جوردان تايمز -

AMMAN - The Star weekly will no longer be found on the newsstands in Amman and beyond after a decision was taken by a government-appointed ad hoc committee running the mother company to suspend the English newspaper, citing financial difficulties.

The weekly’s editor in chief, Maha Sharif, wrote a farewell editorial informing the readers of the decision and also questioning the decision to stop printing the weekly to cut down on expenses of the Jordan Press and Publishing Co., which owns Jordan’s oldest daily, Ad Dustor and The Star.

“With regret The Star informs its readers that after twenty years of bold editorial content and an open window on all social, cultural and political events taking place locally, regionally and internationally; finally its voice has been silenced under a very misleading slogan: ‘Decreasing Expenditures’,” Sharif said in her opening to the editorial of the weekly which was first issued in 1969.

In her editorial, titled “Shooting the messenger: bad decision with good intentions?” Sharif criticised the decision to suspend the weekly as of September 1, aimed to cut down expenditures and address financial difficulties.

The temporary committee was appointed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to manage the Jordan Press and Publishing Co. (Ad Dustour and The Star).

“This unjust decision came amid Ad Dustour’s chaotic and whimsical expenditures on refurbishments, fancy cars, bonuses and extras that have been granted to its top editorial heavyweights at the expense of the company and its employees,” Sharif told The Jordan Times yesterday.

She said since its inception, The Star had a strategic mission to present to its readers the independent and unbiased side of media in an English content which is widely used in Jordan and which opens the doors for dialogue with English speakers in society and elsewhere.

“They attributed the suspension decision to financial problems the company has been facing, but they took other decisions that cost the company more than what The Star costs to be issued,” she said, adding that the expenses of both newspapers, The Star and Ad Dustour, have been covered by the profits generated by the printing press and the commercial section of the mother company.

“As soon as the temporary committee was assigned to run the affairs of the company, rumours started spreading that The Star would be closed, even before the committee had had time to read, let alone evaluate, the balance sheet of the company, and investigate the real sources of extravagant expenditure,” she said.

The intentions of the committee are vague, Sharif said, adding that there is no convincing explanation given to the lopsided decision to suspend The Star.

According to Sharif, the Weekly’s staff will be absorbed within the Ad Dustour’s staff.

Head of the committee Amin Mashaqbeh was not available for comment.