Jordanian Audience Reliance on Video Journalism in Jordanian Digital News Websites as a Source of Information and Their Attitudes toward Its Credibility

This study examines Jordanian audiences’ reliance on video journalism in Jordanian digital news websites as a source of information and explores their attitudes toward its credibility. It also investigates the relationships between exposure to digital news platforms and video content, political knowledge, informational dependence, and trust in news content and sources. The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey design targeting Jordanian audiences who use digital news websites and are exposed to video journalism content. Five major Jordanian digital news platforms were purposively selected: Al-Ghad, the Jordan News Agency (Petra), Al-Rai, Saraya News, and Ammon News. The study examined four hypotheses concerning the relationships between exposure to electronic news websites and political knowledge; exposure to news video content and trust in content; reliance on digital news websites and informational dependence; and general media exposure and trust in news sources. The findings revealed statistically significant positive relationships across the examined variables. Reliance on electronic news websites showed the strongest association with informational dependence, while exposure to video journalism was moderately associated with trust in content. Exposure to digital news platforms was also positively associated with political knowledge, and general media exposure was positively associated with trust in news sources. Overall, the findings indicate that Jordanian audiences are substantially engaged with digital news environments, while perceptions of credibility remain multidimensional and are influenced by factors beyond exposure and reliance alone.