Introduction1 The regulation of the print media sector in Jordan has evolved through a large number of changes over the last 25 years. While the direction has generally been positive in the sense of progressively democratising the sector, at the same time there have been some setbacks and there are also areas where further democratisation is still needed. An early and very important development was the enactment of the 1993 Press and Publications Law (PPL),2 which granted significantly greater freedom to Jordanians to establish newspapers. This led to the establishment of dozens of private weekly newspapers, albeit not dailies. These were very successful in terms of attracting audiences and advertisers and some even posed a threat to the erstwhile dominant public dailies. At the same time, many of the new weeklies were pushing the boundaries of what the government was prepared to tolerate and testing previously established red lines. In May 1997, when Parliament had been dissolved, the government promulgated amendments to the Press and Publications Law3 which imposed more stringent conditions on the weeklies. In particular, much higher minimum capital deposit requirements led to the closure of 13 of the 35 weeklies, due to them being unable to meet this condition. However, the Higher Court of Justice (now the Administrative Court) held that the amendments were unconstitutional on procedural grounds, nullifying both the amendments and the closures.4 A new Press and Publications Law was promulgated in 19985 which repealed the earlier, 1993 Law, and which remains in force, albeit subject to amendments. Under this Law, a number of dailies – both public and private – have flourished alongside numerous other publications, although this sector now faces major financial headwinds. The Law does impose licensing requirements on newspapers, in a system which is overseen by the government, contrary to international standards, although in practice it is relatively easy to establish a newspaper. It includes a number of positive guarantees of media freedom, protection of confidential media sources of information and a right of the media to access official sources of information. Less positive are its restrictions on who may practise journalism and broad, vaguely worded restrictions on content. And the extension of the law 1 This Analysis is based on a translation of the Press and Publications Law provided by UNESCO. 2 Press and Publications Law No. 10 for the year 1993, published in the Official Gazette No. 15391, p. 311, 17 April 1993. Available in Arabic at: http://www.lob.gov.jo/AR/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx. 3 Provisional Law No. 27 for the year 1997, published in the Official Gazette No. 4205, p. 2428, 15 May 1997. Available in Arabic at: http://www.lob.gov.jo/AR/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx. 4 The decision was published in Bar Association Bulletin, issues 1 and 2 in January and February 1998, p. 389. 5 Law No. 8 for the year 1998 published in the Official Gazette No. 4300, p. 3162, 1 September 1998. Available in Arabic at: http://www.lob.gov.jo/AR/Pages/AdvancedSearch.aspx. Jordan: Analysis of the Press and Publications Law, 1998, as Amended - 4