SX43@liverpool.ac.uk (Fazal R Ellahi) (03/11/91)
As Salaamu alaikum wa Rahmatullah.
In furtherance of my secretarial qualifications (joke..) I typed in this piece
adapted by my sis from the Jeff Cohen Media interview. She has done a neat job
of making it directly applicable to Muslims and the western media, if I say so
myself, and typing it in is my good deed for the week.. insha-Allah. I only
hope people make use of it profitably.
There should be no reservations on publishing it since the Jeff Cohen interview
is already in the public domain (usenet), so people can feel free to print it
in local newsletters etc. She has probably / will probably submit it to some
or other journal here in the UK though.
Peace,
Fazal.
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DA'WAH & THE MEDIA
I would like to provoke some thought on the importance of
Da'wah work and on the way that it is carried out. We can
find evidence of the importance of Da'wah in the Qur'an :
Let there arise from you
A community inviting
To all that is good,
Enjoining what is right,
And forbidding what is wrong :
They are the ones to achieve felicity.
Surah 30, Verse 104.
(See also Verse 110).
Also in Verses 113-114, those of the 'People of the Book'
who are in the 'Ranks of the Righteous' are described as
those that 'enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong'.
It is clear from these verses that enjoining good and
forbidding wrong are fundamental to our Faith.
In order to make effective Da'wah, it is important that
we think about the psychology and the way of life of the
people we are aiming at. We have to use methods to which
they will be receptive. And we have to be efficient and
target our energies where they are most likely to produce
results.
In this society, the best way to reach
vast numbers of people from almost every background is
through the media. There is already a lot of Da'wah going on
in this country, and we are getting there as far as
magazines go. However there is a lack of organisation, on
the whole, and we are not using all the resources available
to us in the most effective way. If properly exploited (ie.
fully and professionally) the media, in all its various
forms, can be at least as powerful as politics in changing
the society around us. Conversely, we only have to ignore the
media and there is enough "anti-Da'wah" going on to drown
our efforts. We can't compete with this by just handing out
leaflets. We have to break into the mainstream media and
hand out leaflets too. Every Da'wah organisation NEEDS a
media component.
TACKLING THE MEDIA.
The first thing to do is to get beyond
the syndrome where you watch the media and grumble about it.
It's just not good enough. You have to take your complaints
directly to the media. Don't take the media lying down.
Here are some useful tips :
o Don't censor viewpoints you disagree
with, don't fight to exclude viewpoints -- fight to
*include* Islamic viewpoints.
o Don't use harassment and intimidation,
don't wake media people up at all hours of the night. Try to
gain their respect, to win them over through documentation
and argument and persuasion.
There are many different types of people
in the media, from corporate owners just in it for the
money, to a lot of good people in the working press who are
not powerful but are open-minded and can be reached. Those
who own the media would as soon create a nation of mindless
consumers as a nation of informed citizens. But many
members of the working press are still guided by old
journalistic ethics :
'Find the facts without fear or favour.
Dig out the facts no matter whom they offend, in the
interests of the public.'
MEDIA ACTIVISM.
How can we make sure that there is more
Truth and fewer lies in the coverage of news that is
important to us ?
It is very important to FOLLOW UP media
coverage of news and events -- this includes praise and
encouragement when they get the facts right, and complaints
and corrections when they get it wrong. You challenge the
media in a non-hysterical way, with facts and documentation.
Build relationships with them. It's continuous media work,
and is easier to do locally than nationally [unless
co-ordinated over the email eh :-) FRE]. If you do press
relations for a group in a particular city, get to know the
editors, the better reporters. Look at the way they cover
important events and issues; dialogue with them, send them
studies and facts countering their myths. If you have a
relationship with them, if you do good phone work, and send
good concise documentation from respected sources, they will
read it.
GETTING OUR VOICES HEARD.
How effective are letters to the editor,
and talk-show call-ins in getting our voices heard ?
Letters to the editor are very important.
Your letter is more likely to get published if you have
recently been mentioned in a story and you argue that they
covered you inadequately or unfairly. But anyone could and
should write letters. It's important to write letters even
if they don't get published. When editors get ten or fifteen
letters on the same subject, they tend to print one or two.
If they only get one or two, they might think 'No big issue
here..' and throw them away. If you write to the editor and
see another letter like yours published, it's very possible
that your unpublished letter helped the other get published.
On a big radio call-in show, an
articulate two-minute call from an Islamic educationalist
will be much more closely listened to than a boring
editorial from the station manager. When you're tuning the
dial and stumble onto someone who is carrying on
passionately about an issue they believe in, you often stop
and listen.
AN ORGANISED EFFORT.
A media monitoring team can easily be
formed from a group of three to seven people. The major
radio and TV call-in shows should be divided up. Da'wah
groups should make sure they have active people listening
and calling in to every show. It will embolden other people
to call. You can use your call to mention your newsletter or
up-coming event or engage in relevant debate. Similarly, we
should make sure the local dailies are parcelled out to
different members so some are reading one daily, others
another -- and that they write numerous letters to the
editor. Dozens of small organised groups who regularly
write, call, telegram and petition their local and national
media in the ways suggested would be ideal. It doesn't
require a lot of effort to have an impact -- so lets get to
it !
Saira Ellahi,
sbe1@uk.ac.york.vaxa
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This short essay was adapted from a very long (but
well-worth-reading) interview with Jeff Cohen of the FAIR
organisation in the US. You can get a copy from
Behnam (bes@tybalt.caltech.edu).
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