Media Image of Jordan in Runet Media: Specifics of Non Personification

The article is a response to the discussion between Russian media researchers concerning the notion and meaning of media image. It outlines the key directions in the studies of the image of a state as media product, which influences the public opinion, social values and assumptions about the politics, economy and culture. Acknowledging the interdependence of a media image on stereotypes and archetypes, the authors put forward and test a hypothesis of effectiveness of forming a media image in the context of weakening this interdependence. They study the possibilities of forming a media image ("by the media - for the society") in a reverse way, when the binary opposition of stereotyping could be destroyed via personification, and a socio-image ("by the society - for the media") could be formed. In respect of a particular country, this procedure helps to realize and estimate the opportunities and contradictions of the digital media environment which is formed individually ("journalist as subject") and institutionally ("journalist as agent"). The research involved studying the media image of Jordan in web-based media publications in The Kommersant, The RBK, and The Rossiiskaya Gazeta in 2019. The choice of the country is explained by the fact that the King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, by his actions on the world stage and life style, weakens the archetypal inertia in the perception of the Arab state, which is a potential for forming a socio-image. The results of the study show that this potential is not utilized. The media image of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Ru-Net is formed institutionally to the benefit of Russia and is related to some stereotypes of the Arabs, and therefore, may be characterized as non personification.