media habits of arab youth

Media Habits of Arab Youth

Jad MelkiAsst. Prof. of Journalism and Media Studies

American University of Beirutjad.melki@aub.edu.lb

Sponsored by The Issam Fares Institute – AUB

UNICEF

Media Habits of Arab Youth

What old and new media do various Arab youths use to consume and produce news, information and entertainment, particularly print, broadcast, satellite, mobile, online, and Web 2.0 media?

…. and what are the policy implications of these media habits?

Method: Survey

2744 students43 schools & universities

13 – 28 years old.56% female - 44% male.

Sample skewed in favor of: urban, mid-upper income, literateWeighted in favor of lower-mid income

pilot study

1

Language and Media

Blogging

Entertainment

Work or Schoolwork

Watching TV

News

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

81%

66%

64%

57%

32%

11%

23%

25%

24%

57%

4%

2%

3%

2%

1%

(1) Which language do you mainly use with the following?

English Arabic French

Blogging

Entertainment

Work or Schoolwork

Watching TV

News

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

81%

66%

64%

57%

32%

11%

23%

25%

24%

57%

4%

2%

3%

2%

1%

(1) Which language do you mainly use with the following?

English Arabic French

2

Online Social Networking&

Blogging

Fun

Connect with existing friends

Connect with family

Make new friends

Express opinion

Conduct business

Political activism

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

84%

84%

58%

55%

41%

9%

5%

(2a) For what do you mainly use online social networks?

Fun

Connect with existing friends

Connect with family

Make new friends

Express opinion

Conduct business

Political activism

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

84%

84%

58%

55%

41%

9%

5%

(2a) For what do you mainly use online social networks?

2b. Blogging

say they had

NEVERwritten a blog entry

77%

Music and entertainment news

Arts and culture

Sports news

Travel

Science and technology

International news

Health news

Religion

Local political news

Arab political news

Economic and financial news

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

68%

37%

33%

25%

23%

20%

18%

17%

15%

14%

11%

(2b) What do you blog about?

3

News

No Time at all

Less than one hour

About one hour

About two hours

Three or more hours

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

20%

44%

17%

10%

10%

(3a) How much time daily do you spend on news?

Television

Friends & Family

Professional news websites

Internet videos

Email

SMS

Oneline Social Networks

Newspapers and magazines

Radio

Blogs

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

45

38

31

31

31

31

31

19

18

6

34

29

28

28

23

21

21

30

28

10

15

21

23

22

22

20

19

31

31

14

6

12

18

19

24

28

29

20

23

70

(3b) Which of the following do you most frequently use for news?

Several times a day About once a day About once a week Never

Music and entertainment news

International news

Sports news

Science and technology

Health news

Local political news

Arts and culture

Arab political news

Travel

Religion

Economic and financial news

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

67%

43%

41%

39%

38%

36%

36%

30%

23%

23%

18%

(3c) What news genre do you mainly follow?

4

Entertainment and Leisure

usually use media

for entertainmentMORE THAN THREE HOURS/DAY

55%

4. Entertainment and Leisure Related Media Habits

Watch TV programsMobile phone texting

Listen to music on a PCTalk on a mobile

Listen to music on MP3 playerListen to music on radio or TV

Listen to music on CD/Cassette Online social networking

Online ChattingWatch videos on DVD/VHS

Watch videos onlinePlay games on mobile

Watch videos on PCUse Skype or other VOIP

Play video or computer gamesPlay internet games

Play sports or board gamesRead books or magazines

Read blogsWatch movies at theater

Read ebooksWatch live theater plays

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

(4) How often do you use the following for entertainment?

Never About once a week About once a day Several times a day

5

Television

watched TVIN THEIR BEDROOMS

48%

5. Television Habits

had at homeTHREE OR MORE TV SETS

56%

Eat

Chat with people present

Cell phone texting

Talk on the phone

Email

Listen to music

Browse online

Do homework/work

Play video games

Read

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

87%

59%

53%

50%

41%

39%

36%

35%

19%

17%

(5) What else do you do while watching TV?

Movies

Comedy series

Music videos

Drama series

Cartoons

Sports

Documentaries

Game shows

Newscasts

Political talk shows

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

87%

78%

62%

55%

43%

43%

38%

29%

26%

21%

(5) What do you mainly watch on TV?

6

Attitudes Toward Internet

No restrictions

Less restrictions

More restrictions

Fully restricted or banned

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

21%

31%

40%

8%

Internet content should have/be

(6) General Attitudes Toward the Internet

(6) Perception of the Internetthreats

say information from Internet

very or somewhat

TRUSTWORTHY

83%

helps me gain political power

helps me influence government

helps goverments monitor me

helps corrupt me

threatens my privacy

distracts me from work/school

helps advocate my causes/beliefs

helps me express my opinion

helps me with work/school

offers great entertainment opp.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

40

33

30

31

26

20

10

7

3

2

30

32

31

29

28

25

20

11

4

4

21

26

26

27

32

37

48

51

23

26

9

9

13

13

14

18

22

31

70

68

(6) General Attitudes Toward The Internet

Strongly Disagree Somewhat Disagree Somewhat Agree Strongly Agree

Never used a credit card online

Never purchased a product online

Never clicked on an online ad

Downloaded music at least once

Downloaded software at least once

Downloaded games at least once

Downloaded movies at least once

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

82%

82%

54%

85%

71%

50%

50%

(6) Which of the following have you done in the past 30 days?

Concluding Notes• Media consumers, not producers • English main language, except for news• Entertainment dominant purpose • Web is for freebees• TV remains king, while blogs barely register• Print news and radio on the weak side• Alarming trust in new media

Tech savvy, not media literate

Going Forward

Preparing for 2nd phaseGlobal Survey of Youth

Policy Papers:Highlighting policy priorities for each region

Acknowledgement Research AssistantsAmeen JaberBasma TabajaEwan AbbasiFarah MadadhaHaidar SahebHiba SleimanJanet BarhoumMaryam SaadMichael OghiaNoaf AhmadNour AmacheSamia el-OstaSara AjlyakinSari MajdalaniYasmine al-Sakka

Issam Fares InstituteRami KhouryZina SawafMuneira Hoballah

Funding Issam Fares InstituteUnicef