There is a brand new newspaper in town. It is called Al Ghad. It is an independant daily and nearly full color! I scanned through it quickly this afternoon and I must admit, I was impressed. The printing quality is very good and the colored pages give it a distinctive mark, as full color dailies are not that common here.

The issues that Al Ghad covered ranged from local to international, as would be expected. Some of the headlines that caught my eyes were: “An Israeli musical band infiltrates Jerash festival” “Youth speak out about abuse in rehabilitation centers” “No Iraqi visa for passports with Israeli stamps.” Some of these topics are considered risqué by major newspapers here and would not have been covered.

Something else that caught my eye was that Hajjaj, Jordan’s most popular cartoonist, is now working for the paper. This guy has moved between most every daily in the Kingdom. Now it seems he finally found a place to settle down. I’m sure his contribution to Al Ghad will play a major role in its circulation.

All, in all, I’m impressed by this ambitious project and I hope that Al Ghad will keep up its journalistic standards and not get sucked up by the aura of unprofessional and lame journalism found here.