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[Commlist] New JAMMR Journal Issue on 'Media Coverage of COVID-19 Pandemic' published

Fri May 07 13:20:04 GMT 2021




Noureddine Miladi is pleased to announce the publication of _Issue 14.1_ of the /Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research/ (JAMMR), which has an interesting line up of timely papers on media coverage of COVID-19 pandemic. The journal is an international refereed academic platform, published by Intellect in the UK. You may access the papers of this issue as well as other issues from the JAMMR’s homepage.

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research <https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research>

We trust you will find this publication a valuable resource for research about media, communication and society in the Arab World and the Middle East.

*__*

*_JAMMR: 14.1-_*

Volume (14): Issue (1); April 2021.

**

*The virus of the ‘others’? Corona and discursive othering in Arab media*

Authors: Carola Richter <https://www.intellectbooks.com/carola-richter>, Abdulrahman Al-Shami <https://www.intellectbooks.com/abdulrahman-al-shami>, Sahar Khalifa <https://www.intellectbooks.com/sahar-khalifa>, Soheir Osman <https://www.intellectbooks.com/soheir-osman>, Samuel Mundua <https://www.intellectbooks.com/samuel-mundua>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00022_1

**

*Abstract: *

The spread of fear of the coronavirus and related insecurities around the pandemic have fuelled nationalist and increased exclusionary tendencies in countries all over the world. In North America, for instance, anti-Asian racism increased when former US President Donald Trump dubbed the virus the ‘Chinese virus’. A nationalist agenda has been strengthened in many places, including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region; and hateful narratives blaming ‘others’ for the pandemic, legitimizing a retreat to the protection of national borders and policies, are being spread in different media outlets. This article comparatively investigates processes of /othering/ with regard to COVID-19 in four MENA countries – Egypt, Iraq, Oman and Yemen – and asks, who is held responsible for the coronavirus crisis in different countries? How is othering revealed in media coverage related to COVID-19? What (in)sensitive language can be identified? The study looks at mass media coverage at the peak of the global lockdown during the spring of 2020. The media analysis reveals a strong emphasis on mostly national identities as articulated lines of demarcation in all four cases. A homogenizing and demonizing /othering/ was detected in particular in the cases of Yemen and Egypt, but also Iraq, when blame was attributed to political adversaries. The Omani case was characterized by a more subtle /othering/ that focused strongly on the importance of citizenship.

*Social media and the COVID-19 pandemic: The dilemma of fake news clutter vs. social responsibility*

Moez Ben Messaoud <https://www.intellectbooks.com/moez-ben-messaoud>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00023_1

**

*Abstract: *

This article examines the relationship between fake news and social media as increasingly important sources of news, at a time when mainstream media no longer have exclusive control over news production and dissemination. It has been evident that few media outlets and professionals tend to draw conflicting news about COVID-19 from social media feeds, which are largely produced by common citizens with mostly no journalism training. This pervasive use makes social media key sources to scores of media outlets for news, whether it is related to COVID-19 or public affairs issues, even though it is susceptible to torrents of credibility and accuracy issues.

As a result, of the overwhelming spread of fake news on coronavirus, which is contributing to framing events from several angles, media professionals are now obliged to track and vet information circulating on social media. Due to the scale of disinformation spreading on the Web, it has become imperative that the credibility and accuracy of news is thoroughly verified. Media organizations have already been putting in place various mechanisms to monitor false news.

This article will attempt to identify and assess these monitoring efforts in the Arab world. For this purpose, I have put together a list of Arab observatories launched on the internet in order to monitor fake news circulating in relation to COVID-19, and to discuss their methods of monitoring work, in the context of mobilization carried out by governments and many organizations such as the World Health Organization.

This article is pinned down on social responsibility approach which helps pave the way the different propositions to combat fake news and avoid abuses in social media uses. This article proposes an evaluation of the monitoring initiative via-a-vis fake news and proposes a set of guidelines for improving the work of such monitoring bodies. Hence, this research reveals that social media outlets have diversified their goals to match the power of the conventional media in disseminating information and bringing up issues for debate. However, in the light of the framework of social responsibility, social media actors have to constantly develop a set of ethical practices to be observed by users, establish codes of conduct regulating content production, and lay down a code of integrity to assure accuracy in news and information transmission.

*The significance of digital media in local public space crisis management: The case of Poland, the United Kingdom and Italy*

Ilona Biernacka-Ligieza <https://www.intellectbooks.com/ilona-biernacka-ligieza>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00024_1

*Abstract: *

This article recognizes the potential and possibilities of digital media in COVID-19 crisis management in different democratic systems. It is the comparative analysis of information management during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland, the United Kingdom and Italy. From the theoretical approach, the crisis management usually deals with two main models. The first one is defined as the post-reactive model, which is based on reacting to events after the first symptoms of the crisis and the communication model remains the top-down process. The second one is described as the pro-reactive model, which is based on building a dialogue space with the participatory community and it is the bottom-up communication process. In this case, the community becomes an active partner in bridging the crisis. The main goal of the proposed article is to examine the ways in which digital media influences the quality of strategic communication management in local public spaces and what type of crisis management strategy is applied to each political culture. The article discusses the pros and cons of information distributed through digital platforms by both the media and public institutions in terms of community awareness and crisis governance. The article applies a mixed method approach, which includes content analysis (media and governmental digital services), interviews (with the authorities’ members and media representatives) and social media network analysis (mainly Facebook). The analysis has been ongoing since the beginning of the pandemic in Europe (March–September 2020). The research has demonstrated that the shape and distribution of information during the pandemic were of great importance for the quality of information strategy activities. The problem was noticeable disinformation at all levels, which was the result of a lack of control over the message and the pursuit of sensation or conspiracy. It was clearly observed that without the support of crisis communication during the pandemic by the media, mainly digital platforms, it would be impossible to implement it. In all three countries, social media was the ‘information management centre’ in the COVID-19 era, but the activity of individual municipalities was slightly different. As far as the urbanized and semi-urbanized level is concerned, some consistency can be observed. In all three cases, communication on social media platforms was conducted very intensively and with the use of various tools (texts, statistics, instructional videos, scientific articles, infographics, etc.). All the ‘organizers’ of the local public sphere (presidents, mayors, journalists, service representatives) tried to keep in touch with the inhabitants.

*Insta-hate: An exploration of Islamophobia and right-wing nationalism on Instagram amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in India*

Benson Rajan <https://www.intellectbooks.com/benson-rajan>, Shreya Venkatraman <https://www.intellectbooks.com/shreya-venkatraman>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00025_1

**

*Abstract: *

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light a crisis of racism and violence on social media by right-wing nationalists in India. Twitter and Instagram have become the online spaces to spew misinformation about the pandemic. Instagram pages such as /Hindu_Secret/ and /Hindu_he_hum/ have been unrelenting and vicious in spreading Islamophobic campaigns using the COVID-19 pandemic. This has opened up opportunities for targeting the Muslim community in India.

This study positioned itself within the theoretical framework of Stuart Hall’s encoding and decoding theory to uncover the visual and textual codes used to create stigma and blatant stereotypes that dehumanize and demonize certain communities using social media. This is an explorative inquiry that engaged in a semiotic analysis of the Instagram pages of /Hindu_Secret/ and /Hindu_he_hum/. The study found encoded stereotypes of threat in the use of colour, religious structures, clothes and other physical markers of cultural identity in generating content for Islamophobia. Coronavirus was portrayed to have Islamic parentage in the memes; thus, it portrayed the Muslim community of nurturing and intentionally spreading the virus across India.

*Mapping the fake news infodemic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A study of Indian fact-checking websites*

Kaifia Ancer Laskar <https://www.intellectbooks.com/kaifia-ancer-laskar>, Mohammad Reyaz <https://www.intellectbooks.com/mohammad-reyaz>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00026_1

*Abstract: *

Fake news, a term that was never heard a decade back, has established a subculture of misinformation and disinformation, whether intentionally or unintentionally, on social media by its users. The personal bias as well as unverified content sharing through the click of a button has not only led to the epidemic of fake content across the world, but in countries like India, it has also led to lynching and violence in various places. This article tries to find the rate of debunked fact-checked content during the COVID-19 pandemic in India related to the enforcement of the nationwide lockdown, false claims of cure or immunity boost, political blame gaming, the impact of the pandemic on economy, religious polarization, as well as fake news on related issues concerning other countries apart from India. We try to discern in this article whether fact-checked items of disinformation were more on communal issues than the cure/claims of alternative medicines. We also try to unearth if there are a larger number of international items covered by the fact-checking sites given the status of the COVID-19 crisis in other countries than the lockdown (issues related to nationwide lockdown declared in India). Using content analysis of two fake news debunking websites Boom Live and Alt News, for six months (March–August 2020) during the COVID-19 pandemic, we argue that there were a lesser number of disinformation or fake news on treatment-related fake news compared to those on polarizing issues. We also posit that there were more fake news on the nationwide lockdown imposed in India than on its impact on the economy. In a bid to map the fake news and disinformation debunked by these two select websites, we find that the genealogy of fake news works with our personal biases and fears, thereby making media literacy all the more indispensable given the reach of internet-based news. The urgent need for stringent regulations by an autonomous body of the government to curb the fake news ecosystem is recommended by us along with emphasizing digital media literacy.

*Communication ethics for online social movements: A study on Arab social networks on Twitter*

Asma H. Malkawi <https://www.intellectbooks.com/asma-h-malkawi>, Khamis Ambusaidi <https://www.intellectbooks.com/khamis-ambusaidi>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00027_1

*Abstract: *

Social media increasingly play a role in transforming activist movements in the Arab world into digital forms. This study examines the link between adherence of network members to digital communication ethics and the level of the movements’ success based on the conceptual grounding in communication theories of Jürgen Habermas and Taha Abdurrahman. We tried to evaluate the link between the success of online social movement actors and their ethical contents by asking: What are the ethical implications of online social movements that do succeed in actualizing their goals? Do social network users discuss communication ethics to agree on terms of use within these movements? What are the important issues of communicative action and challenges of rational discussion in Arab social media use? We used two case studies: the hashtag /#with_the_teacher/ launched to support teachers’ rights in Jordan in 2019, and a Twitter network of Arab users discussing digital communication ethics. We used mixed-methods and case studies approaches; data collected from Twitter were analysed using social network analysis followed by qualitative content analysis. Key findings demonstrate positive effects of activists’ engagement in social networks, and that commitment to digital communication ethics, whether stemming from secular or religious frames of reference, is significant for the success of online social movements. The case of /#with_the_teacher/ network proved itself to be an example of successful digital protest and ideal model for rational ethical communication. Content analysis revealed that teachers formed a social network that exhibited strong solidarity and cohesion, and relied – perhaps unconsciously – on rules and principles of ethical discussion, including truthfulness, credibility, transparency, respect, accuracy and responsibility. Content analysis of the ‘communication ethics’ network demonstrated that the majority of content was religiously oriented, produced mainly by religious figures, educational institutions, or accounts with pseudonyms that are influential by the sheer number of their followers.

*The Muhammad cartoon controversy in New Zealand newspapers*

Shah Nister Kabir <https://www.intellectbooks.com/shah-nister-kabir>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00028_1

*Abstract: *

This study examines the construction of the controversy surrounding the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, as it appeared in three New Zealand newspapers and discursively identifies how three New Zealand newspapers framed Islam and Muslims from an Orientalist perception. This study argues that these newspapers framed the issue of Muhammad cartoon controversial image in a way that reinforces the notion of a clash of culture between Islam and ‘the West’ and identified that Islam is a threat to the civilization. The metaphors employed, the visual texts incorporated, the terminologies they imposed appear to dehumanize Islam and Muslims, which also violates the philosophical stand of the freedom of expression. The news frame that these newspapers adopted in covering the controversial cartoon issue also supports an elite political agenda without respecting the religious norms of a minority group. However, the dehumanization of Islam and Orientalist perception of clash of cultures were mostly salient in their editorials. Therefore, the news frame conflicts with editorials’ construction of the issue in most cases. Furthermore, while one newspaper’s editorials dehumanized Islam and Muslims by espousing Orientalist perception of clash of cultures, the other two played a constructive role towards Islam and Muslims.

*/Book Reviews: /*

*/Routledge Handbook on Arab Media/**, Noureddine Miladi and Noha Mellor (eds.) (2021)*

Helena Hägglund <https://www.intellectbooks.com/helena-hagglund>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00029_5

*/The Role of the Social Media in Empowering Saudi Women’s Expression/**, Hend T. Alsudairy (2020)*

Reem Ali Al Derham <https://www.intellectbooks.com/reem-ali-al-derham>

DOI: 10.1386/jammr_00030_5


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