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Volume :39 Issue : 153 2021
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Attitudes of the Yemeni Public Opinion Towards Press Coverage of the Political Crisis in Yemen: A Study Within the Framework of the Hostile Media Theory and the Pluralistic Ignorance Theory (in Arabic).
Auther : Mohammed Alquaary
Based on the hostile media theory and the theory of pluralistic ignorance, this paper attempts to identify the attitude of the Yemeni public opinion towards the press coverage of the political crisis in Yemen.
The study aims to verify six main hypotheses by using the survey method. An electronic questionnaire was administered on a sample of (300) Yemenis.
The results of the study reveal that there is a negative relationship between the respondents' evaluation of the government's performance towards the political crisis in Yemen and their perception of the press coverage of it, and thus the first hypothesis is accepted. In addition, there is a negative relationship between the respondents’ confidence in newspapers and their attitudes toward press coverage. Consequently, the second hypothesis is accepted. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between the type of newspaper and the level of perception of hostility to the press coverage. Therefore, the third hypothesis is accepted as well. The results also confirm the fourth hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between the respondents' evaluation of the government's performance towards the political crisis and their perception of the attitudes of the public opinion. Moreover, the results indicate that there is a negative relationship between the respondents’ perception of the attitude of the public opinion towards government performance and their perception of press coverage. Accordingly, the fifth hypothesis is verified. Partial acceptance of the sixth hypothesis related to demographic variables is verified. This is because the differences between the variables (gender - educational level - political affiliation) are significant. In addition, the differences are not significant between the other demographic variables (age - occupation - economic level - residency). The results indicate the emergence of the hostile media phenomenon and the phenomenon of pluralistic ignorance in Yemeni society.
The study ends with the following recommendations: pursuing further studies related to factors affecting the attitudes of public opinion and focusing on the concept of objectivity while analyzing the media. Objective coverage that is devoid of any personal prejudices and self-interests of those in control of the media may provide the individual recipient with a true representation of the public opinion towards the case and of the prevailing attitude in society. Furthermore, the study recommends conducting additional research related to media usage patterns and habits, and the behavior of political participation. As opposed to those who show low levels of political participation, those who exhibit high levels of political participation are more likely to experience the hostile media phenomenon.
Keywords: Public Opinion, Attitude, Press Coverage, Political Crisis, Hostile Media Phenomenon, Pluralistic Ignorance, Yemen.