AMMAN — The Jordan Press Association (JPA) on Thursday commended Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh's approval of a new mechanism for government subscriptions to newspapers.

In a statement, a copy of which was sent to The Jordan Times, JPA President Tareq Momani was quoted as saying that the decision would breathe life into local newspapers and help them address their "severe" financial problems, resulting from falling advertising revenues and high production costs.

In the approved subscription system, recommended by the JPA, every ministry will receive 10 copies of each daily newspaper while other government agencies, public universities, and municipalities will get five.

In addition, each ministry will purchase bulk subscriptions in excess of 240 copies for regular weeklies, while every other public institution will buy three copies weekly, totalling 144 yearly, according to the statement.

The government is required to give equal treatment to all local dailies and weeklies regardless of their stances towards the government and its institutions, according to the statement.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Rakan Majali as saying Thursday that ministries, public institutions, state universities and municipalities will be given a 40 per cent advertising discount under the subscription mechanism, which will be subject to monitoring by the Audit Bureau.