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- Volume 16, Issue 1, 2023
Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research - Volume 16, Issue 1, 2023
Volume 16, Issue 1, 2023
- Articles
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Transforming Islamic entertainment and values in Malaysian films
Authors: Zulkiple Abd Ghani and Suria Hani A. RahmanBuilding a society with high moral and values is imperative in Islamic teachings. As media technologies have changed the ways of human communication and offered new platforms for media content, it provides many opportunities to produce Islamic entertainment programmes that suit with the nature of various medium. Producing Islamic media content could play a unifying role for representing Muslims’ diverse cultures as well as avoiding a negative picture of Islam. Ideally, Muslim culture is derived from the cultural and communication heritage. Islamic entertainment and values are rich in terms of virtues and can be transformed into various genres of media products including films. This article will examine the debate of the Islamic entertainment particularly by examining al-Ghazali’s views of al-sama’ (‘entertainment’) and subsequently contextualizing it to the Malaysian Islamic ambiences. Using narrative analysis, two popular melodramas (films) will be examined to manifest the process of transforming Islamic values into entertainment programmes. It is argued that the representation of values is considered essential in Islamic communication perspective. It encompasses social, religious and cultural foundations. Muslims must actively participate in producing media content so that it will strengthen both the form and content for communicating Islamic values across the world. Unity, brotherhood, equality, love and tolerance are part of the key formulas to ensure a better process of disseminating good connotations of Islam via media.
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Trump’s Muslim ban: A critical discourse analysis of AlJazeera English, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal
More LessOne of the major campaign promises of the former US president Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign was to bar Muslims from entering the United States. Donald Trump kept his promise by issuing an executive order on assumption of office. The executive order banned Muslims from seven countries from entering the United States until a judge in Washington halted the executive order. The story received wide coverage in the media. This article will study the news coverage of the executive order in three leading international media organizations, AlJazeera English (AJE), the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. These three media organizations were selected because they provide different perspectives to news and have global audiences that consume the news on daily basis. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA), the article seeks to compare how the three media organizations pitched the story. CDA is interested in identifying the relationship between power, ideology and social inequality. The article explores the issues related to power, ideology and social inequality in relation to the Trump’s executive order as reported in the three news media organizations. What are the ethnic, political and cultural issues that dominated the discourse of Trump’s ban on Muslims in the three newspapers? The results from the study found ideological differences in the coverage, with AlJazeera and the New York Times being slightly more critical of Donald Trump and his policies in their approach, while the Wall Street Journal was supportive of the executive order. Nevertheless, all three news organizations were similar in promoting discourse, which promotes the interest of power elites. This approach in news discourse further contributes to creating a divided society that is unequal in nature. The article concludes by recommending the practice of a more contextual journalism that promotes a peaceful and harmonious society.
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Is the Arab audience willing to pay for online news? Predictors of their paying intent
More LessRecently several newspapers considered paid content strategies to substitute advertising and government subsidy. This study examines to what extent Arab audiences are willing to support these strategies, and what factors influence their willingness to pay (WTP) for online news, using a survey of 530 adults. The study found most of the public is not willing to pay for online newspapers, but are willing to pay for entertainment services. Most of them are not subscribing to printed or online newspapers. They do not have a real intent to help the newspapers in their digital transformation. Most of the public did not experience the paywall yet. Age and income influence the likelihood of paying for online news and to a lesser extent, gender and education. Age and income were predictors for WTP for entertainment services. Age and education were predictors for using online sources.
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Palestinian female ‘suicide bombers’ and the masculinity of martyrdom: Comparing ‘scandalous subwomen’ reactions in British and American broadcast news media coverage of the Second Intifada
More LessFrom grassroots activism to armed combatants, Palestinian females have been active in combating Israel’s occupation of Palestine since the early twentieth century. During the second Palestinian Intifada, however, western news media coverage of female-perpetrated ‘suicide bombings’ sensationalized these previously unseen acts. Utilizing Herjeet Marway’s ‘scandalous subwomen’ societal reaction as a framework, this article engages in a multimodal analysis of the largely unexplored UK and US broadcast news coverage of female-perpetrated Palestinian ‘suicide bombings’. Via a postcolonial perspective, it addresses this framework’s focus upon ‘exclusion’: the projection that Palestinian female suicide bombers’ political participation is subject to male influence. This article finds that exclusionary male figures, as well as Saudi Arabia, are framed by UK and US broadcast news media to afford Palestinian female suicide bombers a lack of political agency. Palestinian female ‘suicide bombers’, as a result, become victimized figures via the UK and US broadcast news media’s orientalist ‘perceived reality’ which fails to recognize these female actors’ agential will or their ability to freely participate in political acts.
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Digital dissemination of Islam among Dubai expatriates, UAE: A mixed-methods study
By Urwa TariqDubai is a metropolitan city that attracts many foreigners due to its growing economy and tourism. When many non-Muslims observe the Islamic culture and lifestyle, they become interested in learning more about the faith. This research focuses on non-Muslims and new Muslims in Dubai and how information about Islam is disseminated to them. It also examines the challenges they encounter when searching for information. Though the researcher employed a mixed-methods approach, this study highlights the quantitative analysis. A total of 541 survey responses were collected from expatriates residing in Dubai, UAE; their demographic profile was analysed, especially in relation to their media use. The research discovered that respondents had limited access to Islamic information and received minimal clarity on Islamic faith. The results also indicated their preferred choice of medium and sources, hence a media model was created covering radio with digital media to broadcast information for specific residents who were interested to learn about Islamic faith.
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The elements of dramatic treatment and the effectiveness of historical TV drama
More LessThis study sought to detect the relationship between the elements of dramatic treatment (i.e. characters, information accuracy, content, location and dramatic structure) and the effectiveness of historical drama in order to learn how dramatic treatment actualizes attraction, understanding and interaction. This study used a quantitative method by collecting quantifiable data, and also used the questionnaire as a data collection tool. The population sampled consisted of West Bank Palestinians, who watched one of the most successful historical TV drama series which was entitled Omar. Subsequently, data were subjected to statistical analysis by SPSS. The researcher used correlation coefficient analysis that examines the relationships between variables in terms of strength and direction. The study found that there were statistically significant positive correlations between dramatic treatment elements and historical drama effectiveness factors, which ranged from medium to strong. There was a strong positive correlation between understanding drama and drama content. There was also a strong positive relationship between attraction and dramatic structure, accuracy and content. Additionally, there was a strong positive correlation between interacting with characters, informational accuracy and content. This study contributes to helping individuals in the field of drama production understand the effective elements of drama. This means that if the producer of historical drama wants to achieve an understanding of the subject, they should have an interest in the content. Furthermore, if they want to attract an audience to the drama, they should ensure interest in the dramatic structure, informational accuracy and the contents. Finally, if they want to achieve audience interaction, they should ensure interest in the characters, informational accuracy and content.
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