The Role of Digital Journalism in Framing the Issue of Child Marriage in Jordan

Abstract

There is a dearth of academic studies focusing on the role of mass communication in combating issues related to child marriage. The present study examines the role of the Alrai news website in framing the news about early marriages in Jordan in terms of providing information that contributes to raising awareness of this issue and identifying the motives that prompted the Jordanian legislation to allow marriage for those under 18 years of age. The study examines whether child marriage causes an increase in the rate of psychological and physical abuse of girls while tracking the causes of the prevalence of child marriage in Jordan. It also monitors the role of news platforms in covering the contributions of human rights activists in providing solutions and suggestions to limit the spread of this issue and empower girls to overcome the consequences of marriage at an early age. A descriptive approach using quantitative content analysis was adopted to examine the press’s role in framing the issue of child marriage in 2019, 2020, and 2021. The results of the frame analysis for Al-Rai news website showed that victims of child marriage are exposed to physical and psychological violence, deprivation of education, early divorce, unplanned pregnancy, restricting girls’ freedom of choice, employment, and economic empowerment. This shows the position of the Al-Rai newspaper website towards the issue of child marriage, focusing on the multiplicity of negative effects of this type of marriage and reducing the focus on the negative effects of it. Moreover, the reasons for the enactment of the Jordanian legislation stating the legal age for marriage to be 15 years were found to be obscure.