AKEED, Husam Assal

Some websites and users of social media platforms have voiced indignation over ticket prices for the concert of Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli. The websites reported that ticket prices ranged between $300 and $700, which has proven to be untrue.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper published a report headlined "Heated Debate in Jordan Over Posh Concert for Italian Tenor Bocelli." It said that "ticket prices…ranged between $300 and $700, while on the concert day some tickets were sold for 1,000 Jordanian dinars on the black market."

The newspaper added that "the concert was attended by 4,000 people, according to the story of a journalist on Facebook." Several local websites republished the article, while another website said that ticket prices ranged between 120 and 500 dinars.

One website carried a report under the headline "1,000 Dinars Ticket of Bocelli Concert in Jordan." This gives an impression that is different from the content of the same report, which says that tickets were sold for this amount on the so-called "black market."

An Arabic website reported that "the stands of the Oval Plaza were filled with people despite the fact that ticket prices ranged between $150 and $400."

It turned out that the real ticket prices ranged between 100 and 500 dinars (equivalent to $142 and $707). This can be confirmed via the website Karasi, which is designated for reserving and purchasing tickets online. Also, several websites published news about the concert, including the correct and official ticket prices.

A lot of criticism of ticket prices appeared on social media platforms. The prices were said to be for the posh class. This was also published in some traditional media.

The AKEED Monitor thinks that the publishing has violated the standard of accuracy, which stresses the need for avoiding incorrect content, since the news of some media outlets contained incorrect figures of the ticket prices. Besides, many websites carried the report of a London-based newspaper without verifying the truth of its content. The attitudes of some media outlets toward the concert and the value of its tickets reflected on the content they published.