Journal of Arts and Social Sciences (Jan 2015)

Jordanian Press’ Approach to the Crisis of General Secondary School Results of Winter Session 2010: An Analytical Study of a Sample of Al Raai, Al-Arab Al Yawm and Al Sabeel Newspapers

  • Ali O. Nejadat

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24200/jass.vol6iss1pp115-137
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1
pp. 115 – 137

Abstract

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The Jordanian General Secondary School Examination results of Feb. 2010 were very different compared to those of other years. There were a lot of mistakes, faults and discrepancies in these results, which caused panic and chaos among parents and students. The credibility of the ministry of education was lost as a result. This paper aims to examine the way Jordanian daily newspapers handled the coverage of this crisis and explore their attitudes towards the crisis. The content analysis of samples from three newspapers aims to examine the attitudes of these newspapers; i.e. whether they were actually agreeing, disagreeing or neutral vis a vis the crisis and the way it was handled. An analytical approach using content analysis of three major daily newspapers Al Raai, Al Arab Al Yawm and Al Sabeel is conducted. The paper concludes that news and reports published in the three daily newspapers were at the forefront of news patterns that treated the crises with a percentage of (39.2%) and (29%) respectively.The paper also shows that (17.4%), of the content of the articles published in the newspapers blamed the government for this crisis, while (17.1%) of the content of the articles was on the impact of the crisis on students and parents and their reaction to that crisis. The paper shows that the calls for rational handling of the crisis came in the first place in Al Raai with a percentage of (17%) while the issue of «government’s responsibility for the crisis» came first in Al Arab Al Yawm and Al Sabeel with a percentage of (26.6%) and (21.4%) respectively.

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