Among other things, it’s
usually noticed that some groups do have a dirty habit of conveniently using
the main stream media to promote a negative image of ‘Islam and its followers’
despite the freedom of religion in Canada.
According to Malcolm X, “The media is the most powerful entity
on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the
guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the
masses.”
In fact, the media does have the capability to
generate public opinion as intended to satisfy the vested interests. But, the problem
is the ‘unfriendly attitude’ of the
main stream media towards the Muslim community.
Also, the competition among the media businesses
is in a desperate need of giving the truthful information by being objective
and balanced in reporting.
On the other hand, biased journalism stemming from the main stream (non Muslim) media
is too injurious to maintain the required balance, as it does nothing but
poison the raw minds of the non Muslims in general against the Muslims in
particular.
Unfortunately in some cases, the main stream media appears to be biased
towards Muslim when giving misjudgment without in-depth knowledge about the
practicality of Islam.
Therefore, an inadequate presence
of Muslim media adds to fuel further desperation
for the Muslims; the presence of mischievous elements in the media threatens
the formation of logical public opinion.
Some unqualified
media persons are more dangerous when attempting to represent the Muslims because
of their ignorance, discriminatory attitude or their little knowledge about
Islam. They are accused of misinterpreting Islamic teachings for their failure
to understand the proper context.
Beyond doubt, the media through radio, television,
newspaper or internet has the capacity of connecting and bridging communities.
Specifically, the internet is a gold mine of
accessibility enriching the minds of the users positively or negatively – all
depending on what you really look for through face book, twitter, blogs,
emails, and the list goes on and on.
Several communities of different ethnicities
have their own media to safeguard their interests.
Similarly, the Muslims are looking for a decent
way out of the ongoing frustrating situation. They are becoming active more
than ever and getting closer to helping the main stream media.
Fortunately, the Muslim media of today has
genuine encouragement to become more and more assertive with an improved degree
of confidence. In other words they are more involved and getting closer to be
competitive even in the commercially focused media market.
Better late than never, the Muslims are
comfortable to troubleshoot the negative status quo through their own electronic and print media. They are catching up
gradually and hopefully would be able to free the Canadian audience of
Islamophobia. Misreporting, exaggerating or ignoring coverage for the Muslims did
lead to the formation of such independent voice of Muslim community through
their own print and electronic media throughout Canada.
As the Muslims are legally entitled to proceed
in an organised manner to protect their faith, their media too is equally
entitled to publish literature to give the true picture to the general public
regardless of ethnicity, color or creed. Thank God, a good
bi-weekly namely “The Miracle News” is
published in Surrey, British Columbia, it serves the local population through its
unbiased reporting which is available to consumers and the business community.
The fact is media is always bound by a code of
ethics to continue as competitive and credible under all circumstances. A
successful journalism has to be conscientious, because presenting the distorted
facts is unethical and unlawful.
In addition to the print media, a daily Muslim
presence in the broadcast media and the internet would correct the anti Islam
feelings among the non Muslim Canadians. Once Muslim media is in full force on
daily basis, the Muslim youth would definitely be encouraged to benefit,
preserve and strengthen their Islamic identity.
The good news is several media people of integrity
understand the essence of journalism. The Islamic Society of North America
(ISNA) publishes “Islamic Horizons,” Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)
publishes “The Message” and there are many other publications by different
mosques. Also, there are Monthly, Bi Weekly or Weekly News Papers and several
other publications by Muslim Students' Associations.
Since, the mainstream media has been unable to address
the issues of different communities equally; therefore, a daily basis English
Medium Muslim TV, radio including all other publications would only enable
all communities to understand what Islam really is!
The Muslim community of Canada is fully entitled
to enjoy equality and
justice when it comes to their
unattended or mishandled issues. And, the Canadian non-Muslim community
deserves to find out more to re-establish their view point of the great
religion of Islam.
We can’t tolerate a biased media which is also
focused only on commercialization, as it becomes irritating for intelligent
audience.
Moreover, utilizing Muslim friendly apparatus,
pro-Islamic media advocates may go ahead with repairing the tarnished image of
Islam. Regularly airing of the constructive interfaith dialogues can be further
fruitful.
At least, the Muslim media should go beyond
commercialism and give a deep thought about nation building as well.
However, the youths of both genders must
participate sincerely to promote Muslim businesses through advertising. They
should come forward as volunteers to address social issues through writing
articles in the local Muslim News papers.
Surely, they would be contributing for the noble
cause through their efforts, so that the Muslim population is facilitated to
merge with other Canadian communities with ease and pride.
The Muslims deserve to be accepted as politicians,
social workers, economists, educationists but at par with all other Canadians. The
Muslim business people must actively engage in using the Muslim newspapers for promoting
their business through their commercial Ads.
Truth is Muslim media with integrity and full
Islamic knowledge is better positioned to publish/broadcast for the benefit of
all Canadians. Nevertheless, presenting true image of Islam as a religion of
peace, tolerance and justice remains a challenge for Muslim media indeed.
The bottom line is Muslim media should continue
to focus on achieving the goal of nation building based on balanced truthful
journalism on merit.
