Radio Antime is the way to the rights of citizens … A crisis of confidence with the institution …
Every morning, when I listen to the Jordanian radio with different frequencies, I note that citizens use them to present their problems, as if they had become the last appeal to obtain rights, which reflects a clear crisis of confidence with official institutions and their inability to respond.
At a time when it is assumed that official institutions are the first incubator of citizen questions and concerns, a remarkable phenomenon appeared in Jordan, where radiERTT has become the fastest and most effective way to obtain rights and to treat complaints. The citizen who strikes the doors of the ministries in vain, finds in a radio call a means of pressure that achieves what repeated criticisms have not been able to do so. This reality reveals a crisis of confidence between the citizen and the institution, and raises questions about the effectiveness of public administration, and the position of the media as an emergency mediator, and not as a support partner, in a relationship which should be based on transparency, responsibility and service of people in dignity.
In Jordan, it has become perceptible that a large segment of citizens uses communication with radio, in particular official and local radio stations, to present their problems and concerns, after it was not possible to solve them through official and institutional channels. This phenomenon, which has gradually transformed into something similar to general culture, raises profound questions about the performance of government institutions, the extent of its interaction with the questions of citizens, as well as on the nature of the relationship between the citizen and the state.
The disciple of Jordanian radio, in the morning and evening, notes the large number of calls received by the presenter of citizens who complain about various problems, ranging from infrastructure problems, delayed official transactions, rejecting unjustified requests, grievances, water or electricity interruptions and other daily problems. The remarkable paradox is that these problems, which are often chronic or go back to years, are treated quickly, as soon as they are disseminated on the air, because the official authorities initiate immediate action, and sometimes in a few hours, to solve the problem or communicate with the citizen who has a complaint.
This behavior raises fundamental questions: why does the citizen need to reach radio or the media to hear their voice? And why are official circles delayed to the execution of their duty until they are embarrassed in the air? Have emissions become an effective pressure tool for official institutions more than traditional administrative frameworks? Is this proof that state institutions only respond under the pressure of the media and public opinion?
In depth, this phenomenon reflects a crisis of mutual trust between the citizen and the institution. The citizen, after losing hope of responding to his request or his complaint by routine channels, uses the media as a last resort, fully realizes that the voice which is not heard inside official walls can find a resonance through ether. Here, the characteristics of a gap in administrative justice, transparency and rational governance are clear. The citizen does not want more than the application and equity of the law, but he sometimes faces excessive bureaucracy, a lack of severity in monitoring, or an indifference by certain employees, or unjustified administrative complications, which make him feel marginalized or neglected.
On the other hand, this rapid interaction of civil servants after the emergence of the issue on the radio reflects a state of fear of public opinion or the responsibility of the media, more than this stems from an ethical or administrative commitment to their responsibilities. When the problem is presented in public, institutions seek to polish their image and protect their reputation, to move quickly and to send delegations or to issue data, and to provide solutions that were not available before disseminating the case. This exposes the disparity in the treatment of the same problems when presented by administrative methods or when presented in the media.
But the most dangerous is that this mechanism is transformed into something similar to the alternative system, so that the citizen believes that the solution only comes through the media, and ceases to review the competent authorities directly, which weakens confidence in institutions and improves the logic of media pressure as a tool for a rights, instead that the media are aware and partners of the hope. This can lead to the exhaustion of media energies in the treatment of individual complaints, to the detriment of the management of general and major questions which require a depth discussion and investigations on the press.
This phenomenon places the media in front of a moral challenge, because it is requested to transform into a daily complaint platform, which could overwhelm its enlightening, educational and supervision role. Over time, a stereotype is that radio stations are the alternative to the state, which is worrying and indicates a structural defect in the public service system.
To approach this phenomenon, a serious examination of administrative systems and communication methods within public institutions must be carried out. The public service offices must be carried out, the procedures are simplified, the Shorten employee is held responsible, the quality of the services is monitored and the citizen benefits from clear professional channels to follow his transactions and submit his complaints without the need for radio or media. Each media complaint must also be considered as an indication of internal administrative weakness, not just an emergency event.
In the end, the ability of institutions to restore the confidence of citizens is not carried out thanks to instantial solutions and public relations, but rather by consolidating the culture of service, in accounting, respecting the dignity of the citizen and by devoting transparency as an institutional value, not as a media logo. The citizen does not seek privileges, but his fundamental rights, and if these rights are only granted by ether, we are faced with a crisis which requires a serious national stand to correct the relationship between the State and its children.
* Professor of Strategic Studies at the AL -Hussein Bin Talal University
