The Secular and the Religious in Media Coverage of Women’s Issues in Jordan

Abstract

This study explores the discourse of media coverage in relation to women issues in Jordan, taking as a case study the period 2010-2020 and three media outlets representing secular, Islamist and state-affiliated discourses. It argues that even in conservative and highly practicing religious societies like Jordan, areas of intersection between the religious and secular discourses still exist. Both secular and religious media focused on similar issues of rights and discrimination, victimization and violence, and culture and arts. However, secular media focused more critically on the state agency while the religious media coverage was more rhetorical and lacked depth and criticism. It was also observed that there is no single secular or religious position, and the same outlets presented different and sometimes contradicting positions by different authors.