Over 80% UAE population trust local media, reveals survey

abu dhabi — More than 80 per cent of UAE population trust local media, while television and Facebook are the most favoured medium for news consumption, a government survey has revealed.

A study titled ‘Public Trust in UAE Media’ conducted by the National Media Council (NMC) indicates that a huge majority — almost 80.5 per cent people surveyed – have overall trust in the UAE media as a reliable source of information.

Meanwhile, 94 per cent of respondents said they have confidence in local media, and 93.5 per cent believe in media’s commitment to professional and ethical values.

The percentage of confidence in the analytical media content, which includes opinion, analysis and comments on the affairs of the UAE, reached 78.7 per cent.

The survey jointly conducted by NMC and Jordan Media Institute (JMI) asked 2,500 people across the country — half of them Emiratis — about their patterns of news consumption.

Forty-two per cent of the sample persons are between 18-24 years old, 30 per cent between 25-34 years old, 20 between 3544 years old, and 9 per cent are over 44.

Unveiling the results of the survey, Dr Bassem Al Twaisi, Dean of the Jordanian Media Institute, said: “We were surprised by the level of trust people have in local media outlets as media credibility is on the downslide in many parts of the world.”

According to the survey, 71 per cent of the people believe that UAE media affects greatly (high level) for creating positive image of the country inside.

The survey show that the people believe TV has the lion’s share in creating a positive image of the UAE, with 38 per cent; followed by Facebook at 25 per cent; Twitter by 13; news websites by 5 and the print media by 4 per cent.

We were surprised by the level of trust people have in local media as media credibility is on the downslide across world. Dr Bassem Al Twaisi, Dean of the Jordanian Media Institute

We were surprised to know that Facebook has overtaken Twitter as the main source of news. Jaber Al Lamki, acting executive director, media & strategic communications