Religious channels

It all depends on the persons believes, mores and the way he was rise. In my opinion I see that these kind of channels are kind of educational they teach some things that is valuable and I can use in my life, but it doesn’t mean that all kinds of religious channel can be excepted by all kind of people. It depend on religion that an individual belongs to. For example a recent religious channel that was launched Al-Resala, I think that it’s an excellent channel were it’s not a channel that is so strict, it’s a channel were most of its programs are light and effectible that persuade people in a nice easily way. There are some religious channels that have been so strict and they always judge people and threat them they are not beneficial at all what they cause is the hate and anger between people and I ‘am against that for sure.

Media and Privacy

Privacy is something important in peoples life, no one would prefer his life without privacy; there are some moments and activities that people wouldn’t like others to know about, were it’s part of their lives that no one have the right to know or follow. When it comes to celebrities it’s a different case. They chose to be famous, no one did force them to be famous, were it’s part of their job to be followed by papparatzies and photographers, they sure do know that there are millions of people all around the world are looking forward to know all their latest news, photos and occasions , there are nothing they can do about it. If I was a celebrity I will know before I enter this world that there will people who will be influenced by me, photographers who will track me, companies who will pay lots of money just for getting the most recent pictures. That is the world of fame, who choose it should stick with it, celebrities are no more regular people.

media and peoples thinking

In my opinion media is the key of people attitudes and the way they form their personalities, also, they build their lifestyles based on what they watch from all media resources. For example, TV talks shows, movies, music videos and magazines. For example if Lindsay Lohan have done any attitude or ware any new item or style most of the girls will do the same, if Opera say a valuable advise, most of the people and her fans will take this advise . Movie stars and media icons have became most people influential resources. For me for a year and a half I’ve been influenced by late 70’s and 80’s styles, music and main figures in that period. Media is a real tool that changes people’s thinking and the way of life.

Beauty and Cosmetic Surgeries

Beauty is a main part in both males and females life. Specially, when it comes to the media field, most of the programs that we watch on TV, we can see that make up, outfits and cosmetic surgeries have played a big role in them. People get influenced by them immediately; I am not against plastic surgeries that people use when they have serious problems in the way they look; for example, injuries from crash accidents or major problems in their bodies that they got since they were born. It depends on people’s thinking and the environments they’re living in were there are some communities that forbid cosmetic surgeries that have been done without a serious excuse. About those programs like, The Swan and Extreme Make Over, I think that it was a big success for the producers for these shows, because in that time it was a new thing that you watch a real change in a human look in a 25 or 30 minutes episode, and it became a real phenomena in the media world, it get too many peoples attentions and hopes. At the end beauty is important for both sex but beauty is really what comes from the soul not what comes from your looks.

Influencial America

America ! The most influencial country, especially in terms of Media, has influenced everybody globally! From dressing styles, to manerisms, people want to "copy" America, or rather Americans, as they are portrayed to us! How many of the people following the trend sets by America, have actually visited the country or know a lot about its geography, history, curretn-politics or even know the name of all its States? Well, when being shadowed by the media and its tainted pretty painted pictures of America, why wouldnt we want to follow the oh-so-magical country's behaviour patterns, and not stick to our own country's language, dressing style and culture?
And have you ever wondered? All of us are studying at an American University because of the creditbility that an American affiliated or accredited Degree holds! Why is it so?

Over the years, America has established a well ground for everything. Be it technology, education, fahsion or command on language! Internationally, socially their culture, lifestyles, technology etc. has become popular and therefore in demand! Not doing what evrybody else is doing, also indirectly makes you deviant, or a more appropriate term would be, a social outcast!

Clothes: The Indians have their traditional clothes, so do the Arabs or any other nationalities. Then why dress in skirts or pants? This is because the media has enforced certain views upon everybody of what is cool and what is not? Numerous trends have emerged in a fashion industry also known as "Western Clothing" - deriving from the fact that its American!

Language: Come to think of it, everybody wants to have an American accent, or people fancy American girls, or girls fancy American boys' accents! However, English originated from England, not America, then why does American accents make people go crazy!

Again the answer is fostering consumer culture that America has very smoothly done, over time! Media and socialisation has made America capable of setting trends and allowing us to follow them!

There have been both negative and postive impacts of this so called "Americanisation", but nothing drastic can actually be done about it now. I believe there are more pros than cons, and thus i wrap my writing, with America is very influencial, and media strongly helps it gain more and more power!

Effects of the West

We're all relating to the 'American' shows basically because we, in the Middle East, are not exposed to shows that come from other English speaking regions, such as the UK or Australia or even translated sitcoms from the Central Asia or the Far-East. Taking this into consideration, would the impacts still be the same? Is it the concept of being influenced by the West or is it America's influence that we need to dodge?

I've got relatives of mine who grew up in the Middle East, in numerous countries, but nevertheless in the Middle East. They were both exposed to 'Western' culture when they were younger, and so were the people around them. Bear in mind, that that generation grew up in a war-free world. If we were to compare our generation to theirs, the missing factor would be the ongoing wars in Jerusalem, Baghdad, and previously Kuwait and Iran. What I'm trying to say is that maybe these wars have some sort of effect on our parents, since that would give them a reason to reject the Western culture that we indulge ourselves in today.

american media and our youth

We all can’t deny the significant role played by media in our lives. Among all the types of media, the American media is the strongest and the most successful one. Our youth is often amazed by the American ideas that are portrayed in their movies and sitcoms. Most if not all of us, do strongly believe that media affects people, but they will also believe that they are not ignorant to be affected by the media. So in other words media affects everyone but their selves. From my own experience, I always have thought that no way I will ever be affected by the American media and that my norms and values are rigid. However, when I look back I do admit that I was affected by the American movies or sitcoms. Friend’s episodes for example, changed my perspective of friendship with the opposite sex. Our Arab and Islamic traditions completely discourage the idea of any sort of relationship with the opposite sex out of marriage. So most of us convince ourselves that we won’t cross the friendship boundaries, but in the end of the day it doesn’t work and it will always exceed friendship. Therefore, I do believe strongly that our generation is affected by the American media, and this is the main reason behind the conflicts that our generation is facing as a result of mixing of different cultures, traditions , norms and values.

This is Ahmad Zainal's post:

In my opinion, many American Tv shows have a lot of hidden messages and it sometimes influences people and affects their lifestyles and personal behaviour as well as their attitude towards other people. It is a well known fact that most American movies nowadays are always implying something in favour or against a political action in the world, for example the movie 300 was a conflict of interest and pride of nations, and many have associated that relevance with common conflicts in today's world with Iran and the U.S.A.

As odd as it seems, people make assumptions and relate things from the Amercian media that might not even be relevant. This, in my belief, is because of the bombardment of media messages that we are being shot at. It leads to false beliefs, attitude disorders and even paranoia. But for the media literate person it would be a different story, a media literate viewer would first read the hidden or direct messages, analyze them to their own belief and understanding then project the image of discreet action towards that particualr message.

In conclusion, I think that whether we are bombarded with media messages or not, it eventually depends on how literate the viewer is. Changing attitudes and behaviours are easy to target when the society at large is clueless, and that is what the media producers know as a fact in their society.

Becoming immune to American influence!

I completely agree that American Media has had a great affect on us Arabs. Of course some more than others! Some become obsessed with American culture and end up not being able to tolerate Arab culture and move to the States where they can express this freely without being criticized and called an American ‘wannabe’! Some know where they are from but because they have become so used to American TV find things like, pre-marital relationships normal which wouldn’t have been in the past, before the explosion of media. And lastly there are some young Arabs that are attached to their culture and realize that Americans act in a different way to them.
I believe that we do watch these American shows for entertainment but without us noticing, things that we would have found not culturally acceptable are, as a result of us being exposed to it all the time.
Being exposed to all this media is something gradual, that you develop from being a child. You can’t just turn on the TV one day and say that you want to leave your culture behind and act in a certain way!
I have had some friends that have been so taken over by the media convincing them that America is perfect and so on that they leave their culture and family and peruse a new life in the States. I think this wrong because we can act against our culture in some cases, but you can’t change who you are completely.
He television comedy show FRIENDS definitely changed the way people think about open pre-marital relationships. For example, my friend and I have all grown up watching friends religiously and none of us have a problem with relationships. Actually when we are around some one who does think so, we automatically think of them as different, not us who are the different ones.
I am sure if I had grown up in a place where I was not exposed to so much television I would find many thing that I find perfectly normal not.
Sara Saddig

Becoming immune to American influence!

I completely agree that American Media has had a great affect on us Arabs. Of course some more than others! Some become obsessed with American culture and end up not being able to tolerate Arab culture and move to the States where they can express this freely without being criticized and called an American ‘wannabe’! Some know where they are from but because they have become so used to American TV find things like, pre-marital relationships normal which wouldn’t have been in the past, before the explosion of media. And lastly there are some young Arabs that are attached to their culture and realize that Americans act in a different way to them.
I believe that we do watch these American shows for entertainment but without us noticing, things that we would have found not culturally acceptable are, as a result of us being exposed to it all the time.
Being exposed to all this media is something gradual, that you develop from being a child. You can’t just turn on the TV one day and say that you want to leave your culture behind and act in a certain way!
I have had some friends that have been so taken over by the media convincing them that America is perfect and so on that they leave their culture and family and peruse a new life in the States. I think this wrong because we can act against our culture in some cases, but you can’t change who you are completely.
He television comedy show FRIENDS definitely changed the way people think about open pre-marital relationships. For example, my friend and I have all grown up watching friends religiously and none of us have a problem with relationships. Actually when we are around some one who does think so, we automatically think of them as different, not us who are the different ones.
I am sure if I had grown up in a place where I was not exposed to so much television I would find many thing that I find perfectly normal not.
Sara Saddig

Mimics!

Hello,
In the past two decades or so American media in all its forms has become part of people's lives all around the world and it has certainly left an impact especially among Arab youth. The inflow of movies, shows and sitcoms from the US, has affected the way people think. American entertainment comes with a completely different set of morals, values and traditions than what people in the Arab world were taught to accept. They promote a lifestyle that includes a different perception of relationships and religion and most social issues. Although, one may argue that people watch it for mere entertainment and will not change what they believe in or go against their culture because of a show. But messages in entertainment are usually not direct rather they follow a peripheral route, and these messages accumilate to gradually affect the person's thought, and that especially applies to teenagers. I mean its enough to go out to the mall and see how most teenage guys are dressed like all the rap icons and so on and they all believe themselves to be the next 50 cents, or look it also affected the dress and behaviour of young girls. I believe that viewing entertainment from other cultures is a good way of getting introduced to them, however it should not be all you watch! Now most Arab youth know more about the American or Western culture in general because that is what they are exposed to. People should be aware that the youth's concentrated exposure to Western culture, and deattachement from their own culture will only create mimics that are not aware of who they are. People might think I am exaggerating, but I think that the great dose of Western entertainment that is not balanced by anything from their own culture is not healthy.

Entertainment vs reality?

First of all I believe each person can answer this blog in many different ways it all depends on how strong they believe in there culture, and rituals. For example I grew up in the United States and watched a lot of television. When I moved to the UAE it was not the television that was affecting me it was the people. Television is fictional and I hope that you all grew up to learn that. I personally do not believe that watching American shows change us “Arabs” at all. Us Arabs are very strong powered yes okay, we watch Americanized television shows put we use it or “I” use it as a source of entertainment, im sorry I haven’t heard of anyone Arab couple getting married in a church or at 12 pm. Okay, but the teenagers might get affected by tiny things such as in the episode in friends were Ross and Rachel went on a “BREAK” and after that a lot of relationships got affetcted by that one episode, but television doesn’t effect me its people around me… American friends. At the end of the day we arabs have very strong will power! We for example stick together, my mother always use to tell me “those American TV shows” stop watching them , I always use to tell her that television is not the source of changing relationships before marriage, it’s the society and the way life is meant to be lived. I can prove that by saying when I lived in Abu Dhabi I never use to go out later that 11 or 12 but now in Dubai everything starts at 11 or 12. It’s were you live and peer pressure. Yes, Television may affect the way we think about things but tiny tiny parts of it. But in the end it all depends on the person and how strong they are and if they believe in there culture and nationality, you have a lot of arabs saying im from “CANADA” or “AMERICA” which I find is hilarious. Its all about who you are and were you come from.

Americanized

Regardless to the fact that it is American or non-American, but I do not believe that we have the alternative to replave these shows or movies with any other. For example, look at Arabic movies they are a disgrace! On the other hand, I believe that we do get affected by American shows, sometimes it shows us how in some parts of the world people react for certain things that they go through, and we did not understand before. For example, many women in our countries get abused by their husbands and are not able to do anything about it, however, in those shows and and movies we actually learn and see that in other parts of the world this is actually illegal and that is what we should work on in our countries. Moreover, usually in countries that are abusive to their people, they do not allow the freedom of media, and they do not even allow satellite TV in thier countries, and the reason for that is because media does shows us and teach us something. However, watching these American series and sitcoms, do have a negative affect as well, I mean watching alot of violence sometimes creates violence as well, but this effect is also present in America and not only in our countries, it is just the way the world goes. So, I can not say that watching these sitcoms is a negative thing, I believe that is more positive than it is negative and I am talking from a personal experience, and I believe that I have changed alot since I started watching these shows and movies. And, I believe if we had any proper Arabic movies or sitcoms so that it would keep our "traditions" then maybe we should talked at because of watching these shows, but until we do, I guess we re be Americanized.

Americanized

Regardless to the fact that it is American or non-American, but I do not believe that we have the alternative to replave these shows or movies with any other. For example, look at Arabic movies they are a disgrace! On the other hand, I believe that we do get affected by American shows, sometimes it shows us how in some parts of the world people react for certain things that they go through, and we did not understand before. For example, many women in our countries get abused by their husbands and are not able to do anything about it, however, in those shows and and movies we actually learn and see that in other parts of the world this is actually illegal and that is what we should work on in our countries. Moreover, usually in countries that are abusive to their people, they do not allow the freedom of media, and they do not even allow satellite TV in thier countries, and the reason for that is because media does shows us and teach us something. However, watching these American series and sitcoms, do have a negative affect as well, I mean watching alot of violence sometimes creates violence as well, but this effect is also present in America and not only in our countries, it is just the way the world goes. So, I can not say that watching these sitcoms is a negative thing, I believe that is more positive than it is negative and I am talking from a personal experience, and I believe that I have changed alot since I started watching these shows and movies. And, I believe if we had any proper Arabic movies or sitcoms so that it would keep our "traditions" then maybe we should talked at because of watching these shows, but until we do, I guess we re be Americanized.

Westernization or the so-called “modernization” is very popular nowadays, and can be clearly noticed around the whole globe. It is difficult for me to talk about any Arabic shows specifically, because to be frank, I have never watched them.
However, I think that the American standards do influence the society to some extent and also influence the media producers in this region to change their shows/movies in one way or the other, and to make them seem more “modern”.
I can relate this to Hindi movies – if you watch Hindi flicks from about 10 years ago, and now, you will spot a very very clear difference in the way the actors are dressed, in the way they behave (Hindi movie directors have decided to break certain boundaries and incorporate “kissing scenes” into the plot, something that was thought of as very negative earlier on). However this draws their audiences very successfully.

Is it really positive to “westernize” media?
I’d say, that as long as the original culture is prominent throughout (and it definitely is this way in Hindi movies) it won’t really do any damage.
I think that what is common in many sitcoms/soap operas around the globe is the theme, no matter how it is portrayed the protruding theme usually revolves around love. Therefore the subject matter is more or less the same, just that American shows tend to be more “explicit” (i.e. language use, intimate scenes, etc.).

I don’t think that American shows/movies are very harmful to our society. Yes, they might present different values to those of our own, but in the end – if you don’t like it, don’t watch it! And if you think that they will “corrupt” the innocent minds of your children, then watch over them more closely and monitor what shows they can view.

American media

Westernization or the so-called “modernization” is very popular nowadays, and can be clearly noticed around the whole globe. It is difficult for me to talk about any Arabic shows specifically, because to be frank, I have never watched them.
However, I think that the American standards do influence the society to some extent and also influence the media producers in this region to change their shows/movies in one way or the other, and to make them seem more “modern”.
I can relate this to Hindi movies – if you watch Hindi flicks from about 10 years ago, and now, you will spot a very very clear difference in the way the actors are dressed, in the way they behave (Hindi movie directors have decided to break certain boundaries and incorporate “kissing scenes” into the plot, something that was thought of as very negative earlier on). However this draws their audiences very successfully.

Is it really positive to “westernize” media?
I’d say, that as long as the original culture is prominent throughout (and it definitely is this way in Hindi movies) it won’t really do any damage.
I think that what is common in many sitcoms/soap operas around the globe is the theme, no matter how it is portrayed the protruding theme usually revolves around love. Therefore the subject matter is more or less the same, just that American shows tend to be more “explicit” (i.e. language use, intimate scenes, etc.).

I don’t think that American shows/movies are very harmful to our society. Yes, they might present different values to those of our own, but in the end – if you don’t like it, don’t watch it! And if you think that they will “corrupt” the innocent minds of your children, then watch over them more closely and monitor what shows they can view.

Imitating the Americans

American Television is occupying a wide area from our daily lives; also it has a huge influence on Arabs society especially over the youth. American television shows and movies reflect American culture, address the American social problems and present the American life, which don’t tone with Arab culture and norms. That's why we believe that the impact of these shows is often negative, though they are not intended to be so.

The impact of American shows is widely increasing in youth's life. Nowadays youth think that by imitating Americans they will be cool, popular and loved by the other gender. As a result, youth's behaviors and beliefs have changed a lot. Early relationships, sexual interactions, clubbing and all these behaviors have become so normal and acceptable. Besides, some American shows affect the relation between parents and their children. Children become more violence, rude and they think that they are old enough to take the lead and control their actions with out taking the permeation from their parents. In addition, I see a massive influence on youth's fashion, for me it's too funny when you see an Arab guy wearing those fluffy pants with a long nickels and a shirt that reaches the knees. I respect people's tastes, but guys this it not our culture stop copying the Americans because you are not one of them and you'll never be.

I have no problem with American entertainment shows or attitudes because they are following their culture. My problem is with Arab people who give the lead to Americans, by imitating their negative attitudes. Why don't we learn the good things such as being creative in order to invent new things that will benefit our nations?

We are Arabs so let's differentiate our selves by taking the advantages of other cultures which tune with our religion, norms and culture and use these positive behaviors to develop our selves and our countries.

American entertainment in the Arab World

As said we all have been watching American shows for a long time. But we also did watch Arabic show too. As we are affected by the Arab show we are surely affected by the American and western shows. Of course, these shows affect our culture, perspective and identity because nothing of what we see in these shows is related to our community in a way or another. But saying that watching an American show for fun will make the Arab watcher forget the whole idea later is wrong. Why would you watch something that doesn't benefit you or give you a new idea? In fact, most of us try to behave the same way. By the same way I mean the American western way. Now we can see everywhere that relationships before marriage are there, Arabs are dressing, acting, talking and living as western. But isn’t this what the western industry is trying to promote? I mean they promote the American dream and everybody is affected, no one can say no I'm not, there must be a little effect on us. If I take this issue personally I will say that I'm not completely affected by these shows and movies. In the other hand, I do everything I see them doing. Now talking about relationships before marriage. Before we didn’t have any of this, maybe people before didn’t know that they can do this. Back in the time people was getting married without seeing each other or knowing each other. Now we can see different relationships between men and women. We can see friends relation, lovers relation, engagement relation, one night stand relation and a lot more. So we can't say that these movies and shows didn’t affect us and that we are not acting in some how like westerns.

The Impact of Western Media

Haven't we discussed this kind of topic before? Regardless, western or American media has proliferated in the past decade right here in the Middle East. All the latest shows and movies are watched, discussed, and pretty much the most addictive things next to coffee and cigarettes.

Go back 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Look at your parents and grandparents. A lot of things that we deem acceptable or "the norm" right now was not the case back then. The very lifestyles we lead are extremely different. Where we study, how we spend out weekends, what we wear, and what we watch and listen to are completely different. Is this a result of the type of media content we are exposed to? Most probably yes. Co-educational systems, relationships, and even male-female friendships did not exist back then. I'm not saying that introducing these things is a bad thing; it all comes down to cultural, religious, and moral perspectives. Globalization has played it's part, and now instead of being constricted to the good and bad of our own cultures, we have so many different perspectives and ideas to choose how we want to live. However, the more we sink deeper into American/western pop culture, the more we let go of the cultural identities that we should be holding on to to some extent.

As I said before, there are always advantages to being exposed other culture, but the trick is to take the good and leave the bad. But then again, we have to define what is good and what is bad, which is even trickier. There's no question that when you're living in a sort of closed environment, the outside open world is mesmerizing is so many ways, however, we should be smart and critical enough to believe that what we see on television is not a reflection of reality. It is far from.

American Media in Middle East

The fact is for certain that American entertainment is affecting our culture and life-style. This has significantly increased in the last decade. Every generation is under the exposure of the influence of the environment around it. The type of music I like and listen to is different than what my parents listen to and I’m sure my future kids will not have the same taste that I have.
What we have and show in our mass media channels are directly or indirectly related to our culture. Culture is some thing that changes by every passing moment. Our way of perceiving changes all the time (sometimes a little and sometimes a lot.
I think the problem will start when we invade our religious regulation with these external influences. As long as they do not conflict with my religion, change is a good thing. At least I know it’s not bad.
Unfortunately, they do invade it. Lack of hijab, music and dancing, early relationships of boys and girls are some of the outcomes of these external impacts from foreign media channels.

TV shoews, sitcoms and our behaviour

Our behaviors, attitudes and cultural identity that reshape our humanity and make us who we are get affected by the environment that we live in. A surrounding that we absorb from in order to align oneself to others. And we all agree that media have a great influence on us in terms of perceiving the other from different cultures, religious even the other part of the world.

Watching American sitcoms, movies or TV shows have a great influence on the way we think. Yet it is not the primer factor that changes our behavior or attitudes and to be honest I can blame the media for what has been happening to. One of the students in class mentioned in his presentation that persuasion of any kind usually takes time in order to happen depending on the strengths of the argument. In my opinion there many factors that effects our life and makes it close to western society, one of these factors is the private schools which spreads its academic system based on the American or British system and also the fact that these schools indoors students from both sexes creates an environment that might changes our traditions as Muslims.

In terms of American TV shows, first of we all perceive these sitcoms as only a mean for entertainment and our behavior, attitudes or cultural identity doesn’t get affected easily just by watching a certain TV show. I have been watching TV shows for ever and I have never missed an episode from that show, yet I don’t see myself get affected negatively in a way that I have changed what I have been believing in or what my parents taught me through my life. I have demeaned about such life but never expose my self to the idea that it might happen and at the end of the day I come across a realizations that it is just a fictional TV show only.

As I said before the way we behave now as opposed to our parents and grandfathers have greatly changed because of many factors that are considered to be affective than sitcoms. Perhaps we are being bombarded by all new TV shows that might address new set of behaviors delivered to us, but unless we have been taught by our parents or school in certain way, we will precise these shows as a mean for entertainment.

American Sitcoms,

If I were to examine myself specifically being exposed to American sitcoms and how it changed my perspective of the world, of my beliefs and ethics, I would probably say that the influence was more of a positive than a negative one. Perhaps the fact that I got exposed to such sitcoms at an older age than the generations which came after me, not to mention that this exposure was followed by constant control and observance coming from my parents. Having that I was only watching what is appropriate for my age and as I grew older I had the growth and understanding to not let any of those broadcasted influences effect me in any way. To be honest American sitcoms improved my English language in all aspects, it provided me with a broader vocabulary, and enhanced my accent. It also introduced me to a total different culture and perspective, which is clearly different than the culture that I have lived in.


Sometimes we tend to blame the American sitcoms or the western sitcoms in general for the change in behavior that we see very evident in the young generations and the generations to come. Examples are surrounding us everywhere, on campus for example we see girls dressed in the same provocative way that we see on television, we see Arabs building those distinction between people of different colors where we see those with dark skin colors dressed like African Americans, behaving and talking like them. Vocabulary contains all sorts of terms to be ashamed of and embarrassed to hear coming from a Muslim or an Arab. Maybe, I was not influenced negatively by those sitcoms but a large number of people around me have and now you don’t even need to watch those sitcoms because the people who have been influenced by it are putting more pressure on the generations to come to conform to their groups. We have become a westernized society where we cannot even speak an entire Arabic sentence without English sneaking into it. True we taught our selves to speak with a universal language; however, we have left our own holy language along the way.

American entertainment in the Arab World

Hi Everyone,
We have all been watching American sitcoms, shows and movies for years, however no one really took a minute to look back at how this inflow of American media products affected our lives, beliefs, traditions and cultural identity. This week let us consider how watching American entertainment has affected us either positively or negatively. Do you think people in the Arab world, especially youth, watch American shows for mere entertainment and then discard all they've seen and firmly hold on to their cultural identity? Or are they affected in any way by what they watch, which in many occasions can be the extreme opposite of what they were taught throughout their lives. Think of yourself, how did watching American shows change you? And look closely at all the famous shows and movies and their messages. For example, do you think that Friends changed our (Arab youth) perception of relationships and did it make us more tolerant to relationships before marriage and so on?

American entertainment in the Arab World

Hi Everyone,
We have all been watching American sitcoms, shows and movies for years, however no one really took a minute to look back at how this inflow of American media products affected our lives, beliefs, traditions and cultural identity. This week let us consider how watching American entertainment has affected us either positively or negatively. Do you think people in the Arab world, especially youth, watch American shows for mere entertainment and then discard all they've seen and firmly hold on to their cultural identity? Or are they affected in any way by what they watch, which in many occasions can be the extreme opposite of what they were taught throughout their lives. Think of yourself, how did watching American shows change you? And look closely at all the famous shows and movies and their messages. For example, do you think that Friends changed our (Arab youth) perception of relationships and did it make us more tolerant to relationships before marriage and so on?

Martyrs or Suiciders

Today, many people take into their burden to 'fix' the society and the spread the word of God 'as they call it'. We see on TV channels that broadcast day and night lectures and preaches about "Islam". We also see the invasion of those people to the internet. I do not disagree with the fact that we, as all other religions do, have the right to spread our beliefs and try to convince people with our point of view and beliefs. However, what I do not agree with, is the fact that we are spreading terrorism, and encouraging young people to commit suicide and kill dozens of other people along the process. We live in a world that accepts all kind of religions and beliefs and we should not give our self the right to announce that these people are wrong and they are going to 'hell'. We should be spreading the word of peace and love, and we should encourage each other to accept what is different and treat better than how we treat each other. You often see those people on TV cursing christians and whatever other religions that exist on Earth, and praises Islam and Muslims. Unfortunately, many people are being affected by this invasion and went along with it, we see hundreds of people killing themselves each day in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and they call themselves 'Martyrs' but in fact they are suiciders. I believe the reason people are being affected by them is because of lack of education, we should be aware of how the world works and what is really going on. They would not change the world in bombing themselves each day, but they might change the world if they use words peacefully and spread love instead of hate in a world that already has enough of it.

Martyrs or Suiciders

Today, many people take into their burden to 'fix' the society and the spread the word of God 'as they call it'. We see on TV channels that broadcast day and night lectures and preaches about "Islam". We also see the invasion of those people to the internet. I do not disagree with the fact that we, as all other religions do, have the right to spread our beliefs and try to convince people with our point of view and beliefs. However, what I do not agree with, is the fact that we are spreading terrorism, and encouraging young people to commit suicide and kill dozens of other people along the process. We live in a world that accepts all kind of religions and beliefs and we should not give our self the right to announce that these people are wrong and they are going to 'hell'. We should be spreading the word of peace and love, and we should encourage each other to accept what is different and treat better than how we treat each other. You often see those people on TV cursing christians and whatever other religions that exist on Earth, and praises Islam and Muslims. Unfortunately, many people are being affected by this invasion and went along with it, we see hundreds of people killing themselves each day in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and they call themselves 'Martyrs' but in fact they are suiciders. I believe the reason people are being affected by them is because of lack of education, we should be aware of how the world works and what is really going on. They would not change the world in bombing themselves each day, but they might change the world if they use words peacefully and spread love instead of hate in a world that already has enough of it.

Martyrs or Suiciders

Today, many people take into their burden to 'fix' the society and the spread the word of God 'as they call it'. We see on TV channels that broadcast day and night lectures and preaches about "Islam". We also see the invasion of those people to the internet. I do not disagree with the fact that we, as all other religions do, have the right to spread our beliefs and try to convince people with our point of view and beliefs. However, what I do not agree with, is the fact that we are spreading terrorism, and encouraging young people to commit suicide and kill dozens of other people along the process. We live in a world that accepts all kind of religions and beliefs and we should not give our self the right to announce that these people are wrong and they are going to 'hell'. We should be spreading the word of peace and love, and we should encourage each other to accept what is different and treat better than how we treat each other. You often see those people on TV cursing christians and whatever other religions that exist on Earth, and praises Islam and Muslims. Unfortunately, many people are being affected by this invasion and went along with it, we see hundreds of people killing themselves each day in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and they call themselves 'Martyrs' but in fact they are suiciders. I believe the reason people are being affected by them is because of lack of education, we should be aware of how the world works and what is really going on. They would not change the world in bombing themselves each day, but they might change the world if they use words peacefully and spread love instead of hate in a world that already has enough of it.

Media and the influence!!

When I first read the topic to this blog I was unsure of the word polarization so I looked it up. Polarization according to Merriam Webster is a sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions. What I understood by the definition is the division of media and mainly television across the world. For example when I was in the United States and I listened to news about the Middle East it’s very normal that they make us “Arabs” look barbaric and vise versa. Its human nature for this to happen but what occurs really is a diverse division between a group of people that change there view towards the world because of media.

A very well known example that we can talk about is 9/11 this is when the media straight away blamed the Arabs although we were not sure it was Arabs that have done this and a division occurred. Shortly after that the London bombings occurred as well and before they even caught the people they blamed the Arabs automatically MEDIA controls people. I believe were all puppets and us humans naturally believe media like it’s a daily routine in our life.

The media has ruined our religion the Muslim religion people didn’t even dare say a word about Muslims or arabs before 9/11 and the whole terrorism issue. I don’t believe some radio stations have values or behavior. One believes it’s disrespectful for channels such as CNN, CNBSC, or BBC to humiliate arabs and blame them for everything while AL jazeera may have some fall downs or flip outs but still manage to stick to news. As I was saying its human nature for one to defend there cultures and views.

Do they encourage us to listen, interact, and understand the “other” judgment? NO! I don’t believe any TV channels encourage every channel has a way of convincing its viewers that they are right.

I have an example for you all: David letterman, Jay leno, and Conan O Brian they are all late night talk hosts but they all have certain viewers and other viewers that watch each chow believe in them and will not change there mind, if one viewer believes in one talk show they wont change there mind!

Media and the influence!!

When I first read the topic to this blog I was unsure of the word polarization so I looked it up. Polarization according to Merriam Webster is a sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions. What I understood by the definition is the division of media and mainly television across the world. For example when I was in the United States and I listened to news about the Middle East it’s very normal that they make us “Arabs” look barbaric and vise versa. Its human nature for this to happen but what occurs really is a diverse division between a group of people that change there view towards the world because of media.

A very well known example that we can talk about is 9/11 this is when the media straight away blamed the Arabs although we were not sure it was Arabs that have done this and a division occurred. Shortly after that the London bombings occurred as well and before they even caught the people they blamed the Arabs automatically MEDIA controls people. I believe were all puppets and us humans naturally believe media like it’s a daily routine in our life.

The media has ruined our religion the Muslim religion people didn’t even dare say a word about Muslims or arabs before 9/11 and the whole terrorism issue. I don’t believe some radio stations have values or behavior. One believes it’s disrespectful for channels such as CNN, CNBSC, or BBC to humiliate arabs and blame them for everything while AL jazeera may have some fall downs or flip outs but still manage to stick to news. As I was saying its human nature for one to defend there cultures and views.

Do they encourage us to listen, interact, and understand the “other” judgment? NO! I don’t believe any TV channels encourage every channel has a way of convincing its viewers that they are right.

I have an example for you all: David letterman, Jay leno, and Conan O Brian they are all late night talk hosts but they all have certain viewers and other viewers that watch each chow believe in them and will not change there mind, if one viewer believes in one talk show they wont change there mind!

Religious Media!

Religious channels, be it Islamic or based on Christianity focus only on religion and the whole world means nothing to them! Their target audeince are those who are not interested in other wordly things as well, and they reach out and connect to those human beings that want to know more and learn about their religion. I have seen two religious channels, one was Christian T.V and the other one was Islamic, but i cant recall the name correctly since it was in Arabic.
Viewing these channels, even though it was only once, made me observe how their sole purpose is to preach, show what the people of "their" religion practice and make people more aware about it! They do not care about money, popularity or fame like other media channels! It is not about politics for such channels, instead it is truly about faith, beliefs and "Imaan" (arabic for faith and belief)!!

If someone is genuinely interested in knowing more about a certain religion there are million of ways they can find out, religious books, articles, magazines, radio stations, so why not Television too? This is the best way to get across to us social beings! So... religious channels create a religious mood, enticing their audeince into watching their channel if and only if they want to and are sincerely interetsed in religion and learning more about it.
I agree with the second option, Proffessor Abeer states : They advocate judgement and lead to polarization. All religious channels do, do that! This is just the way it is! If my channel is about Christianity i will seriously not be promoting Islam, or even vice versa! My aim would be to spread Christian beliefs and teachings. It is wrong to degrade any other religion, and they do not do that. Though i have noticed that sometimes Islamic channels have a tone of negativity to other religions. This is very obvious when Islamic scholars are talking alone, and the camera is focused upon them, like a sermon!

One thing i succintly remember watching is a program on a christian channel ,where there is a priest who heals people. He heals all sorts of illnesses and physical disorders. This was one show that was aired on a religious channel to prove that miracles still happen!

Each religion has some basic values and principles, all the religious channels just revolve around those values and principles and run their channels, hoping to teach, preach and spread their religious point of views, to those who are already in their religion, and to those who are not but are interested!

Good readings:
"The rival conceptions of God" by C.S Lewishttp://petermg.com/writings33/5-03_concept.html

"The divine revolution" by Vaclav Havel
http://www.utne.com/issues/1999_88/features/309-1.html

TV

Specialization makes any work done more effectively, in my opinion. For example a very known T.V channel in the Arab world, MBC, created 5 other MBC’s (mbc Arabia , mbc2 ,mbc3, mbc4 ,and mbc action),each for a specific kind of programs or shows which made MBC a very popular channel that is watched by a huge audience. On the other hand, in media, especially T.V, people are looking for variety in content. Sometimes we are just overwhelmed with life’s problems and watch to watch friends for some laughs, some other times we really need to know what’s going around the world so we change for news, and so on. Due to the great boom in recent technology, many organizations have been able to start their own T.V channels and publish their shows that support their goal whatever that was. As a result of the normal need for people to change and for the channels to be more effective and successful, I think it’s the right thing to have specialized T.V channels. There are many examples of channels that succeeded, such as IQRA as a religious channel, Al Jazera and CNN as a news channels, MBC as an entertaining channel, and a lot more, more over, there are those channels which failed to introduce a good image and as a result people rejected them.

After all, having a religious channel doesn’t mean we have to watch only them, nor means we have to watch nothing else. In my opinion it means they are specializing to give their best. People who criticize them for being strict didn’t actually give them the right to express their pure ideas, because if they do not agree with their content they can change the channel any time but they can’t stop them from expressing it, especially if a space is given for every one else to say whatever they want. On the other hand, whatever is said on a religious channel, whether its Muslim ,Christian ,or Jewish, it doesn’t have to be right all the time, sometimes the information is questionable, and we have to look it from credited sources because we are an educated audiences.

Finally, I think religious channels are good; it opens the path for people to communicate, interact, and learn about one of the most important aspects of their lives which is religion. Recently, T.V has been watched for a lot more that just entertaining, its also for educating and interacting.

Religious Channels

Hey Everyone,
In the past few years, the Arab world witnessed a phenomenal rise and spread of religious TV channels. This started with Iqraa channel that is affiliated with the ART group. The Islamic TV channels broadcast religious education shows that inform people more about their religion and their duties. These shows can be in the form of Quran lessons, or stories and lessons from the life of the prophet and his companions, or question answer sessions and programs that clarify a Muslim’s religious duties.
However, this phenomenon deserves o be reflected upon deeply, and its advantages and disadvantages analyzed. Although I believe that the spread of religious channels is beneficial, because it spreads religion among people and helps them realize an important part of their identity and cling to their traditions and values, it does have its side effects. Some channels, like Iqraa, are moderate Islamic channels that present people with the true side of Islam, but some other channels promote a very strict and inflexible image of Islam, they announce so many things illegal or haram. In my opinion, this can harm people more than benefit them because they will find it hard to abide by their religion. Also, people tend to blindly trust any Sheikh or scholar who appears on these TV channels and take what he says for granted without questioning it or questioning his credibility. This can give some untrustworthy sources a chance to promote a wrong image of Islam. Though, there are some points to consider about the Islamic religious channels, I believe that the majority of their content is beneficial to the society.

the relgion and the media

Here in the Middle East, religion is the controlling element in the media. Most governments in the Middle East, if not all, can not do anything without taking religion into consideration, or any consequences that might impact the religious lifestyles of their people, excluding the several TV channels that concentrate solely on broadcasting religious programs such as, "Al Resala" and "Iqra".

On the other hand, in the Western media, religion lacks the major role that it plays in the Middle East. They focus on the modes that would attract as many viewers as possible, and could sometimes be classified as low or unethical.

As great as it is for one’s soul, religion can sometimes be the reason behind people being so judgmental about one another. Therefore by default the media is driven by people’s desire to seek righteousness via religion.

Media impact

The proliferation of satellites became a source of concern and attention by experts and journalists, the Arab viewers are also baffled to the huge amount of channels offering miscellaneous goods. Satellites have enormous implications on all walks of life. Since technology appeared, it enabled large plurality in the satellite channels. There are news channels, dramas, songs, films, sports, marketing, tourism and others. The viewers became confused they don’t know what to watch, so does the Arabic citizen they are besieged on a large amount of satellites. The satellite channels allow the citizens to experience several new platforms that took them to knowledge and freedom of expression, which is not enjoyed by government channels. But this pluralism led the government channels to give itself a larger area of freedom of expression. Media pluralism also led in recent years to outburst the competition between the stations to earn the approval of the public and to achieve further proliferation. The public shifted in recent years to new channels that attracted the attention for one reason or another, especially, that this audience is deprived from freedom of expression for many years. Unfortunately, some of these channels provided a downward trend, not at the level required in the media format and content. Of course this is the new reality that is characterized by the media explosion which led to the fragmentation of the public among hundreds and thousands of channels. A lot of the Arab channels fell into the trap of imitating the western model in its direction and content believing that this is the only way to success and obtain public admiration. In this context, waves of excitement, nudity, and westernize the Arab families began to immerge. The western models in media entered every home and affected the youth in most cases. As well as the methods of introducing programs by broadcasters vulgar language evolved. I believe that the satellite hacking is the best way to further proliferation and loosing the cycle of the broadcaster in many cases.
On the other hand, on news channels scenes that began to receive subjects that are not used to them on Arab television screens. Within the framework of democratic communication satellites began to broadcast several important dialogues, but some of the models are unsuccessful because they lacked the art of dialogue and the language of screaming overshadowed which gave an impression that this nation is not a nation of dialogue. Moreover, a wide westernize process appeared on the expense of the Arabic language, values, customs and traditions. In fact, the education system had affected and even the dialogue between the parents and their sons had changed because of the new reality of media.
The media space had weakened the Arab culture and makes it fall back in front of the western culture. Many of us think that the traditions of the West are the progress and development, but this is wrong. Even it is more dangerous when we imitate the west in negative aspects and ignore the positive things such as: workmanship, maintaining the dates, and accepting other opinions.

religion, media and societies

There are different types of media channels now. They are on T.V and radio. Each one is specialized in a criteria and other are mixed. They have different programs and different effects. These channels affect us and change our perception to ward everything in different ways. Some TV channels are specialized in Islam and religion like alnas, alrai, iqra and a lot more. Those channels might have a good effect on people most the times. But in the other hand they might have a bad effect. When people watch the religion channels they learn more about their religion especially Muslims. But if any other religion people watch this they might get a wrong idea and in that way they are affected in a negative way. But to the Muslims it might teach them more about their religion and it increases the feel of responsibility in us toward our religion. In the other hand, TV channels change people attitudes and thinking as they want. People who watch TV all the time might learn what they want and ignore what they don't want. There are many irresponsible channels that give people wrong thoughts and ideas. Channels like this will first hurt the kids who don't know much and believe anything they see or hear. Channels that only broadcast music, fashion and such type of things that are not educational should be more aware. All media channels no matter where they broad cast from or who owns them should be educational and should accomplish something good to the community. Channels that are specialized with education and religion should be more. Some people might see religion channels as channels that ask Muslims to ignore other religions and people from other religions. They also might think that these channels ask for terrorism. But in fact Islam always asked Muslims to respect and believe in other religions.

Media & Religion

People are very much influenced by the media and information that is sent through it. Recently Television has been one of the main mediums to send in formations to the audience. It has been many times taken advantage of to persuade and manipulate the audience. Religious channels are an example of taking advantage of the power of television as a way to persuade and manipulate the audience. If you run through the 450 channels in your TV, you realize there are more than ten channels associated to one religion that teaches nothing but extremism of that religion. There are channels for Muslims, Jews, Christians, and every other religion in the world. As if there is a competition that whoever collects more people wins. Debates, arguments, and wars about religions are all over the media and not just television but everywhere. Through the media each religion is trying to separate its people from the other religion to a point that it’s not religion anymore its politics now. Its influences on people are so great that you can feel the resistance of people religion-wise towards each other. Its influences on people are so massive that you can feel the separation between people of different religion.
Yet, there is no channel, no program, and no media that would let these people understand that no matter what your religion is we are all equal. There is no channel that would let people know that no matter what they call their god, we all pray to the same God. There is no channel that would bring us all together instead of separating us by our religions. There is no channel that would let people know no matter how many religions in the world, at their core they all teach us one lesson and that is humanity, equality, fairness, and that is the truth.

Religion & T.V Shows

Media is considered a source of knowledge and an opportunity for learning. Mass media is used to disseminate messages to a large number of audiences in order to influence them in a variety of ways. I see television as the most popular type of mass media where audiences receive a full picture of particular information. To me, having religious T.V channels is great because they increase people’s awareness towards their religion. Frankly speaking, I often watch IQRA which is an Islamic modern channel. I love this channel because I see it as a fair channel, not bias towards any organization. In addition, IQRA shows are very useful. Shows are not all about religion and praying, there are a different variety of shows that discuss family issues, medical issues and entertainment competitions.

To be honest, this channel has a great influence on me. Whenever I continuously watch it, I become more religious and committed to god by all means. IQRA shows emphasize on the great values and morals that a Muslim person should have, and how people can create social connections based on honesty and respect. Some shows as Amr Khalid show highlights the importance of the interaction between people from different religions, countries and cultures. He encourages people to listen and learn in order to be able to defend and spread our culture and religion in the right way.

However, I heard from some people that there are some Muslim channels which are biased to specific groups or organizations. Those channels are very closed minded and refuse to listen to the other part of the story. Such channels have negative effects on people’s perceptions. Most of these channels mix between religion and politics and that is totally unacceptable. For example, Al-Manara is a sort of religious Lebanese channel which is totally biased to “Sheeaa” in other words to Hizb Allah. They deliver the news to people in a way that supports their ideas and beliefs, and to me I think that they rely on media to brain wash people’s heads.

Some people are indirectly using religion to reach and enter people’s brains and hearts in a negative way, in order to persuade them with special thoughts or ideas. It is so dangerous to allow T.V shows to become as a content of our religion. However, I am so happy to have great channels such as IQRA which elevate people’s conscious about Islam. And I’ll be happier to watch other channels that discuss other religions in the same way that IQRA talk about Islam.

Religion in Mass Media channels

The general rule in mass media is that it has significant effects on its audience. Whether negative or positive the impact towards that direction is high. Religious channels have these high impacts. They will try their best to persuade their audience toward themselves.
However, this is not the case for commercial channels, which are mostly private. Their main focus is to get more audience. For achieving this, they will have to avoid taking a specific side or a specific group in the society. Thus, they will avoid contextual topics like politics and religion.
Going back to the religious channels. They are mostly local to the region at least in Middle East and are being supported by governments. These channels have less visual effects and more verbal and contextual. They don’t have much of an impact at the first impression we get of them. But by passage of time and the continues exposure to them, they will have deep effects on their audience.
Unfortunately, most religious channels which I have seen, label other religious channels as propagandists. As one of audience, I think every one should get the chance to face all the options and listen to every side. This will make us know about each side and their opinions and let us choose which side to take.

Religion in Mass Media channels

The general rule in mass media is that it has significant effects on its audience. Whether negative or positive the impact towards that direction is high. Religious channels have these high impacts. They will try their best to persuade their audience toward themselves.
However, this is not the case for commercial channels, which are mostly private. Their main focus is to get more audience. For achieving this, they will have to avoid taking a specific side or a specific group in the society. Thus, they will avoid contextual topics like politics and religion.
Going back to the religious channels. They are mostly local to the region at least in Middle East and are being supported by governments. These channels have less visual effects and more verbal and contextual. They don’t have much of an impact at the first impression we get of them. But by passage of time and the continues exposure to them, they will have deep effects on their audience.
Unfortunately, most religious channels which I have seen, label other religious channels as propagandists. As one of audience, I think every one should get the chance to face all the options and listen to every side. This will make us know about each side and their opinions and let us choose which side to take.

Since during our class discussion we focused on religious specialized channels, I’m assuming that this is what the term “specialized” refers to in this case. I must say, that I’m not too familiar with any types of religious channels to be honest, since I don’t watch any of them regularly.

I remember that there is a specific Christian Catholic channel that my grandmother used to watch in Poland (don’t remember the name now). I just watched it a couple of times and I was pretty sceptical at the beginning (this is mostly because I always assumed that such channels are pretty boring and only focus on spiritual matters) however soon, I actually realized that the channel was good and the programs were shown from a relatively open-minded perspective.
For example, although it did have many programs specifically designated to portray various spiritual aspects of religion such as praying, the broadcasting of mass etc., there were certain shows also dedicated to normal real-life problems that people face as well. I thought that this was a very good idea because it showed you how religion can help people battle through all sorts of hardships in life.

I think that the majority of these so-called religious channels aren’t harmful in any way, and usually stress on the equality among all people rather than focusing on the differences. They also don’t condemn other religions.

Are they biased?
Well, I think that the TRY not to be but in the end the message they spread will always be biased in one way or the other. This is because of the fact that they focus on just one religion (be in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc.). Therefore they’ll automatically put that religion as the Number 1 religion, i.e. the only righteous faith. While they may not criticize other spiritual denominations and beliefs, their goal is to promote that one religion as the ideal.


Therefore to sum it up, I think that religious channels do encourage us to listen, interact and understand the "others". They encourage us to seek similarities between individuals of different religions, while not failing to promote the one that they desire.
However you must keep in mind that they may also have varying effects, depending on how some people interpret them.

Media And Society

We all agree that as humans, our behaviors, attitudes and the way we think is affected by the environment that is surrounding us from family, friends, school and media. And we all agree that media have a great influence on us in terms of perceiving the other from different cultures, religious even the other part of the world.

Some media channels are considered to be biased in the way they deliver a certain message; sometimes they might address other cultures or countries in a negative manner. Yet we can’t pass on such judgment to all media channels as they were created to target a certain audience. For example religious channels such as Iqraa or Ahl albeit are targeted towards specific kind of Muslim audience and we can’t call them biased due to this fact. These channels educate people about their religion without pointing out to other religious. I have been watching Iqraa for a while and to be honest I didn’t see any evidence that confirms a fact that thee channels were biased.

On the other hand, news channels can be sometimes biased and most of the times focus on a certain event or perceive the other in a negative manner. For it seems to me the way these channels function are based on t he what is happing in the world or in other words what is more important news depending on the different desires of the audience. Al-Jazzerra news channel for example, are biased towards the Arabs and focus on showing them either heroes or victims of the war whether it was the Palestinian conflict on the Iraqi war and that in my point of view is logical and rational way of thinking. BBC on the other hand is biased towards their cultures and focus on their audience. In my point of view is logical and rational way of thinking. I mean if Al-Jazzerra brought an Israeli civilian or minister and started showing them as innocent people, it would be a huge setback between a the Arabic audience and the channel itself and the same thing would happen to BBC or CNN.

Religion and Media

As we have been examining with our posts since the beginning of the semester the different impacts of media on us as individuals, on our interactions, perceptions, beliefs and on our society we came to one common realization, which explains how we are massively effected with the media channels around us regarding of their purpose or the kind of information that they represent to us.

It is a very broad and varied topic to talk about especially concerning the specialized media channels due to the different functions each one beholds. There are different kinds of those channels ranging from news channels to religious channels and we cannot generalize or equalize their impact on the society. If we were to examine the impressive burst of some of the religious channels, we see that they as well have different functions, purposes and audiences. Ahl Al-Bait or Al-Zahra channel have a total different impact on the people than Iqraa for example. I do not believe that any of these are being biased toward a specific religious sect or that they hold some discrimination because each one is targeting a very specific audience and yet they have a very high dignity and respect to the other religion sects and just because their news does not include them or doesn’t give them justice does not mean they create negative perceptions within their viewers of the others and it does not mean that our interactions with our fellow Muslims are going to be broken or dysfunctional. As a regular viewer of Ahl Al-Bait channel and other various religion channels, I find them extremely educational, and that on its own made my perceptions about who I am as a Muslim grow and it heightened my sense of pride and belonging to the bigger group as a Muslim and an Arab. Those channels do not only improve our perceptions and interactions with one another (Arabs and Muslims) but it also improve our interactions with other religions and cultures for they promote respect and high moral standards.

religion, media and societies

Let me start by defining a very important term in our lives. Socialization is the process by which individuals learn the norms, values and traditions of their cultures or societies. This process is enforced by parents, schools, religion, peer groups and the media of course. The media plays a very effective role in influencing our perceptions towards fundamental issues in our lives. Most of us believe that the media cannot make us believe in things that are against our norms and values in societies and that the audience is not naïve and people are rational etc. however, we cant deny that the media at least influences the topics that we think about. I personally believe that media plays a significant role in creating images and stereotypes or labels at certain groups or religions. They always present the different groups in our societies negatively and they are always in black spots and they are always the reason for our misery. For example, al jazeera or any other Arabic channel will always be biased and will always present the westerns other side of the world negatively. The same is true with the CNN, BBC and other western channels, they will also be biased and will always present Muslims as terrorists that threaten their lives. Therefore, they create fear within their people towards other different groups. As a result, it becomes impossible for them to even try to communicate or interact with those different groups. They don’t try to understand their perception or listen to their explanations on the way they act or think. It becomes very hard for those different groups to change those judgments or labels that the media had gave them or created. Which in most of the times are exaggerated. For example, me as a person I would refuse to listen to an Israeli citizen defending his country, and I am sure he would also not listen to me if I was argueing that hizb alah are not terrorists and they are just protecting their country.

Religion, Media & social Change

This is to talk about the specialized media channels, their significance, function, possible consequences and social impact. It is very important to examine the values they emphasise and how they can affect our social connections, perceptions and interaction with with our fellow Muslims, Arabs or Middle Easterners on the one hand and our relations with our people from other religions and cultures on the other. what is the mood they spread between their viewers and what are the behaviors and values they signify? and how do they present those who are
"different"? Do they encourage us to listen , interact and understand the "other" or advocate judgement and lead to social polarization?

wafi's robbery

The fact that dubai is becoming a world wide tourist attraction would make my job as tv station manager always difficult. The Wafi robbery has scarred dubai’s reputation for being a safe area for shoppers. In order to keep the station’s name in the spotlight and keep Dubai on the map, I would keep the robbery a priority on the news watch list. The main reason behind my decision is no matter what the consequences would be, the public should be informed of the truth of the atmosphere of its surrounding. In addition, whether I like it or not, other international stations will be covering the incident, especially which it is the first time for such a serious incident to happen in Dubai, so the result if I didn’t well inform the audience will be really bad as they will think that we didn’t cover the robbery professionally and my channel will be in a weak position. Moreover, I would focus on the robbery because it would show viewer that our station is not filtered by government propaganda. The true educated viewers would understand our point of view and would have compassion for the fact that even the most perfect of diamonds have a flaw.

click on this link:

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10118676.html

OR just click on the title of my previous post!

Robbery in Wafi, Dubai!

The first time i heard about the story, was by word of mouth, the reason being that the news was published later than the date it actually occured on. Crimes have been neglected or not published before as well. Dubai based news agency were probably restricted from spreading this news to the people early as well. It was probably meant to be kept under the covers - on the low sort of note, agenda setting and gate-keeping, doesnt allow it to come out in the open easily, just like other crimes that didnt get reported in the past! But how could they keep this on the low for long? People had made videos, and besides it was a big loss - jewellery worth, 50 million - GONE!!!

"Unbelievable! Shocking! Astonishing! Lies! No waY!!" Were the words that first came to my mind on hearing aout this! How could it be? In such a safe country like Dubai - or so it appears - How could such a big crime take place?! The police was NOT PREPARED thats for sure! It was the first time something THIS big happened!!

Gulf News reports this:
"Armed robbers raid Wafi jewellery store
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Bassam Za'za', Alia Al Theeb and Sunita Menon, Staff Reporters
Dubai: In a daring robbery, armed men burst into a jewellery store in Wafi City in two cars and made off with a huge amount of jewellery last night, police and witnesses said.
Both the cars used in the heist were stolen; one had a Dubai registration plate while the other was registered in Abu Dhabi, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai Police Chief, told Gulf News last night.
No arrests had been made at the time of going to press, but police found the cars, abandoned and burnt, Jamal Al Merri, Deputy Commandant of Dubai Police, told Gulf News.
He said the robbers crashed into the jewellery store Graff, on the ground floor of the mall at around 9.30pm. "This is the first time I've seen such a scene in Dubai," he said..."
(Please click on the attached link to read full article)

Okay.. so IF i were too publish or broadcast this, how would i do it?!
I would begin with publishing it right the next day of the crime, instead of waiting for it to be a little older! It is NEWS for crying out loud, its supposed to be spread fast and all around! People need to know that wherever there is growing population, growth and popularity, and plus think about the inflation too, there will be an increase in the crime rate too. All the big cities of the world have been through this!! But will Dubai loose its image as being 'a safe city'? Well i guess not, one crime won't affect people as much, and that is why the true report must be shown to them. If i had to spread this news about Wafi, i would choose to use both the print media as well as Television broadcast! The saddam hussain's death penalty video shown all over the world, was not a professional one, that too was taken by a phone video. This crime scene video too that spread rapidly, was taken by a mobile camera! So, i would firstly show that on Television, so people would have an idea of how the crime happened, and why it couldnt be stopped right then and there! Then i would move on to reporting it, and commenting on it, adding that just because it happened once, doesnt mean it would happen again! Dubai is a protected city, it will continue being so, the difference between now and then will be only that, this time Dubai police and National security was not prepared for somethign like this, but next time they will be!! Its better to be safe than sorry!

Thanks!!
I still havent stopped believing that Dubai is safe!! --> maybe this is just reflecting my bias! (oops)

Signs of Growth

Unfortunately UAE is coming out of its fairyland bubble. As far as I remember the only problem with UAE used to be its hot weather and that’s all. In UAE people ride nice cars, live in nice houses, kids go to high standard schools, and in general the standard of living is high. The cities are clean, the drivers fallow the rules, and the country is growing in everyway as fast as possible.
If you take a good look around, you realize all that used to happen until 1 or 2 years ago. City is not as clean as it used be; poor workers are working more shifts yet they still cannot keep up. Drivers don’t fallow the rules anymore, they just break them. The population is growing faster than the growth of the city that the city cannot keep up anymore. The roads, the compounds, the buildings, the streets, the shopping malls are all bursting from the non-stop growing population. The standard of living just seems to be high when people are working more shifts or shop less or cut out from the fun things they used to do just to be able to pay the rent that is increasing every year without a single difference in their salaries.

Regarding the Wafi City robbery, I think it should have been covered in the news just as it was. It is a big issue that cannot be covered for peoples benefit anymore. People have the right to be informed of such things; to wake up and realize that the population is just so big that the country cannot take care of them as much, and they should take care of themselves to some points.
I don’t think anything like this would happen anytime soon, but obviously it will happen in future. These people were professionals and my guess is that they belong to some mafia gang outside the country. I don’t believe the police can find them since they’ve probably left the country the same night. But, the police are just being supportive and act like they are finding them so that people would feel safer.

And all that change brings us to crimes, thefts, and unsafety. UAE was so perfect sometime you would sit and wonder how a country can be so perfect and safe. With all that growing population, crime, and theft we can say UAE is just becoming normal like every other country. After all this is another outcome of growth.

WAFI!

Hey Everyone,
I must say I was shocked by the news of the Wafi city robbery just as everyone was, and I was even more shocked by the details of the crime ..its just flabbergasting that two people can steal jewelery worth 5o million in less than two minutes. The crime really made me question the safety procedures in Dubai malls. Why is the glass of the jewelery store breakable, although there is unbreakable glass. I think the answer is that Dubai or the UAE's safe reputation and it's low crime rate especially crimes of that nature didn't bring officials to even see the need for security procedures against such crimes. After all it is the first major crime of that kind , and hopefully the last, to be committed in Dubai. I believe that following this crime there will be completely different security insurance in the malls of the UAE. The Dubai police and its Head Mr. Dahi Khalfan dealt with the incident with open mindness and didn't try to hide details from the media. Reports about the crime were all over the media in the Arab world.
I believe that the way Dubai police dealt with the crime, will minimize the effects of the incident on Dubai's safe reputation and on tourism in Dubai. People who have lived in the UAE for years, like myself, as well as others from outside the country will not be intimidated by the crime and refuse to let it affect Dubai. However, all UAE residents hope that the police will act instantly to both expose the full truth about the criminals and send them to jail as well as take all precautions against the possibility of another major crime as such happening in the UAE. And let us be grateful to God that there were no casualties.

Wafi City Stolen!

When my sister, almost a week ago, told me that a number of thieves broke into a jewelry shop, in Wafi city, with their car, and stole the shop right in front of people's eyes then left, my first response was: I didn’t know they have other Wafi Cities out side UAE! Honestly, I think, as a person who was born and raised in Dubai, that UAE is one of the safest countries in the world. In the United Arab Emirates, it's safe to be out at 12:00 am, crimes are rare, and crimes that happen are not tragedian, even when a crime happens, it doesn’t make a huge influence, and the media maintains secrecy, not to spread fear, until the problem is dealt with effectively. I think it’s a wise way to deal with problems, it's also have proven that it keeps the situation under control. The way the police in UAE is very effective and silent is, in my opinion, professional, because once the word gets spread out, it causes more negative than positive effects. I am not saying that the audiences don’t have the right to know, because they do, but the media, most of the times, maximizes the problem, in order to pull attention, in a useless attempt to convince people that there is a problem. Well, I think in this case it was only an accident, that’s why I agree with the brief information that was given about it, but in the case where there is a problem of spreading crimes, of course, educating people about it will be essential, and if I was in charge of telling the media, I would keep it brief until the problem is solved, then publish the details.
Talking about Wafi city, it is a very luxuries and elegant shopping mall, with all the well known brands, and high standards, it occupies a large piece of land in a nice spot inside Dubai city. I think the mall safety plans are good enough for the people who are expected in such a place, and from my point of view, more safety actions could not be taken in it, what happened was totally un expected, so it's not a flow in the system, I think it's just that 'the robbers' took advantage of the shock they are going to cause, before any action is taken against them, which would give them sometime to get away, after all, there is a probably that any place could be robbed, even with high security plans.
As I see it, this is the first time such a huge attention is given to a case, since a long time in Dubai, and it’s the second time in UAE, because around a year and a half ago there was a rumor about a killer in Sharjah (Safah al Sharjah) who pulled huge attention himself and caused people's panic, and until this moment, I don't know if he really existed or not. Finally, I think it's normal to have such things every once and a while, and thank God it doesn't happen often.

"Hollywood Style Crime!"

"Hollywood Style Crime 1st time in Dubai,UAE!" as they called on www.netscape.com. personally, to us, Dubai was perhaps the safest country to live in, until an event ocurred and shook the residents and even the authorities of such a peace and civilized country! At 9:30 pm when the mall was still in its working time, full with shoppers and tourists, two cars drove into the entrance and into the "Graff", the jewelery shop's, display and stole all the jewelery that was displayed at the time. There losses are not estimated yet, however, such an incident can not be tolerated and have to be stopped at any costs. Through out years, Dubai was growing at an unbelievable rate, and hitting new records that not many countries did, especially in the area. Such an event has turned the heads of the authorities to places and parts they never thought that Dubai would face, CRIMES! To be honest, we hardly see any crimes in Dubai, and perhaps this was a motive for those criminals to go ahead with their operation and do such a daring job in a country packed with security and peace. Instead of hiding such an incident, we should publicize it as much as we can and let people know about it as much as possible, because this is how we help the authorities to fight crime, and this is how we create a safe environment for our children and families. Hiding such an event maybe would let the "image" of Dubai preserved and look nice, but it would also be lying to ourselves, and covering our own problems with more problems, journalists are obliged to be honest and accurate when it comes to events and news like this. This is why I am publicizing my message, because personally I want to fight crime in Dubai, because this is how I keep the good image of this country.

Wafi city robbery

Crimes happen everywhere. They are not exclusive for any country. But the level of crimes and the number of the crimes differ from one country to another. Crimes in U.A.E are few, even if there is much crime the media doesn’t cover it all. The reason for this is because these crimes are normal crimes and not from the big size. Wafi robbery was one of a kind in U.A.E; it might be the first kind of crime that different media channels cover around the world. This happened because this never happened before. In fact, Dubai police is known to be the second best police department in the whole world. In addition, Dubai is well known around the world as a safe country, with a low number of crimes compared to other modern cities and countries. In fact Dubai depends on all the residents for its growth, and considers them as locals. This robbery can hurt Dubai image in many ways. But this is decided by the news channel that broadcast the news and how it explains it. It might be hard, because it’s the first time that this happen. I got shocked when I hared the news, I didn’t believe that this kind of thing might happen in Dubai. If I will broadcast this on a T.V channel I work in, I will deal with it professionally. So I won’t blame anybody for this but the robbers. Because Dubai gave the trust to everybody, and it allowed different people from different countries to come and live here. This is how they paid back. The crime will be covered by other channels, and they will be blaming Dubai police. But why do all people always blame the countries that things happen in it for the first time and forget about the countries that these things happen in it again and again. Of course Dubai police will try to cover this story, but this is their legal right. Some other people might blame Wafi centre security and management, but I’m sure that they shouldn’t be blamed. Because no body expected this to happen, and they are humans who didn’t expect it too.

Mafia in Dubai

As usual, I am always busy with work and university. So I don’t have any clue about the new events, songs, movies or news, and I am always one of the last people who know about the breaking news. On April 16 which was the last Monday, I was surprised by hearing every body in the university discussing a shocking robbery that happened in Wafi city. After a while, I met my friend Noura who told me about the crime, and showed me a video taken by one her friends who witnessed the robbery. Honestly, I couldn’t believe what I watched and heard because as we know UAE has always been a safe country. The robbery was sophisticated and well planned, it was just like what we see in the movies and I think that those people are from the MAFIA.
Here’s what I heard, on Sunday night (April 15) at 9:30 pm a bunch of gang rammed into the Graff Jewellery shop which is one of the most prestigious shops in the UAE. It’s full of unique diamonds and gold that don’t exist in any other place around the world.

Now I’ll move to my main topic, which is my role as a decision maker in UAE’s main TV channel. As we all know, mass media has a great deal of influence in covering the crime news. The power of the mass media allows newspapers, radio, magazines and television to use their own judgment when reporting current events. In some instances media is considered as an asset to the government. However, in other times it could be an obstacle. In the case of waif robbery, most of the well known newspapers such as Gulf News published brief information about the issue. They couldn’t say much and I think the reason behind that is the government. UAE government doesn’t want people to be scared so they are trying to hide the facts and the truth.

If I was a decision maker in TV channel, I will immediately use all the mass media technologies to broadcast this breaking event. As a media presenter, my responsibility is to be honest with my audience and legally do whatever it costs me to provide them with information they expect and need. In addition, I should take this exceptional opportunity and try my best to have exclusive scenes and truthful reports in order to present the whole picture to my audience. So to grab the attention of the people and make them watch my channel, I will try to be the first channel that broadcast the news, because in all the ways the crime is going to be covered by other news channels. I think this is ethical and I have the right to do so because this is what we learn in our media courses to say the truth, also this is the reason of media existence. However, my news will always be on a high level of professionalism which doesn’t hurt the image of Dubai. If I was the decision maker, I will carefully observe the country’s rules and regulations about broadcasting certain news, because I’ll never damage my organization by exposing it to unethical behaviors.

Mafia in Dubai

As usual, I am always busy with work and university. So I don’t have any clue about the new events, songs, movies or news, and I am always one of the last people who know about the breaking news. On April 16 which was the last Monday, I was surprised by hearing every body in the university discussing a shocking robbery that happened in Wafi city. After a while, I met my friend Noura who told me about the crime, and showed me a video taken by one her friends who witnessed the robbery. Honestly, I couldn’t believe what I watched and heard because as we know UAE has always been a safe country. The robbery was sophisticated and well planned, it was just like what we see in the movies and I think that those people are from the MAFIA.
Here’s what I heard, on Sunday night (April 15) at 9:30 pm a bunch of gang rammed into the Graff Jewellery shop which is one of the most prestigious shops in the UAE. It’s full of unique diamonds and gold that don’t exist in any other place around the world.

Now I’ll move to my main topic, which is my role as a decision maker in UAE’s main TV channel. As we all know, mass media has a great deal of influence in covering the crime news. The power of the mass media allows newspapers, radio, magazines and television to use their own judgment when reporting current events. In some instances media is considered as an asset to the government. However, in other times it could be an obstacle. In the case of waif robbery, most of the well known newspapers such as Gulf News published brief information about the issue. They couldn’t say much and I think the reason behind that is the government. UAE government doesn’t want people to be scared so they are trying to hide the facts and the truth.

If I was a decision maker in TV channel, I will immediately use all the mass media technologies to broadcast this breaking event. As a media presenter, my responsibility is to be honest with my audience and legally do whatever it costs me to provide them with information they expect and need. In addition, I should take this exceptional opportunity and try my best to have exclusive scenes and truthful reports in order to present the whole picture to my audience. So to grab the attention of the people and make them watch my channel, I will try to be the first channel that broadcast the news, because in all the ways the crime is going to be covered by other news channels. I think this is ethical and I have the right to do so because this is what we learn in our media courses to say the truth, also this is the reason of media existence. However, my news will always be on a high level of professionalism which doesn’t hurt the image of Dubai. If I was the decision maker, I will carefully observe the country’s rules and regulations about broadcasting certain news, because I’ll never damage my organization by exposing it to unethical behaviors.

Dubai's most new crime

It was dramatic to hear what did happen in waif last week where a cabal came inside and stole a bunch of jewelries. Who can we blame? The first and the last we will blame the security system in malls, the police as well and the media. Recently that headline was on many of the British newspapers “A Serb gunman from Kosovo has been found guilty of taking part in a £23m jewel robbery in London's West End. A second man had already pleaded guilty. BBC News Online examines who the gang were and what happened to the £20m worth of jewels still missing” and when I read the article the shop was Graff as well, it might be the same gang where every group of them have assigned in a certain country, that’s a possibility. I’ve been in London in the spring holiday and I passed beside Graff there in Bond Street, it was exactly different than the one in wafi and the time I had seen it before. They don’t display their whole products in the store like they used to, now the customer can go inside and see many few products, and the real expensive jewels he or she can pick it up from a catalogue; that’s for sure is a mistake and a point they missed from the branch of wafi city. I go very often to wafi and the securities is poorly distributed there; in a place like this police should be provided there as well because wafi is one of the places that contain so many brands and so many expensive items and shops that costs so much; so police and authorities should keep this point in their mind. The media is responsible for what happens because the case had happened before in wafi and they didn’t gave it the big pith to cover all what happens immediately, so that people can know as well as other criminals so that they can understand and get scared that it’s an important and serious crime that happen. I don’t think what happened is a serious case that will affect the UAE and its nice reputation between countries and that it’s a good place for tourists because that case can happened in all developed cities but the most important thing is that they learn from their mistakes so that it didn’t happen again.

Why Dubai?

The robbery of Wafe center was an unexpected crime in UAE. When I first heard about the accident I thought it was a joke because for me I never saw this kind of crimes only on TV. I have never thought that it would happen here in my country. I believe that is the tax of fame, development, and openness to the world. Such bands are widespread in the rich and developed countries such as Europe, America, and some Asian countries which are called Mafia. These are organized bands that began to Target us because of the weak security in our region. But the thing that pissed me is that the media in UAE didn’t cover the whole story, I’ve just heard about it in the Internet. Maybe our government follows the policy of reservation for some reasons that we don’t know. If I was a Decision maker in media I would broadcast it immediately and tell the whole truth, but first I have to take the permission from the Government because as I said before maybe the reason for not broadcasting the story is because of some reservation. I think that the government has the right to stop Media from broadcasting any news because at the end they know what is better a safe for our country.