Trust in media ‘highest’ in UAE

The UAE’s residents trust their news-media more than other nation tested in a recent international survey.
The eight-nation study, conducted by Northwestern University in Qatar, ranked the UAE the highest, according to percentage of trust in their media outlets, compared to Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Lebanon.
Responding to the statement: “I find most of the information from the following is generally reliable,” the UAE received the most positive responses of the eight countries – more than 20 percent higher than the average.
The UAE also reported not only the highest percentage use of the internet to retrieve media in the region, but also that more news was sourced in English than in Arabic.
Overall confidence that the media has improved in the last two years rated a 61 percent increase.
The survey was conducted with a sample of more than 1,250 residents in each nation.
Chief executive officer of Northwestern University Qatar, Dennis Everett commented: “With the Arab revolutions that began in 2011, greater interest in the role of the internet and social media has gained traction.”
UAE also scored highly on participants feeling the country is on the ‘right track’, 73 percent agreed, second to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with 77 percent.
The survey was conducted from December 26th to February 5th. It involved 658 Arabic nationals and 606 English-speaking ex-pats.