The Role of the Jordanian Media in Addressing the Issues of Persons with Disabilities from the Perspective of their Families

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to explore the role of Jordanian media in dealing with persons with Disabilities and adopting their problems as perceived by their families. A random sampling totaling (656) parents of disabled participated in the study to achieve its goal. A scale to measure the role of media in dealing with Persons with Disabilities issues was developed consisting of (50) items with (6) domains within Likert scale, then calculated validity and reliability. The findings of the study showed that the means of the items ranged from average to high degrees. Further, there were no significant statistical differences attributed to gender on the role of Jordanian media in dealing with Persons with disabilities issues; there were significant statistical differences attributed to working parents; there were significant statistical differences between families of children with severe disability and families of children with mild and moderate disability in favor of the first. Moreover, there were significant statistical differences attributed to scientific qualification in favor of master’s degree and above. Based on the findings, the researchers called upon media representatives to use the services of experts and specialized people in preparing programs that aim to improve the stereotype image in the minds of the audience; directing media to spread the public awareness of the issues of Persons with.