Ammon News in English - finally, a genuine alternative to Jordan’s English-language newspapers for those of us who want to know a lot more about what is going on in the country but don’t understand Arabic well enough to keep up with the local media.

I expect Ammon News English to provide the same in-depth coverage of sensitive and controversial local issues that has made it so popular in Arabic. The new English-language service should open the door for many more people to participate more fully in local discussions about topics of concern to all residents of the country.

It also embodies the famous Jordanian tradition of hospitality by inviting and welcoming visitors – both in the country and online around the world – to look deeper into the daily affairs of the country.

What a remarkable journey Ammon News has had since its beginnings two years ago at a café in Amman. Basil Okoor and Samir al-Hayari were dissatisfied enough with the state of Jordanian media that they decided to do more than just complain about it.

Over argileh and tea, they created a news website and started filling it with the kind of investigative stories they had always wanted to cover but were often prevented from doing.

For its first year, Ammon News attracted only a tiny following of friends, many of whom would stop by the café to encourage Basil and Samir to continue and to contribute their own news tips and stories. The pair had built this website out of a love for serious journalism, and they persevered despite a lack of resources.

The “newsroom” they created at the café began to attract Jordan’s senior journalists as well as many international visitors to see this grassroots media experiment in action.

Advertisers soon picked up on the buzz that Ammon News had created in Jordan’s media world, and the website began to grow and prosper. It became the “go-to” place for government officials to read and comment on every day, which generated further interest in the local media community and spawned more news stories as well.

As someone who worked with local journalists in Jordan for many years to upgrade media standards, I would often visit the Ammon News café just for a shot of enthusiasm and encouragement as well as the knowledge that good journalism can survive in Jordan.

Over the last four years of living and working in Jordan, I watched the local media take some good steps forward but also backwards. I saw dozens of local journalists work very hard for two years to put together ATV and get all the way to the threshold of launching before being prevented from doing so by a series of shadowy, behind-the-scenes decisions.

I observed Jordan TV make some tentative moves toward greater openness before fear and insecurity took hold again. I met many, many local journalists who care a great deal about their profession but are unable to overcome the major stumbling blocks that are thrown at them every day as they go about their work.

The passion that Basil Okoor, Samir al-Hayari and all the Ammon News team so obviously feel for journalism had the effect of rekindling my own determination to help improve local media standards in any way I could.

I often wondered how many of my Western journalist colleagues would be motivated enough to spend most nights and weekends building a news website that was far more of a time-consuming hobby than a respectable business venture for the first half of its existence.

Congratulations to the entire Ammon News team – may you continue to grow, to prosper and to stick to your ideals and principles for decades to come. You have inspired many journalists at home and around the world with your determination. Thank you all so much for your hard work and dedication to strengthening Jordan’s media, and thank you especially for Ammon News English.

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Carolyn Robinson is an international media consultant who began her journalism career at CNN in Atlanta, producing and reporting medical news for several years. She worked as senior producer at a Chinese CNN affiliate in Hong Kong, and also in East Timor as head of the local TV station established by the United Nations.

She has freelanced internationally as producer, reporter and camerawoman for CNN, Al-Jazeera, Reuters, APTN, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor and the Far Eastern Economic Review. She was based in Amman for many years, most recently as executive producer for "Arab House," a regional co-production series on social issues in Lebanon and Jordan. She now lives in New York City.