45.6% of public depends on social media for news during crisis — index

AMMAN — The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) shared in a recent index titled “Local Media Confidence Index” that respondents, 45.6 percent, rely heavily on Facebook or other social media for news in times of crisis, despite their shaky credibility. اضافة اعلان

The study, supervised by former minister of culture Bassem Tweissi, was conducted by the JMI in cooperation with the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, a local media outlet reported.

The surveyed sample consisted of 1,800 people from different governorates. 

After Facebook, in times of crisis, the public depended on TV channels (39.3 percent) for their news, followed by online news websites (5.8 percent), according to the index.

The index found that Jordanians highly rely on public TV channels as credible news sources. Meanwhile, it also showed a notable decline in people’s reliance on the daily press.

Regarding content: 67 percent of the study sample affirmed that Jordanian media successfully avoids hate speech, 63.3 percent affirmed that media supports women’s issues, and 68 percent affirmed that the media respects family values.

The index stated that almost 70 percent of the public believes local media expresses the government’s point of view. At the same time, 66 percent believe that local media avoids covering certain topics.

Zaid Eyadat, the Director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, said that the study began in June 2022 and was carried out by 100 researchers.

The index covered public and private Jordanian media, including TV channels, daily newspapers, radio stations, news websites, and digital platforms.

The sample relatively reflected the population distribution, as the largest percentage of respondents came from the capital Amman at 43.7 percent, followed by the Irbid governorate, at 14.2 percent.

Those aged 18–34 constituted about 37.3 percent of the survey population. In terms of gender, 50.1 percent of respondents were women, and 49.9 percent were men.


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