In their endeavour to develop a strong Muslim community in North America, Muslims long underestimated the power of media in shaping the public opinion, says public relations professor and media ethicist, Dr. Ahamdullah Siddiqi.

Dr. Siddiqi, a professor at Western Illinois University, shared his expertise with Muslim students during a day long seminar at UTM, entitled “Mass Communication: History, Theory and Practice,” organized by the Understanding Islamic Academy on Oct. 4, 2003.

“Perhaps the best and basic definition of communication that I found is by a scholar Harold Lasswell: Who says what to whom in which channel and with what effect?” recalled Siddiqui.

While elaborating on the nature and evolution of mass communication, he offered a critical look at its effects on the economic, political, and social trends in North America.

“The sole purpose of the contemporary media is to sell. News is sold to the people, and people are sold to the ads,” Dr. Siddiqi told the audience.

After analyzing the theories behind mass communication, one shouldn’t be surprised by the perceived lack of objectivity in the media’s coverage of Islam today.

“News is often manufactured and events are dramatized,” Dr. Siddiqi claims.

“As long as the story is hot enough to make headlines, a majority of the news reporters today would not have any qualms about reporting a story without first verifying the source,” Dr. Siddiqi asserted, based on his interactions with the media.

Being a life member of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Dr. Siddiqi has presented his academic papers in more than 25 countries around the world.

Dr. Siddiqi is a physicist-turned-media expert. In the mid-70’s, while pursuing his Ph.D in physics in India, Siddiqi took a dramatic turn in his academic career.

He realized that if all Muslims do is complain about the negative portrayal of Islam in the media, they will not be able to get anywhere as far as their voice in the media is concerned; since then he began pursuing his training in media.

Dr. Siddiqi listed three components of Islamic media ethics that are lacking in the mainstream media: First, Islamic media should be based on the concept that all are created by One God, the implication of which is that no human being should be discriminated against; second, social responsibility, involving relaying only what is objective and beneficial, and discouraging the social evils; third, the concept of one nation (Ummah) as Muslims upholding the cause of peace and social justice, wherever possible.

Responding to the question of whether he considers Al-Jazeera to be a good alternate Islamic news source, Dr. Siddiqi said, “If Al-Jazeera is able to do as good a job as the Fox News, if not better, in manipulating the news according to their nationalistic agenda, rooted in political confrontation, then certainly it is an ‘alternate’ source of news.

“However, Al-Jazeera certainly cannot be termed an ‘Islamic media’, simply because it doesn’t match the high standards of objectivity required for reporting according to the Islamic ethics,” Siddiqi continued.