Hyde 1

ESSAY/ASSIGNMENT/PROJECT WORK
Submission Form

Student Name: Ellen Hyde

Student ID Number: 13131222
Course of Study: New Media and English
Year: 1
Lecturer Name: James Carr
Date of Submission: 06th March 2014

I ____Ellen Hyde_____declare that the attached essay/project is entirely my own work,

in my own words, and that all sources used in researching it are fully acknowledged
and all quotations properly identified

ESSAYS, ASSIGNMENTS & PROJECTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BY THE

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY WITHOUT A SIGNED SUBMISSION FORM
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Media depictions of global Muslim communities have an impact on public perceptions of

Muslims and Islam

Without doubt the stigma on the Muslim community and Islam has been brought to the

attention of the public by media sources and in my opinion, will be on going. The stereotypes

of violence and religious extremists are circulated within the media very often. The media

is powerful source and has the ability to manipulate the publics perception on various issues.

A model consistently used is Halls Encoding and Decoding and also hegemonic ideologies

are created by large media conglomerates who have great influence. Negative and racial

discourses are created, for example, Muslims labelled as the enemies after events like

9/11. But what is never questioned is why these stereotypes exist. It is evident that the media

can actually help Muslims in regard to their negative perceptions, but they choose not to. I

believe myself that the lack of media coverage and lack of the Islamic media presence is a

crucial factor. If there is no platform, then there is no chance to counteract these claims. I

believe that this leads the Muslim communities to become vulnerable against the dominant

Western media discourses. And it is this vulnerability that has allowed the creation of public

perceptions of Muslim and Islam.

1 - Why I picked this source Eoin Devereuxs Understanding the Media

I chose this text because as it is quite informative and detailed. In Understanding the Media

my chosen topic was greatly analysed by Eoin Devereux and he gives clear, detailed
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information. This features along with critical examples and various media terminologies

which can allow further studies.

Summary of content of articles

Devereux presents us with a detailed analysis on the creation of racial perceptions by the

public, at the fault of the media. In his chapter Media Re-presentations in an Unequal

World, he shares how the media represents different classes, ethnicities, genders etc. and

how we analyse this media content. And this includes Muslim communities. His main ideas

focus on how powerful a source the media is to the public. He speaks of a hyper-reality

(Devereux 2014, 192) that is created and is shaped, through various discourses. The purpose

of his writings is to inform us on the methods used by the media in order to shape public

knowledge.

Outline of argument being made

Clear evidence is used to validate his argument. Eoin Devereux focuses in on content analysis

and how groups such as the Glasgow University used studies like The News Game to

analysis media content (Devereux 2014, 194). He also draws from studies of media

professionals such as Kitzinger who looked at the medias influence on the public. Devereux

puts attention various types of analyses such as Semiotic and Frame, but for the chosen topic

Discourse analysis is key. And for this analysis he draws on Sorensons study Mass Media

and Discourse.. (Devereux 2014, 198). This looks at how News organisations decide what

news is, or if its just perhaps something that is seen as natural and is given less coverage.

This decision can greatly influence the public.

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Reflection on usefulness of the source

This source was very useful to me to further understand my topic and to understand more

about the media. It focused more on how the media create the content which, in turn,

influence the publics perceptions, not only on Muslims but for all issues, big or small. The

authors analysis on Stigmatization, and his use of examples such as 9/11, and the study

of negative, stereotypical, simplistic, essentialist, racist discourses further developed my

thinking on this topic (Devereux 2014, pp. 210-214). Eoin Devereuxs informative, in-depth

text has not only helped my understanding on the media currently, but will help me to link

key concepts to the ever changing media in the future.

2 - Why I picked this source Louay M. Safis Islam and the Global

Challenge Dealing with Distortion of the Image of Islam by Global Media

I chose this source as it gives valuable information on why media in Western countries in

particular seem to demonize Islam. In the source, details of certain tactics used to ensure

Western domination are focused on. You begin to see how intentional media content is and it

also indicates the reasons why Muslims actually dont counteract the perceptions created.

Summary of content of article

This source describes how powerful quarters in the West, who control the media, view Islam

as a global threat that can challenge the West. It is said that Western media powers focus on

creating content which will falsely shape public perceptions of Muslims, in order to stay on

top. Tactics are used, including the mentioning of words such as violence, extremist

and claiming Islam as a threat (Safi 1996, 194). The purpose of this piece is to show there
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is an imbalance in the media. Islamic media is not as dominant as Western media, making

them vulnerable to these perceptions. The author notes The Global Challenge is

underway, which is an effort to boost the Islamic media in order to balance media and

hopefully, medias content.

Outline of argument being made

The author clearly backs up his statements with many examples. He draws on tactics used by

news sources, including The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. He analysis phrases

used by these other sources, for example describing a Muslim community with extremist

members and he also draws attention to an article unfavourably called Islam Arrow of

Death (Safi 1996, 196). Safis piece is also very descriptive, as it expresses information

about the media which many do not know, and highlights how this affects Muslims. His ideas

are quite similar to Kalpana Sharmas journal article Media and Stereotyping of Muslims,

where he describes also how the lack of a Muslim voice presents them as vulnerable to the

publics opinions.

Reflection on Usefulness of the source

This text greatly helped my understanding of the topic. I learned many things in which I

never even considered before I began, like why exactly does the media create content which

creates perceptions on Muslims and why do the Muslims not counteract. It made me see how

purposeful the media content is and how certain groups are targeted in order for, specifically,

Western media to remain on top. The information was presented very clearly, with useful

examples. This information will be highly useful in the future as I now know certain tactics,

no matter how cruel, are used by media in their ruthless efforts to remain on top.
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3 - Why I picked this source? Ishak and Solihins Islam and Media

I picked this source as it described how Islam is perceived, but also the source is more from

an Islamic perspective and highlights what their goals are within the media. And crucially it

describes their ways to destroy their negative image and send out an image of the true Islam.

Summary of content of article

The source first of deals with the idea of Islamophobia, and how the image of Islam is of

terrorism, violence, extremism and antipathy to the West (Ishak and Solihin 2012, 263).

The authors of this piece highlight how important it is for Islamic media to send out the

divine message; the truth about Islam. This is through the use of the Dawah, a tactic

used to fix public opinions (263). They explain how the media are targeting the younger

generation, through media in hope to give the public a more positive view on Muslims. They

also express that the Islamic media needs to be utilized more efficiently. Unlike the previous

source, this source focuses on the strategies of Muslims in order to show what they truly are

like.

Outline of argument being made

Being Muslims themselves, then authors use their own knowledge of the Islam to express

their views. They present in depth information on the transferring of the divine message

and key tactic of the Dawah (263). They give further evidence of the tactics used by the

media and also provide us with an example of a media source, Institut Kefahanan Islam

radio station in Malaysia (Ishak and Solihin 2012, 265). The source is descriptive in how they

present the publics view on Muslim, but is also analytical as they analyse what is being done

and what should be done to change public perceptions.

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Reflection on usefulness of the source

This was my most unique source. It gave me an insight into the Islamic cultural and showed

me how they plan on becoming a positively viewed culture, one not labelled as violent or

extreme. It changed the way I thought about the topic, as I saw that Muslims do not seem to

be given much of a voice or even a chance within the competitive media. But it was

interesting to read their plans to reverse this, while remaining apart of their own culture. The

information I gained from this source will be very useful to me throughout my course,

especially when linking culture to media.

4 - Why I picked this source? - Evelyn Alsultanys American Quarterly

I picked this source as it demonstrates how the US in particular dealt with portrayals of

Muslims within the media after 9/11. At this time Muslims were quite vulnerable to the

media. But after I read this source I saw that the media actually tried to reverse public

perceptions to create more sympathetic portrayals on Muslims.

Summary of content of article

The main ideas expressed in this source includes how the US media created new ways to

allow the public produce a sympathetic view on Muslims. The US medias aim was to

become more benevolent to protect the USAs moral image (Alsultany 2013, 162). The

author describes Simplified Complex Representations, where TV creates a balance

between positive and negative portrayals on Muslims (162). This is in hope the public will
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see Muslims in a positive light. The purpose of this source was to show how powerful and

egocentric certain media can be, especially after such a significant event.

Outline of argument being made

The author presents perfect examples to validate their argument. In regard to more

sympathetic views within the media, the author focused on a speech of George W. Bush,

where he emphasised Muslims as friends to the US (Alsultany 2013, 161). In order to

fully explain the Simplified Complex Representations strategy he drew on examples from

present TV shows such as 24 (Alsultany 2013, 163). The example in this show was a Muslim

man helping the state fight against terrorists. All this has helped create public opinions. It is

also very similar to Yoginder Sikands Muslims and Mass Media, which also shows how

much power and control Western Media has over the Muslim image.

Reflection on usefulness of the source

This source really opened my eyes as to how much power and control Western media has

over the public and Muslims. It allowed me to see how an event like 9/11 can influence the

media and therefore, through various media techniques, further influence the public

positively or negatively. The source made me wonder if Western medias strategies of both

negative and then positive discourses is actually enough to remove the negative public

perception. I will use this information in my studies in order to compare the differences in

media and public perceptions from present to future.

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Conclusion

The primary position I took on this topic was trying to discover why the media actually

present the public with negative views on Muslims and Islam. My first source explained the

media terminology related to sending a message to the public and looking at how a public

opinion is created. My second source looked at how these terminologies were being put into

use by Western media and how the greater presence of Western media compared to Islamic

media influenced the public opinion also. My third source took a unique turn and was

fascinating as it showed how Islamic media engage with the public in order to show the real

Islam, not the fantasy image they are recognised by. My final source showed how a critical

event like 9/11 caused change within the media; a positive change, perhaps only to protect the

honourable image of the USA. Without a doubt the media creates a negative image on

Muslims, which creates public perceptions on Muslims that can be extremely false. A

common theme within my sources was tactics by the Western media in order to remain on

top. To conclude, the media has great influence over public opinion in regard to Muslims,

especially to Western audiences, and it looks like this will remain for a very long time.
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References

Alsultany, E. (2013) Arabs and Muslims in the Media after 9/11: Representational

Strategies for a Postrace Era, American Quarterly, Vol. 65 (1), 161-169.

Available: Project MUSE [accessed 19 February 2014].

Bin Haji Ishak, M.S. and Solihin, S. M. (2012) Islam and Media, Asian Social Science,

Vol. 8 (7), 263-269, available: Project MUSE [accessed 18 February 2014].

Devereux, E. (2014) Media Re-presentations in an Unequal World in Steele, M., ed,

Understand the Media, 3rd ed, London: SAGE Publications, 189-217.

Safi, L. M. (1996) Islam and the Global Challenge: Dealing with distortion of the image of

Islam by Global Media, Islamic Studies, Vol. 35 (2), 191-202, available: JSTOR

[accessed 16 February 2014].