian children will be able to hear and see televised news geared to them in the near future. A memorandum of understanding to introduce the internationally known Kids News program to Jordanian kids was signed Saturday at the Dead Seas between the Dutch based Free Voice by Bart Dijkstra with Jordan’s Community Media Network by Daoud Kuttab. The Dutch Ambassador to Jordan Johanna van Vliet, and the newly chosen director of Free Voice Jan Bonjer also attended the signing event.
The MOU expects an 18 month project that will begin with intensive two month training followed by weekly broadcasts and ending with daily broadcasts of a television news program geared to Jordanian children primarily between 10-14 years old.
Free Voice director Bart Dijkstra said that Free Voice will support this project with a grant of 150,000 euros, provided that CMN also makes a contribution necessary for the success of the project which is estimated at 350,000 euros. Both parties will have to fundraise the remaining amount. “We will be working together with our Jordanian partners to raise an equal amount needed to make this project work,†he said. Free Voice has been working in the last six years on internationalizing the program that has been on the air in Holland for 30 years. Kids News Network is on the air now in eight countries around the world.
Daoud Kuttab founder and director of Community Media Network which runs Radio al Balad and AmmanNet website said that being able to produce TV news for children is a dream come true. “We have been doing a school radio program for years and we feel that a kids news program on TV will be widely received by children in Jordan who are the majority of the population,†he said.
The privately owned Normina TV has been chosen as the potential Jordanian TV station that will air the program once it is produced.
Katja Michael, the program officer of Kids News Network at Free Voice along with their Middle East coordinator Jan Keulen and staffers from Community Media Network met with local and international foundations and ambassadors to enlist their support to fund this unique media program.
Free Voice is a Dutch not for profit foundation with the objective among others to develop news broadcasts for the youth in developing countries.
Community Media Network is a Jordanian not for profit foundation aimed at supporting and developing media in the Arab world. CMN runs AL Balad Radio in Amman and Ammannet.net the Arab world’s first internet radio station.
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