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

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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