Covering Islam & Muslims in the Western Media

Covering Islam & Muslims in the Western Media

  

By Dalia Yusuf *

 "Journalists describe reality from within a framework that is usually established subconsciously over a long period of time."

Have you ever read an article featuring Islam and Muslims and your comment was "It's not like that, I can't find myself in this article". Well, if it has been like that for you before, you should be interested in this article.

It may sound repetitive but I still need to emphasize it;" Imaging people become to be the role of the media after it has been, relatively, of the literature".

Sometimes in the western media "Islam is equated with aggression, oppression, violence, intolerance, and backwardness. Islam is portrayed as subscribing to a different, and essentially inferior, standard of humanity. There are several factors that explicate this phenomenon apart from "conspiracy theory" that obscures more than it reveals."

We should make it clear. It's not always hatred that causes the misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims in the Western media; it could be ignorance, or structural and institutional reasons in the media itself as well as a lack of skills in dealing and engaging with the media from the side of Muslims.

Opening your mind to break the stereotypes and changing your established opinions are not easy to do as you have to raise your ideological suspicions.

Journalists & Structural Problems

Many people acknowledge that journalism should be informed, critical, and pluralistic but after working in the media, one notices the recurring problems in covering and featuring various complicated phenomena and events.

For example, meeting deadlines is a real tyranny in the media. Any journalist experiences this kind of pressure that may lead to oversimplifying a sophisticated scene.

Moreover, marketing the process of informing people has the effect of creating more obstacles against the journalist's mission in unfolding the truth and enlightening the public. To sell your media product, many will advise you by saying "harmony is boring while conflict draws the audience". The hot exciting stories top the headlines. "News is bad news" is another rule in producing information which may cause different kinds of misunderstandings.

In the same context, the concentration of media ownership and the fact that a small number of people own so many of our means of obtaining information, is a threat to a pluralistic worldview. When the media depends on advertising, the advertisers can exert pressure to protect their interests.

Such an environment may push the journalist to depend on often inadequate sources of information in order to face pressing requirements, while journalists should consistently question their line of information which is regularly introduced in a controlled way. Avoiding producing one-sided biased stories; journalists should give space for different voices and bring the required backgrounds. 

The Contact List: How to Interpret?

Another important keyword in this respect is "the contact list" of experts and commentators on the events. Edward Said previously showed how these experts (academics, politicians…etc) work as "communities of interpretations".

Having a certain mindset or mental approach in analyzing events, which are loaded with concepts and realities, those communities of interpretations may paint different events with the same brush.

Diversified views should be presented without sweeping any problems under the rug. Journalists in dealing with the contact list issue, may face two problems: One, they may not have enough contacts to form a larger picture while featuring any incident or addressing any cause. Two, it is known that one of the most dangerous defects of mainstream classical media is the filtering device that is used to get rid of different independent views causing what Noam Chomsky has called "manufactured consent" that leads the public to structured choice; to what the elites or interest groups want.

While attending "OxfordMuntada" in 2003, Roger Hardy, Middle East Analyst on the BBC, mentioned how the editors of religious affairs used to be marginalized in the Western Media as media environments are mostly secular. He added that this fact has somehow changed after 9/11. 

 

More Time … More Sympathy

Another institutional problematic issue is that most foreign correspondents do not spend enough time in traveling and studying certain countries and phenomena.

As soon as they become familiar with the people of that country and their causes, they may be asked to leave to perform another task without gaining adequate information and understanding.

It is said, "People are enemies of what they ignore." It is evident that the journalists and correspondents who spend some time in certain countries and those who learn the language of those countries or study their religions and cultures sympathize with those countries' people and causes more than those who do not.

Foreign journalists - most of them young, inexperienced and excitable – may not observe the cultural sensitivities of the people about whose issues they are covering. The majority may not speak the local languages.

To meet the dead lines and the market's requirements, as mentioned above, they may only work from clippings, producing reductionist writings. With the possible exception of some international foreign correspondents none of them has attained the expected status and influence.

What is the expected status and influence?

One of the solutions, especially for journalists, is to go through many eye-opening experiences and to put forward questions, not fast answers, when covering events.

"Framing": A More Problematic Cause.

Ignoring is caused by too 'little research' and causing too 'many clichés'. But at the end of the day this problem may be overcome by gathering information and seeking correct information. The more complicated problem is "framing"; "Journalists describe reality from within a framework that is usually established subconsciously over a long period of time".

Opening your mind to break the stereotypes and changing your established opinions are not easy to do as you have to raise your ideological suspicions. One of the solutions, especially for journalists, is to go through many eye-opening experiences and to put forward questions, not fast answers, when covering events. 

It is expected that working within certain frameworks will affect the formatting of the story and may lead to a biased approach toward a certain attitude, for example, using language to highlight certain phrases to hide or distort dissident views, labeling people who hold dissident views as extremists; their views are meant to be ignored and are rarely argued against coherently.

Also hiding the facts or distracting from the main issues, as well as adopting certain techniques that used use generalizations and irrelevant arguments.

Journalism: The Secular Religion

While attending "Oxford Muntada" in 2003, Roger Hardy, Middle East Analyst on the BBC, mentioned how the editors of religious affairs used to be marginalized in the Western Media as media environments are mostly secular. He added that this fact has somehow changed after 9/11.

This places misrepresenting Islam & Muslims in the Western media in a larger context; it indicates the fundamental characteristic of the Western media that it engages with religion generally, including Christianity, the religion of the majority in the West. 

To emphasize the same idea Lars Lundsten discussed in his paper "Journalism as Secular Religion" why Christians and Muslims are equally misunderstood". He claimed that after a close reading of a limited number of news reports that touch upon certain religious arguments, one can draw the general conclusion that religious thinking and reason is alien to leading journalistic institutions in the Western Media.

His analysis seems to indicate that the principles of "Objective and Neutral Journalistic Reporting"(ONJR) constitute a form of secular religion in the public sphere of the Western World and most specifically among the most honored actors within the media.

Religious institutions from their side give another reason for the problematic engagement between religion & the media. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said, "Perhaps observers of religious broadcasting should concentrate not on the time or space given to simple and static representations of religious views and activities but on how this method of following the ‘real time’ of religious knowing and experiencing can be fostered. The recent speech by the BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, to the Churches’ Media Conference seemed to endorse very clearly the significance of this dimension to religious broadcasting – allowing religious knowledge to be complex and engaging in a way that any serious person must be".

The differences between the structure of religious knowledge and the dynamics of the media need more discussion and studies to reach a suitable means of covering and engaging between each other.

After reviewing all the pervious media structural and institutional problems, 'truth' and not only Islam and Muslims, is the victim of media dynamics and tyrannies.

Now to - "Covering Islam"

So, covering Islam shares the same problems with any sophisticated entity that needs to be imaged by the media. At the same time and like other religions, it has the same structural differences between it and media dynamics. But certainly there are some specifications, one of the most effective reasons behind Islam being misunderstood is the oversimplification of Islamic definitions that may be adopted by journalists.

As the Reverend, Bob Bettson, indicated, "In its broadest definition, Islam is expressed through many cultures, languages, and civilizations. In its narrowest definition--the one usually reflected in the media--it can simply be viewed as a religious belief. There are about one billion Muslims in the world today. They do not all share identical goals, motivations, political persuasion, or interpretations of their faith, any more than the world's billion or so Christians".

Noticing the absence of a central orthodoxy in Islam should help journalists to distinguish between the fixed principles of a complex faith and any individuals or groups that cloak themselves with the banner of Islam and claim they are governed by Islamic Shari'ah. 

Simplifying complex cultural and historical backgrounds and consequences in defining Islam turns a lot of media reporting to be journalistic clichés. According to Edward Said the narrow expression of defining Islam in the Western media is deeply rooted in an "Orientalist" context.

Moreover, the legacy of the colonial era could enhance the same understanding of Islam deepening a rooted feeling that Islam and the West contradict each other and therefore cannot coexist.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said, "Perhaps observers of religious broadcasting should concentrate not on the time or space given to simple and static representations of religious views and activities..." 

Avoiding Misleading Language

It was said that the uninformed readers of the Western media can, at times, be forgiven for confusing the terms "Muslim" and "terrorist." A major factor, which contributes to Islamic stereotyping in the West, is due to the media's ignorance of selecting their words that describe Muslims.

Some common names heard or seen in the news about Muslims are "extremist" or "terrorist". These words are misleading in different ways.

Another factor was writing affirmation about this religion and its adherents without any proof or by using doubtful references. This affirmation is put in a very direct way so that the reader may not even ask for proof.

The problem does not end with the selection of authentic sources but it continues to the point where these sources are also misquoted especially with regard to the Qur'an & Hadith; the truncation if the Qur'an and Hadith are not mentioned as a whole and interpreted by including the necessary contexts, the end result may indicate the opposite of what is really meant.

The experts or the "communities of interpretations" play a crucial role here to highlight the most important concepts and realities that lie behind the quotations and texts.

Seeking a comprehensive image of any sophisticated phenomena should not only depend on providing the audience with a few numbers of unbiased objective "experts" but also to provide diverse sources of information that cover a wide spectrum of backgrounds while avoiding promoting certain understanding or interpretation.

In an Analogical Way

Understanding Islam in an analogical way to Christianity is one of the causes of negatively covering Islam and Muslims. For example, it was assumed – incorrectly- that since Christ is the basis of Christian faith that Prophet Muhammad PBUH was to Islam as Christ was to Christianity. Another example that may explain the unconditional Western support for writers like Rushdie and Nisreen that evolve from the history of European secularism and the revolt against the Church, which perceived as an obstacle hindering the progress of Europe during medieval times.

In some circles the same theory has been extended to Islam although Islam has no such theocratic institution.

  "On different occasions Muslims complain that because Western journalists know so little about Islam, sometimes they quote ill-informed people or people misusing the religion. But on the other hand, Muslims should deal with their own ignorance about how the Western news media works."

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Muslims & Self-Criticism

The problematic structural problems of the Western media or the misinformation of some western journalists (out of their ignorance or even their hostility) can not be the only reason for misrepresenting Islam and Muslims in the western Media.

Islam can be easily distorted by its adherents through the ugly models that some of them portray as the products of malpractice and narrow interpretations.

 "The behavior of some Muslims either living in the Muslim world or in the West, is repulsive. Muslims in many places integrate some of their retrograde practices and customs into Islam; the same practices that Islam came to obliterate such as oppressing women and depriving them of proper education".

Vice of the Ghettos

Western Muslim communities play a central role here; some times they have partly contributed to the distortion of the image of Islam and Muslims. For example, the distortion can be caused by living in a closed parallel society and denouncing and condemning their states as un-Islamic while benefiting from their systems, institutions, and values. These tendencies portray Islam as threatening to the foundations of the Western societies.

The weak engagement between Muslims and the media flourish the environment that breeds misunderstanding of Islam and Muslims. To be media-friendly requires conditions that will help in breaking the shackles and changing the stereotypes.

On different occasions Muslims complain that because Western journalists know so little about Islam, sometimes they quote ill-informed people or people misusing the religion. But on the other hand, Muslims should deal with their own ignorance about how the Western news media works.

In the Chicago Conference it was stated that, "Islamic scholars passionately debate such topics as abortion, divorce, "suicide" bombings, and the rights of women in an Islamic society. Many journalists may know that Muslims believe in one God and that Muhammad was His last prophet.

They may not realize that there is no one authority on Islam’s teachings, or on Shariah, Islamic law. An imam, or prayer leader, may offer his studied opinions of the meaning of verses in the Qur’an, Islam’s holy book. But another respected scholar may hold an opposite opinion".

In the same conference on of the most important protective techniques that was discussed alongside advising journalists to develop a sound basic knowledge of the religion’s teachings, was "nurturing relationships with Muslim leaders before a crisis. In that way, journalists will be better able to discern the valid spokespeople from those who espouse extremist views that do not represent the beliefs of mainstream Muslims".

Painting a religion and a whole community with the same brush of terrorism or extremism is offensive and vindicates the argument that many in the media have much to learn.

Something Has Changed

After visiting IslamOnline.net to feature it and after browsing the different sections, NPR correspondent Eric Weiner told me that for many Americans, the word Fatwa is a synonymous to "verdict of death".

The reason behind that was media coverage of Ayatollah Khomeini's Fatwa concerning Salman Rushdie .So the word 'Fatwa' was introduced by the media without enough background to the extent that it gave the word a different partial connotation. Coining terms and encouraging certain perceptions seem partially to be the result of the media coverage.

In "Covering Islam" Edward Said considered, "The Iranian Revolution" was a main modern turning point in introducing Islam and Muslims to the West through the media."

Said undertakes a classical illustration of this phenomenon by examining the American coverage of post-revolution Iran, and especially the Iranian hostage crisis, which for most Americans was their initial experience with Islam and the Middle East. He illustrates the irresponsible imagery and vocabulary used by media personalities to rally "patriotism" and demonize the "irrational" and "cruel" enemy acting out of a pathological hatred of the West.

Thus, he demonstrates how the use of racist vocabulary, fictional "reports," and mis-characterization of the conflict as a religious rather than a predominantly political one, influenced the average American’s experience with Islam, especially in the Middle East".

After the Iranian revolution, a series of events took place, but September 11 was to become another turning point in many respects. Among them is imaging Islam and Muslims in the Western media. Although there is not enough analyses or media studies to prove this assumption until now, initial observations could indicate what kind of changes have taken place.

Unexpectedly, not all the changes are negative. There are remarkable positive changes as well; at the top of them is the real need of lay people to know more about Islam. This makes writing about or covering Islam, somehow, marketable. 

The more journalists and media workers become interested in covering Islam & Muslims, the more they discuss the editorial policies and the professional rules that guide their coverage.

To give an example assessed their tries and referred to the BBC to emphasize his point that "since September 11, we have tried to ensure that 'Islamic terrorist' and similar phrases are not used. We only succeeded to some extent as we are still in a minority. There is still reluctance to change the Islamophobic culture. But there is also a lot of ignorance about Islam and Muslims. We still have a long way to go.

Painting a religion and a whole community with the same brush of terrorism or extremism is offensive and vindicates the argument that many in the media have much to learn. The BBC, however, says that it has done a substantial amount in trying to change the Islamophobic culture. Linda Mitchell, BBC head of diversity, says a term such as Islamic terrorism is used much less than it used to be because journalists are much more aware of the significance and importance of the words they use".

Emergence of New Media

Such changes would not have the same impact without the characteristics of the so- called "new media". The revolution of information represented mainly in the internet and satellites make the manipulation of the truth and the dominance of a certain point of view more difficult. "The user’s immediate access to both the producer and the rest of the audience radically undermines some of the power of the producer". While the classical media outlets claim to serve democracy they do not provide the audience with the same opportunities as the new media.

Expanded effects are profiled in different ways. Among them is what Alexandre Fedorovski mentions in his paper "Evangelical Control over American Foreign Policy and "New Media" Potential in Ideological Counteraction to it "."Deep penetration of the internet into the American people's lifestyle created a powerful potential for the "new media" to reach a fundamental shift not only in their political consciousness, but also in international relations ".

The flourishing alternative media outlets, i.e. websites, blogs, broadcastings …etc. create more options for the readers to compare and analyze what they used to perceive from the mainstream media in a one-way process.

 According to Chomsky alternative media is not simply different from mainstream media in presenting another worldview but it is institutionally distinguishing; working in a different way. These alternative media outlets including the Muslim media and satellites can represent other sources of information for Western journalists as well as Western audiences.

The differences between the structure of religious knowledge and the dynamics of the media need more discussion and studies to reach a suitable means of covering and engaging between each other.

Suggestions & Tips

To address the problems of misrepresenting Islam and Muslims in the Western media, expanding the journalist's knowledge of Islam and considering the political and socio-culture complexities among the Muslims in their different communities should go side by side with discussing the structural dynamics and the institutional problems of the media.

The different institutions across the Western and Muslim societies should work harder to provide journalists with the essential knowledge and to host the necessary discussions.

Exchanging experiences and hearing the stories of failure and success are useful in this respect. The intellectuals, scholars, politicians, and academicians should be involved in such discussions as they represent what was mentioned above; 'communities of interpretations'.

The new media and especially the web can be effectively used to deal with the different professional problems; here are some suggestions that may help in collecting efforts and views to deal with the fundamental problems of covering Islam and Muslims:

- Series of digital questionnaires can indicate: a) the actual difficulties among Western journalists in covering Islam & Muslims, b) the main complaints from both Muslims and non-Muslims in reading and perceiving the media coverage of Islam & Muslims

- A wide use of databases for different authentic sources of information, specialized scholars and experts, interested groups, and true representatives (student movements, media workers, activists, youth movements …) in assisting journalists to put their contact lists and sources)

- Guides for culture sensitivities among Muslim communities (foods, clothes, body language, social codes…)

- Glossary for classical and modern terminologies.

- Forum to discuss and frame various relevant issues and introducing multi-perspective viewpoints

Searching the web for the previous writings about "covering Islam and Muslims", I came across a huge number of materials, and among them I noticed some practical tips that may be useful for journalists in covering Islam. I prefer to republish it as a way of opening the door for more tips and suggestions.

"Abbreviated religious affiliations which convey some dramatic connotation are usually misleading. How can journalists covering stories affecting Muslims or countries with large Muslim populations be more effective and accurate in their reporting?

• Consider the relevance to the story of a person's religious beliefs or cultural practices. Is it necessary at all?

• Try substituting the word "Muslim" with Christian, Jewish or any other grouping. In the Oklahoma bombing case, imagine the reaction if the call had been for a "Jewish-looking" man.

• If you include a reference to a person or a group's religious affiliations, explain why you are doing so and ensure that a religious label is not being affixed to political, cultural, or social practices.

• If you are unfamiliar with Islam or with Islamic studies, consult someone who is. They will be able to help to distinguish culture and politics from religion in the context of Muslim societies.

• For those photo-ops, do they fairly represent the subject being covered? Women wearing headscarves make a supposedly dramatic statement. What about the hundreds of millions of Muslim women who do not ordinarily wear headscarves?

• If you are going to cover religious beliefs, whose interpretation of the faith are you covering? There are many different sects and interpretations of Islam. For some, their religion is a personal search within the context of their interpretation of their faith".

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*Dalia Yusuf is a writer. She is European Muslims Page's founder and former managing Editor. She received her postgraduate diploma in journalism from Cairo University .She is working towards her master's degree in Journalism at the American University in Cairo
http://www.islamonline.net/en/IOLYouth_C/1278407316992/1278406708816/Covering-Islam--Muslims-in-the-Western-Media