Mission For Journalism In A Time Of Crisis
By
Moin Qazi, New Age Islam
7 October
2023
There can be no higher law in journalism than
to tell the truth and shame the devil.
—Walter Lippman
We are at
the crossroads of one of the most difficult times in history Never before have
attacks on Muslims been so geographically dispersed, unrelenting or chillingly
unpredictable. Violence Is the engine of Modi's politics. It is to demand
accountability from the state. .politicians and, instead, are over racing Modi
to see that they lead the race. The Hinduisation of India is nearly complete.
The race appears to see when Narendra Modi's ethno nationalist rule unravels
his version of the country's constitutional commitment to its Muslim and
Christian minorities.
A lot of
ink, infinite film reels, and a frantic churn of news stories bristling with
violent tones have fixed the Muslims as a stereotyped homogeneity. A cottage
industry of authors appears to keep the midnight oil burning so that the
flashlights on bad Muslims keep flashing. A well-oiled Islamophobia keeps
churning out hate propaganda with financial backers, think tanks, and
misinformation experts who are constantly manipulating the already flawed image
of what a Muslim is, of what Islam is.
India is
already the most prominent newspaper market in the world - over 100 million
copies sold daily. Advertising revenues have soared. In the past two decades,
the number of channels has grown from one - the dowdy state-owned broadcaster
Doordarshan - to more than 500, of which more than 80 are news channels. But
such robust growth, many believe, may have come at the cost of accuracy,
journalistic ethics and integrity. The media has taken some flak in recent
months for being shallow, inaccurate and sometimes damagingly obtrusive
A close
examination will reveal that most Muslims are moderate, peaceful people
affected by terrorism and violence more than non-Muslims. The media is not
interested in this sober angle. The only religious voices on the front page are
those speaking messages of hatred or violence, especially in stories about
conflict or social tension. The media has constructed its stereotype of a
Muslim as a terrorist and keeps garnering selective stories to reinforce it.
The media
must ensure that the content they create is fair and responsible. That duty is
even greater for those who report news that shapes the national debates. Yet,
most media is actively involved in the misrepresentation of news. While neither
Muslims nor Islam should be immune from criticism or inquiry, where warranted,
readers expect this to be done fairly and with due care without resorting to
well-worn tropes and generalisations.
We live in
a time of political fury and hardening cultural divides. But if there is one
thing virtually everyone agrees on, the news and information we receive are
biased. The appearance of digital platforms, smartphones, and the ubiquitous
surveillance tools readily available to them has created a new public mood that
is instinctively suspicious of anyone claiming to describe reality fairly and
objectively. Much of the outrage that floods social media is not simply a
reaction to events but how they are reported and framed.
The media
shows remarkable consistency in employing an arsenal of semantic games,
incendiary phrases, convenient omissions, and moral relativism to portray
violence as a product emerging from Islamic ranks. Jim Morrison succinctly
observes, "Whoever controls the media controls the mind." This is
true of the way Muslims are being defamed. Several times, headlines are
sensational or distorted. Some of the stories are painful and disturbing for
ordinary Muslims.
There is a
strong voice of peace lovers within Muslim ranks that the media can properly
channel to give a rounded assessment of Islamic issues. It is equally valid
that the media must refrain from hyping acts of any possible Islamic
impropriety by indulging in hyperbole. Ordinary Muslims have never encouraged
such extremist stunts, and the aggressive slants of media have confounded
otherwise innocuous issues.
Sadly,
journalism is failing to perform its fundamental role. It keeps rehashing tired
old narratives of "radical Islam" or a "fight within
Islam". The truth is much more convoluted, and the entire world has been
directly responsible for creating the dangerous reality that so many Muslims
have to live in fear every day.
The
Algorithms of News Media
News media
has its algorithms in its daily operations. News value depends on the
"social weight" of the message, i.e., the extent to which the media
users think the message concerns them personally. The reporter is inclined to
present a distorted picture to increase the "social weight" of news
so that it appears to have many consequences for everyone in society. Regarding
the reportage of Muslims, their deviant behaviour receives comprehensive
coverage. This dichotomy could be why the media makes eager and uncritical use
of negative statements when they are expressed by politicians and other influential
persons and targeted against Muslims.
The
negative news about Muslims is also indubitably caused by reporters who lack
specific knowledge for understanding and covering the concerned groups. All of
us, from the most potent columnists to the tiniest bloggers, must be careful
about what we put into the cloud. Words matter most in journalism. Our
keyboards have become so powerful that the slightest irresponsibility can spark
a crisis. Many mainstream journalists have struggled to find consistent language
when covering events linked to violence involving Muslim issues. There are
various reasons, and nobody can resolve them overnight. All these require
proper training and mentoring.
Originally
a very benignant concept, Jihad has become an ominous word, conjuring up images
of terrorism. But the word "jihad" in Arabic merely means "to
strive" or to make a "determined effort." The association with
terrorism represents a distortion of the true Qur'anic meaning of the term.
According to an oft-repeated hadith, Jihad is supposed to encompass a struggle
against one's sinful proclivities, also known as "greater jihad", and
a struggle against injustice, also known as "smaller jihad". But over
time, both Shi'a and Sunni Islam have developed distinct distortions of Jihad,
contributing to the current association between Jihad and terrorist acts.
However, the twisted concept had little to do with the mainstream teaching of
Islam. Some journalists and experts focus on various segments of Islamic
philosophy that can be viewed as a political "ideology" instead of
theological and spiritual ideas and concepts. Several times, an ideological hue
pasted to many moral ideas. During the
expansion of Islam between the seventh and thirteenth centuries, Jihad came to
have an offensive connotation—to expand the territory of Islam as a collective
duty, in addition to a defensive one, to defend against foreign aggression. The
medieval scholar Ibn Taymiyyah affirmed that rebellion against a ruler who
failed to enforce or govern Islamic law was permissible.
The modern
concept of Jihad developed mainly in the twentieth century, with a watershed
transformation occurring as part of Islamic anti-colonial movements. In 1939,
the Sunni jurist Abu Ala Mawdudi sharpened the definition of Jihad as a sign of
liberation worldwide that enabled Islam to reign supreme. Mawdudi also
transformed the concept of jahiliyah (the age of ignorance before God's message
to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)) into a condition that exists at any time or
place where an Islamic state has not been actualised. Mawdudi split the world
between an Islamic divinely ordained world and an infidel world that needed to
be overturned.
The Deep
Bias
Several
times, headlines are sensational or distorted, and reporting is often
profoundly racist. Much coverage of Muslims in news outlets has a negative
slant. We've seen how some papers get their news about Muslims wrong and how
often they reuse the same stereotypes. True, like many others, Muslims also
have a share of opposing elements. But the story has to be fair and reflective
and shouldn't generalise about all Muslims and feed into a broader far-right
narrative. As CP Scott, the founder-editor of The Guardian, emphasised,
"Comment is free, but facts are sacred".
The Scott
Trust, which owns The Guardian, stated an obvious purpose when it was
established in 1936: "To secure the financial and editorial independence
of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and
liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference.
"Jihad is a loaded term—and a concept that illustrates a deep gulf of
miscommunication between Islam and the West. Those in each community see Jihad
as a clash of civilisations—and act on those beliefs. But Jihad means
"exerted effort" to most Islamic scholars and Muslims and represents
a range of activities everyone defines us except us. Everyone is explaining
Jihad except for Muslims. Some Muslims must brush up to review the issue for
clarity and understanding of their Religion.
Jihad is a
range of activities, all based on the Arabic meaning of the word "exerted
effort". In the Qur'an, it's projected as exerting effort to change
oneself and also, in certain situations, physically standing against oppressors
if that's the only way. The concept of Jihad as a struggle for self-improvement
is little known among non-believers.
Something
widely quoted by the Muslim "man on the street" is that the most
difficult Jihad is the one of the soul. The most significant trouble is not
with your enemy but with yourself. While the inner struggle is one meaning of
Jihad, many others use it to describe engagement with external enemies. Here,
the concept encounters the notions of other faiths. The confused interpretation
of the term among people of all faiths creates much trouble.
M.
Scanlon's now-classic essay, The Difficulty of Tolerance, offers materials for
an attractive and affirmative answer. "Tolerance is valuable for its own
sake because of the attitude it allows us to bear towards our fellow citizens,
an attitude of fraternity and solidarity deeper than the intractable disagreements
that divide us. Tolerance makes it possible to view all our fellow citizens
equally entitled to participate in defining and determining the shape of
society."
Scanlon
argues that intolerant individuals don't consider their fellow citizens equally
entitled. Intolerant individuals think they have a special status compared to
others and do not view others as full members of society.
The
Eroding Values in Journalism
In an ideal
world, journalism is a profession of incredible integrity, and journalists are
among the most dexterous and skilled people worldwide. We have all benefited
from the work of persistent journalists who put life, limb, family, and even
sanity on the line in their pursuit of truth. There is no sane, decent, and
democratic polity possible without journalists who challenge power,
relentlessly pursue and disseminate the truth and always find the following
story to tell.
The press
once seemed to have a conscience, thanks to history's painful social conflicts
and questions of war and peace. The world, however, has changed, and many of us
may be in a time warp of old values. Like all institutions, the media has also
suffered in terms of its reputation. From terrorists to dictators, provocative
literature to fabricated threats, Muslim identity is affected by almost every
imaginable negative stereotype and menacing trope. Amidst these, the images of
good Muslims in every medium are few and far between.
The blatant
misrepresentation of the facts has serious consequences. The good storylines of
Muslim characters are woefully few. Often, there is a consistent stream of
sloppy reporting, bias, or wilful sensationalism about Muslims. The way stories
are deformed to fit a formula about Muslims—and the difficulties in uprooting
these fictions once they've been entrenched —can be seen across the mediaIt is
time journalists reaffirmed their commitment to the philosophy of Joseph
Pulitzer III (1913-1993), the founder of the world's gold standard in
journalism, the Pulitzer Prize: "We will illuminate dark places and, with
a deep sense of responsibility, interpret these troubled times".
It is much
easier for the media to reduce the complex debate on various issues confronting
modern Muslims to a series of clichés, slogans and sound bites rather than
examining root causes and undertaking a profound analysis. Since instant and
credible information has to be made available d, it becomes necessary to resort
to guesswork, rumours and suppositions to fill in the voids, and none will ever
rectify them. Corrections and retractions by the press are extremely rare and
do not find any prominent space. The clarification is published in an obscure
corner, and the original news becomes permanently etched in public memory.
The Muslim
community can simultaneously fight Islamophobia and address the ills within it.
It is not, and should not be, a zero-sum game. Just as Muslims desire others'
safety, freedom from discrimination, access to justice and the opportunity to
thrive, they should work hard to ensure the same principles apply to those who
are themselves Muslims. One cannot make demands and then plead indifference
when asked to fulfil those demands. As the Qur'an states in the " Women
" chapter, "Oh you who believe. Stand firmly for justice as witnesses
to God, even though it is against yourselves, your family, the rich or the
poor."
The reality
is that religious leaders and dialogue practitioners may not be equipped to
properly understand and analyse news sources or reach
out
meaningfully to the media. They may not be aware of the process of the newsroom
agenda setting and may not understand that journalists do not usually set the
news agenda. Religious leaders and dialogue practitioners could benefit from
training to represent themselves better to the press.
Religious
Messages Should Not Overshadow the Peace Agenda
.Religion
is often portrayed simply as a social or political construct. However, Religion
is a daily practice for millions and the fundamental framework of understanding
that connects human lives to a spiritual reality. Their faith is the prism
through which they view the world, and their religious communities are their
central environments. It isn't easy to overstate the importance of faith in the
lives of many.
Over the
years, Indian Muslims have often been targeted for everything from their food
and clothing style to inter-religious marriages. Rights groups such as Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned that attacks could escalate.
They have also accused Modi's governing party of looking the other way and
sometimes enabling hate speech against Muslims, who comprise 14 per cent of
India's 1.4 billion people but are still numerous enough to be the
second-largest Muslim population of any country. Religious preachers should not
allow their messages of peace and reconciliation to be overshadowed by
media-savvy religious voices that deal with conflict and hatred. There is the
possibility that objectivity gets diluted in the heat of debate. In the context
of growing media attention given to Islam and Muslims, there is a critical
issue with the media's role in reinforcing specific negative stereotypical
images of the community. Also of particular importance is the role that the
Muslim press plays, and can play, in combating these negative stereotypes and
disinformation about Islam and Muslims in the mainstream media, as well as
helping in the overall empowerment of the Muslim community. Muslim
representation in the media is dismal, while Muslims' share in media ownership
is even more pathetic.
Faith leaders
and journalists must both appreciate and understand each other's constraints.
For their part, Muslim leaders can play a significant role in sensitising the
media to the various complexities of Islamic issues. Broader dialogue can help
in a nuanced understanding of the whole issue. Islamic organisations need to be
professional in their media relations, which few of them are. They need staff
that can adequately interact with non-Muslim media organisations and present
them with a proper and convincing Muslim perspective on various issues. The
intention should be to interact cordially with the mainstream media and help
articulate Muslim voices to counter anti-Muslim stereotypes and disinformation.
There is a desperate need for Muslim media groups to be research-oriented.
Along with
other Muslim community organisations, they could commission projects on various
social issues relating to the community and articles generated from such
research projects can be sent to various newspapers. Muslim community organisations
must seriously consider establishing research centres specialising in social
science research, which is lacking today. This research can then be made more
publicly accessible through the mass media.
Like the
other forms of art, cinema is a reflection of reality. However, the truth on
the screen is not natural, which means the seventh art presents a fact
reproduced by human hands to its audience. While cinema, as an essential
artistic language, has witnessed life and reflected society-structured reality
since its beginning, it has represented women in many different ways for over a
hundred years.
This
representation of women on the big screen was scrutinised and criticised over
time. The primary criticism was that women were reflected in a distorted way
and line with the interests of patriarchal culture. As productions diversified,
various criticisms were added to these primary problems. Among these ensuing
criticisms was diversity.
Indeed,
diversity is the most significant focus of cinema and TV sectors today
regarding women's representation and the general depiction of all kinds of
people on the screen. In visual media, diversity means more presence of diverse
racial or ethnic groups, women, LGBTQ+ individuals and people with cognitive or
physical disabilities. Although the cinema and TV sectors started to pay more
attention to diversity after many harsh criticisms, the representation of
underrepresented groups still may be problematic.
While
almost a quarter of the world's population is Muslim, these representation
rates remain low. However, the most significant discussion about Muslim women's
representation on screen is how their characters are shaped in Western films
and TV series. In most of these productions, it is seen that Muslim women are
generally stereotyped. For example, Muslim women are depicted as suppressed and
quiet characters, often manipulated by men. In another depiction, they are
profiled as radical characters generally involved in terrorist activities. Or
they are presented as individuals who need to be freed by a Westerner, a white
man. Moreover, according to the research of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative,
Muslim women are primarily shown as romantic partners and family members.
The
distorted representation of Muslim women in films and TV series can resemble
orientalist paintings of the Ottoman era. Though these artists had never seen
the harem, they created many masterpieces depicting harem life. However, these
depictions were no more than their fantasies.
In the
West, there is a general discourse about Muslim women threatening secular
traditions and values of freedom. The problematic reflection of these women on
the screen shows the power of media in affirming the otherness of Muslim women
in that general discourse.
At this time,
when Muslims are experiencing a growing alienation from society, there can be
no better antidote than information and knowledge about the historical
relationship between others and Muslims. If people can understand the nature of
this relationship over many centuries, the likelihood of being influenced by
rhetoric that casts all Muslims as potential terrorists will be considered
loosened y. This effort can bring about a more harmonious understanding of
Islam and Islamic culture, help stem the rising tide of Islamophobia and lead
to cordial
relations between Muslims and other communities in all countries.
What is
therefore needed to cool the flames of hatred is to bring faith leaders and the
media onto a common platform that would provide constructive interactions,
thereby injecting objectivity into the media's assessment of Islam and Muslims.
To quote
Sir Muhammad Iqbal:
Haq Se
Agar Gharz Hai To Zaiba Hai Kya Ye Baat
Islam Ka
Muhasiba, Yourap Se Darguzar!
(And if
your goal is truth, is this the right road,
Europe's
faults all glossed,
and all of
Islam's held to so strict an audit?)
-----
Moin Qazi is the author of the bestselling book,
Village Diary of a Heretic Banker. He has worked in the development finance
sector for almost four decades.
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/mission-journalism-crisis/d/130843