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21 Sep 2016
<div style="text-align: justify;">The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) announced today, Monday, the results of its second report of monitoring the performance of Jordanian media in covering parliamentary elections. The report covers a part of the period of election advertising from 28 August until the evening of 15 September.<br />
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The JMI monitored 20 media outlets, including four daily printed newspapers, which are Al Rai, Al Dustour, Al Ghad, and Al Sabeel; four radios, which are state-run Jordan Radio, Hayat FM, Al Balad, and Sawt Al Janub; four TV channels, which are state-run Jordan TV, Al Haqiqa Al Dawliya, Al Yarmouk, and Roya; and eight news sites, representing the electronic press, which are Ammon, Khaberni, Saraya, Al Wakeel, Hala News, Jfra News, Al Bosala, and Garaa News.<br />
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The JMI report noted that the elections to the 18th Lower House of Parliament witnessed broad and extensive coverage by the various media. Election advertising was clearly visible on digital and social media and TV stations in a manner that has exceeded the previous electoral sessions.<br />
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The report underlined the continuing phenomenon of not separating ownership from editorial policy, which was clear in the 2013 elections. Some media outlets in the private sector have not heeded the principle of separation between ownership and editorial policy or media work. The owners of several media establishments have continued to direct their establishments toward serving the interests of their advertising campaigns or the campaigns of their relatives. This has generated numerous forms of professional and ethical violations and has practically turned the licenses given to those establishments from operating in favor of the public to operating for the interests of specific candidates and lists.<br />
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The JMI confirmed in its report that confusing paid advertisements with media and news content was the most widespread professional and ethical violation, specifically on some TV stations and electronic sites. This constitutes a violation of professional and ethical values and principles. It is also a violation of Paragraph A of Article 9 and Article 17 of the Press Code of Honor, as well as a violation of Clause 1 of the general principles and Paragraph 4 of Clause 4 of the Professional and Ethical Code of Conduct for Media Coverage of the Elections issued by the JMI. Additionally, it is a violation of Clause 1 and 3 of Paragraph A of Article 12 of Instructions No. 7 of 2016 on election advertising of the Law of the Independent Election Commission (IEC).<br />
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The JMI noted in its report that some media outlets had concluded advertising contracts, which guarantee special media coverage for the candidate who has paid advertisements. This means that there is no separation between editorial decision-making and the power of advertisements. The monitoring team observed that there is a connection between the publishing of news of candidates and covering their activities on the one hand and paid advertisements on the other on some electronic sites. Besides, some TV stations broadcast shows to enable candidates to present their platforms and slogans. This took the form of media programs on television. We should note here that these advertisement programs are paid. These stations had not previously announced that these programs would be open to all candidates or that they are paid or unpaid. Jordan TV is an exception as it presented unpaid advertisements for candidates. This was repeatedly announced on the screen. The duration was distributed equally to those who took this opportunity.<br />
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The report revealed an increase in the phenomenon of dependence on anonymous sources, or withholding the identity of sources, specifically in the coverage of the printed press and the electronic press. The use of collective anonymous sources, such as academics, observers, voters, citizens, and people interested in electoral affairs, has been repeatedly observed without clarifying the identity of those observers or academics or even providing specific quotes by them.<br />
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According to the report, news items were the main press format used in the coverage. Out of 3,711 media items that were monitored during this period, the number of repeated news items totaled 2,458, accounting for 66.2%. Meanwhile, repeated opinion pieces totaled 33.8%.<br />
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The report said that the printed press led the other media in terms of using news coverage by 59.1%. Radio stations came second (18.1%), and then the electronic press third (11.5%). Meanwhile, TV stations depended on opinion pieces more than on news items by 70.6%.<br />
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<strong>Printed Press </strong><br />
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On the results of monitoring the printed press, the report said that the number of items published during this period was 2,194. The space given to these items totaled 68,596 square centimeters. Al Ghad ranked first in terms of space and the number of items it published, totaling 680 items, with a total space of 20,559 square centimeters. This accounted for 31% of the total coverage of monitored newspapers. It was followed by Al Dustour, with a close percentage.<br />
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The report said that the total news items published by the four newspapers amounted to 1,587 repeated news items (72.3%), while opinion pieces in them totaled 607 repeated items (27.7%). Al Dustour led the other newspapers in the publication of opinion pieces, totaling 263 items, accounting for 42.1% of the total items it published, which totaled 625 repeated items, including 362 news items. Al Ghad led the other newspapers in its publication of news items by publishing 493 repeated news items out of 680 media items, including 187 opinion pieces.<br />
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The printed press showed interest in the activities of candidates, which came first among the electoral issues and subjects that they handled in their coverage, followed by interest in other electoral affairs, and then general election participation. The subjects that received the least attention were those related to election boycott, the rights of minorities and special groups, security issues, and election-related violence.<br />
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According to the report, experts and specialists (23.4%), the IEC (13.3%), and civil society institutions (20.4%) have remained the most visible political actors in the issues raised by the printed press in this stage of the electoral process. The least visible among political actors in the press coverage were security institutions, the Ministry of Interior, and governors by 0.3% and then people with disability and their institutions by 0.5%.<br />
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The report pointed out that neutral coverage in the printed press was the highest (51.6%), while negative coverage was 29.0% and positive coverage 19.1%. The dependence of the printed press on one source or presenting one opinion was the highest (46.0%), while dependence on two sources or two opinions or more was 42.0%, followed by items that could only afford one source or one opinion by 6.1%. The items that did not depend on any source totaled 5.3%.<br />
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The report stated that general national issues received the most coverage in the printed press by 58.1%. Irbid led other governorates in terms of interest in geographic coverage by 5.7%, then Al Karak second (5.3%), and Amman third (5.2%). The camps received a very low percentage of the interest of the printed press in election coverage (0.2%). The governorate of Aqaba came second to last, with coverage totaling 0.4%.<br />
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On gender discrimination, the JMI report said that men have continued to be more visible in election coverage in the printed press and had the greatest influence on election-related media content (78.8%), while the appearance of women in media content totaled 8.1%.<br />
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<strong>Radio Stations</strong><br />
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On the results of monitoring radio stations, the report said that election-related radio broadcast hours totaled 35:38:00, during which 670 repeated items were broadcast.<br />
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The report said that Sawt Al Janub Radio was the highest in terms of election coverage broadcasts through 12:04:00 hours by 34.0%, during which it broadcast 191 repeated items by 29.0%. Jordan Radio came first in terms of the number of items it broadcast (224 repeated items) by 33.0% through 11:29:00 broadcast hours by 32.0%, with a slight difference from Sawt Al Janub Radio totaling only 5 minutes.<br />
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The report said that Al Balad Radio came third in terms of the broadcast hours, which totaled 10:32:00 by 30.0% and in terms of the items it carried, totaling 212 repeated items by 32.0%. Hayat FM came fourth by the lowest broadcast hours totaling 1:33:00 by 4% only and in terms of the number of items, which totaled 43 repeated items by 6%.<br />
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The report added that out of a total of 670 repeated items broadcast by radios, 429 items (64.0%) are news items. This shows that radios, like the printed press, depended on news items primarily in their election coverage, while opinion pieces came second in terms of the use of press format in radio coverage by 36.0% and through 241 repeated items only.<br />
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According to the report, Jordan Radio came first in terms of the use of news items in election coverage by 52.7% out of its total coverage by broadcasting 118 repeated items, while Sawt Al Janub Radio came first in terms of broadcasting opinion pieces through 108 repeated items by 56.5% out of its total broadcast hours.<br />
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On the interest of radios in election issues and subjects, the report noted that the activities of candidates and lists came first in the election coverage by radios by 14.2%, and then logistical and administrative actions by 0.6%. The task of awareness-raising and election education came third by 10.3%.<br />
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The report noted that the IEC has remained the chief and first political actor in radio coverage by 32.5%, followed by civil society institutions by 22.7%. Experts and specialists came third by 11.8%, while the government came fourth by 8.7%.<br />
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On the level of neutrality in radio coverage, the report said that neutral coverage (neutral) totaled half of the monitored sample (52.8%), while positive coverage (positive) came second by 25.4% and negative coverage (negative) came third by 21.5%.<br />
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On the values of balance in radio coverage, the report noted that radios depended on one source of opinion in news by a high percentage that reached 67.3%. The items that could not afford more than one source or one opinion came second by 17.9%, while the items that depended on two sources or two opinions or more came third by 14.0%.<br />
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On general national issues, the report said that radios showed high interest in them, totaling 64.3%. The governorate of Maan received the highest interest in terms of coverage by 11.5%, while the capital, Amman, came second by 7.8%.<br />
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On gender discrimination, the report confirmed that men have continued to have the highest presence and participation in terms of gender, exceeding women by a very large percentage, which reveals negative discrimination against women. Men were present as an actor and participant in the election-related media content on radios by 72.2%, while the presence of women and their participation in creating and formulating media content were around 10 times less than men by 7.6%. This reveals gender discrimination in radio coverage. It is discrimination in favor of men against women.<br />
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<strong>TV Stations</strong><br />
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On the results of the monitoring of TV stations, the report said that the hours of TV broadcasts that covered parliamentary elections in the period covered by this report totaled 34:54:00, during which 419 repeated items were broadcast. Jordan TV led the monitoring sample, whether through the broadcast hours that totaled 14:24:00 by 41% or the number of items that were broadcast and that total 158 repeated items by 38%. It was followed by Roya TV, with total broadcast hours of 12:20:00 by 31%. Al Yarmouk TV came third with broadcast hours totaling 5:08:00 by 14.7% and a total of 81 repeated items by 19%. Al Haqiqa Al Dawliya came fourth with broadcast hours totaling 3:02:00 by 8.7% and a total of 50 repeated items by 12%.<br />
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The report confirmed that the dependence of TV channels on opinion pieces was greater than their dependence on news items. The news items broadcast by the four TV channels totaled 123 repeated items only by 29.4%. The highest was on Al Yarmouk TV by 50.6% through broadcasting 41 repeated items. Meanwhile, opinion pieces on the other TV channels totaled 296 repeated items by 70.6%. The highest was on Jordan TV, totaling 120 repeated items by 75.9%.<br />
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The report showed that one of the key topics handled by TV coverage was awareness-raising and election education by 13.1%. It was followed by other electoral affairs by 11.6%, then general election participation, and then procedures of registration of candidates, electoral lists, and electoral platforms.<br />
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The report noted that black electoral money received little attention in TV coverage. The same applies to election violations, the rights of minorities and special groups, and youth affairs. Election-related security issues received the least attention by TV channels by 0.2%.<br />
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On the most visible and influential political actor in TV coverage, the report said that experts and specialists led the list of political actors in TV coverage (20.5%), followed by civil society institutions in second place (17.9%), and the IEC in third place (17.4%). It is noticeable that tribes, the Greater Amman Municipality, and other municipalities came last. They appeared in TV coverage without any political influence or role that they could play in the elections.<br />
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On the level of neutrality in TV coverage, the JMI report noted that neutral coverage on TV channels totaled 37.0%, while positive coverage was 30.8% and negative coverage was 29.4%.<br />
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On the values of balance, the report noted that TV channels depended on one source or one opinion in their election coverage by 45.8%, while the coverage that depended on two sources or two opinions or more reached 39.9%. Meanwhile, the items that could only afford one source or one opinion totaled 11.2%. The items that did not depend on any source received a very low percentage, totaling 3.1%.<br />
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The report pointed out that the interest of TV channels in raising and discussing general national issues totaled 69.2%. The capital, Amman, had the highest coverage on TV channels by 6.2%, while the governorate of Al Mafraq received the least TV coverage by 0.5%.<br />
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On gender, the report confirmed that TV channels practice negative discrimination against women in terms of their appearance on TV and influence on producing media content. The share of men totaled 77.1%, while the share of women totaled 6.7%. Also, mixed presence of gender (man and woman) totaled 11.0%, while items in which men and women did not appear totaled 5.3%.<br />
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<strong>Electronic Press</strong><br />
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On the results of monitoring election coverage in the electronic press, the report said that the media items published by websites during the period of coverage totaled 428 repeated items, totaling 113,914 words. The highest in terms of words and items was Saraya, with 34,625 words by 30% of the total coverage, with 131 repeated items by 31% of the total items published by the eight electronic sites that were monitored.<br />
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The report confirmed that the dependence of the electronic press on news items was greater than their dependence on opinion pieces. News items totaled 74.5%, with 319 repeated items versus 109 opinion pieces only by 25.5%.<br />
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Saraya came first among electronic sites in dependence on news items in election coverage by 82.4%, with 108 repeated items. Jfra News was the highest in terms of dependence on opinion pieces compared to the number of items it published, which total eight repeated items by 72.7% out of its total coverage totaling 11 repeated items.<br />
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On the interest of the electronic press in electoral issues and subjects, the report pointed out that procedures of registration of candidates and electoral lists came first by 18.7%, followed by other electoral affairs in second place by 16.8%, and activities of candidates in third place by 12.1%. Interest in the rights of minorities and special groups came last in electronic coverage (0.2%), followed by opinion polls, analysis, statistics, youth affairs, and election results (0.5%).<br />
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On the most visible and influential political actor in the electronic press, the report explained that lists and blocs were the first and major political actor in the coverage of the electronic press by 22.7%. Experts and specialists came second by 17.8%, the IEC came third by 17.3%, and the government came fourth by 12.4%.<br />
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People with disabilities and their institutions came last in terms of political actors in the media content in the electronic press by a very low percentage (0.2%). Meanwhile, tribes as a political actor received 0.5%, which is not consistent with the electoral, political, and social influence of the tribes on the elections in terms of running in the elections and voting.<br />
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On the content of neutrality trends in the electronic press, the report stated that negative coverage was the highest in the overall coverage of the electronic press by 41.4%. Neutral coverage came second by 30.6%, while positive coverage totaled 27.1%.<br />
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The report revealed that the values of balance in election coverage in the electronic press saw a clear flaw as 37.7% of the coverage depended on one source or opinion, while the items that did not depend on any source totaled 27.9%. Meanwhile, the items that depended on two sources or two opinions or more totaled 21.5%, while the subjects that could only afford one source or opinion totaled 12.9%.<br />
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The report revealed that general national issues published by the electronic press were 50.5%. The capital, Amman, had the highest coverage, totaling 20.6%. Al Zarqa came second by 5.1%. The governorates of Madaba and Aqaba and the camps were at the bottom of the coverage priorities in the electronic press in terms of the geographic identity by 0.2% only for each.<br />
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The JMI report confirmed that women were at the bottom of the gender scale in the production of media content in the electronic press by a very low percentage of 6.8%. Positive discrimination in favor of men has continued to be the highest by 73.6%, while mixed appearance of men and women in electronic media coverage was 11.2%, and the items in which men and women did not appear were 8.4%. </div>