yellow journalism – My Bit for Change

The Quranic Concept of Truth and Journalism

“We need not be theologians to see that we have shifted responsibility for making the world interesting from God to the newspaperman.” (Daniel J Boorstin)

This article could have begun with an example of Yellow Journalism. A sensational headline bound to attract, opening lines to chill the spine, spicy factoids sugarcoated as facts, an agenda to shame the devil and shocking pictures as icing on th e cake. The only reason of opening it with this quote is to highlight what has become of journalism in present times. But to think better of it, surely the Quran must lay down guidelines for ethical reporting and that ought to form the preamble to this article. Although a list of Quranic principles which could serve as an ethical code of conduct for journalism could be exhaustive, there is one principle that is vital to any such list: Truth. It is to be kept in mind that the canvas on which this Quranic standard is boldly painted is God Consciousness, which is indeed the underlying principle governing all actions of a Muslim. Naturally, the implication of Divine accountability for all our actions must lead to a natural sense of self accountability.

O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God; and let every human being look to what he sends ahead for the morrow! And [once again]: Remain conscious of God, for God is fully aware of all that you do. (Quran, 59:18).

Truth is a concept that has been repeated in the Quran umpteen times to highlight its importance. Words like “Haq” and “Sidq” have been used repeatedly and all aspects of Truth have been expounded upon in various contexts. The Quranic notion of Truth is absolute, ultimate and definitive. Indeed one of the names of Allah is “Al-Haq”. The Word of Allah, the Quran, is an absolute truth, being a criterion to judge between the true and the false. The Messengers have been sent to guide to the Truth, validate and establish it. Believers are acceptors, upholders, adherents and supporters of the Truth. Truth has been likened to as the light while falsehood as the dark. Death, the Day of Judgment, the Hereafter, Paradise and Hell are expressed as being the ultimate Truths. Truth is, indeed one of the central themes of the Quran and thus one of the basic tenets of Islam.

Say: “The Truth has arrived and Falsehood neither creates anything new, nor restores anything.” (Quran,34:49)

Once Truth assumes the place of one of the guiding beacons in Islam, its role in an Islamic Society or amongst Muslims becomes doctrinal and it assumes the foremost place in the Islamic code of conduct. Thus, by application, accepting, professing, adhering, supporting, expressing, searching, spreading, upholding, validating, establishing, manifesting and revealing the Truth is part of the Muslim way of life and its manifesto. Linking up with reporting and journalism, Truth is the one fundamental principle that translates as the prime objective of journalism. Accurate, uncompromised and unaltered reporting of Truth with no strings attached.

And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is). (Quran, 2:42)

“Why do you mix Truth with falsehood and conceal the truth while you know?”. (Quran, 3:71)

Truth has to be the scarlet thread of all reporting. In this era of information operations it is necessary to elevate reporting and free it from the shackles of the overall information strategy which tends to subjugate it to the role of a mere tool for the extension of a grader schema. This is only possible when the prime objective of reporting is the broadcast of Truth. News has to be authenticated before being broadcasted and the responsibility lies on the reporter to confirm the accuracy of a report before spreading undue fear or thrill. Confirming a report’s authenticity is necessary lest that report causes damage or unwarranted loss. Reporting should never be speculative or based on mere conjecture. A part of the truth or incomplete facts should not prompt to jump to conclusions or lead to fanciful thinking. However, it is to be kept in mind that the responsibility of communication of Truth does not rest with journalists or their kin alone. The overall system has to be tailored so that Truth can flourish and can be freely propagated.

O you who have attained to faith! Remain conscious of God, and [always] speak with a will to bring out [only] what is just and true. (Quran, 33:70).

Guesswork, spying, slander and backbiting are all vices to be avoided. No paparazzi spying on celebrities. No speculation on what someone might have done. No unfair means to make glitzy headlines. No debate on the meaning, constituents, form, nature and context of Truth, as what Truth means is clear. No indirect implications, subtle insinuations, hidden agendas, prejudices and ulterior motives. No incorrect, adulterated, partial and extra-contextual quoting from sources or references. No factoids, semi-truths or pseudo-truths and one sided coverage No fear of repercussions, pressures of protagonists or antagonists.

When there comes to them a matter, be it of security or fear, they broadcast it; if they had referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known the matter.(Quran, 4:83).

O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done. (Quran, 49:6).

For, most of them follow nothing but conjecture: [and,] behold, conjecture can never be a substitute for truth. Verily, God has full knowledge of all that they do. (Quran, 10:36).

O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one another, and neither allow yourselves to speak ill of one another behind your backs….(Quran, 49:12).

Can you, then, hope that they will believe in what you are preaching – seeing that a good many of them were wont to listen to the word of God and then, after having understood it, to pervert it knowingly? (Quran, 2:75).

Truth is indispensable when it comes to reporting and journalism. Imagine an era of journalism where the golden principle of Truth as illustrated by the Quran form a code of conduct. Where media is free from its inherent evils because of adherence to the cardinals of Truth and honesty. Where no color can be ascribed to journalism signifying its ills. Where conscientious and conscious reporting is the norm and Truth is the only ulterior motive and hidden agenda and is clearly manifest. The hope for such an era is not Utopian, not in the least for Muslims.

And say: “Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.” (Quran, 17:81)

A virtual world

Are you really laughing when you are writing LOL and do you really mean it when you show love/hate expressions on social media networks? Are the emotions expressed on social media real or fake? These questions pop up on a daily basis asking about the credibility of this virtual world. The answer is not simple; the feelings expressed can be genuine, forged or a mixture of both.

Virtual world has given us a chance to modify our image; it gives us an opportunity to portray ourselves the way we want to. This image is based on what we actually want to be. It normally reflects the aspirations and desires. It certainly may be not be a real picture, but it is a desirable picture for us. Thus, it is difficult to judge the validity of that picture portrayed on the social media.

There is more to social media then merely a pretty self-picture. Virtual world has given us an opportunity to express our opinions. The opinions which were hidden deep inside our hearts and minds can be expressed more freely now. We want to tell the world what we believe and this results in more difference of opinion. An opinionated society is an appreciable quality but certainly it has led to more disintegration of the society as we haven’t yet learnt how to sacrifice our opinion and unite on a common ground. It has created polarization in the society and everyone is stuck strictly on one extreme or another; thanks to the ‘’freedom of speech’’. Additionally, social media has given us the access to people across the globe and psychographics have certainly become more important than demographics.

In this scenario, it has become very easy to manipulate the situation. Sentimental news can break up across the borders within no time and everybody on the social media will be talking about it. A recent case of Shamsul Anwar is an eye opener. His story (fabricated) was published in a trusted daily newspaper with high sensuality elements in it, targeting the soft hearted people across the country and the news became viral. The authenticity of the news item was not questioned in itself because of the brand names associated with it, the heart wrenching plight of the ‘poor defender of the nation’ paying a ‘high price’ and the ‘deadlines of the abductors’ mentioned in this article. On humanitarian grounds, the people like Marvi Sirmed, Ansar Burney, Awab Alvi and My Bit for Change joined hands for the cause, regardless of their political opinions. Here are some tweets regarding this issue:

‘’marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
Good progress on #JusticeForShamsulAnwar. Political, military authorities on board. We are now waiting for the abductors’ call @AnsarBurney

marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
#JusticeForShamsulAnwar Dear all, please use your influence and contacts to help him bit.ly/xxveY8 Buy time, collect money. Whatever

marvisirmed Marvi Sirmed
#JusticeForShamsulAnwar @AnsarBurney is on it. might be traveling to Isd for this. Hope he can help set up an emergency fund too

MyBitforChange My Bit for Change
“RT@AshAijaz: @AnsarBurney May Allah give you courage and accept your efforts. Thank you so much! #JusticeForShamsulAnwar”

AshAijaz Aisha Aijaz
Thinking of Madina Anwar and her distressed family. May Allah protect you and you return safe dear. #JusticeForShamsulAnwar
10 Jan
Retweeted by MyBitforChange

But, unfortunately (or fortunately) the whole case turned out to be a fraud. Now this situation can be looked upon at two different angles. On one side, it’s the problem of social media that anything can become viral without any authenticity or validity associated with it. But on the other hand, it also shows the power of social media to unite the people of different ideologies on a single cause.

Another dimension to this whole episode is that people give more attention to sensuality. It’s a sad reality, my own blog right next to the shamsul anwar’s story, which was about a genuine school system for the poor kids but attracted very few people. It shows the mentality of our society, we focus less on positive things and negative things pop up out of proportion. The baseless story caught hearts of people because it was written in a very sentimental manner. Everybody wanted to contribute to the cause and thus the story became viral. The freedom of expression and opinion provided by the social media was utilized to its fullest. But I see a ray of hope in all this. If such sentiments can be shown for a fake story, a real problem will attract more people I believe and it surely has, in the past. I believe the emotions expressed on the virtual world were real, though they were exploited badly.

The newspaper and the journalist owe an explanation to the Nation on this issue; but simultaneously we should not feel let down. Rather it was an indication that this nation can become united on humanitarian grounds and dig its pockets in need without a second thought. The spark is already there, it needs to be ignited only. And yes, for all those who sent their monies out should be reminded, their rewards with God are safe according to their intentions.

Be Wary of The Headlines

“Muslim beauty stoned to death’’ was a headline, I came across on a news website.

The screaming headline is a perfect example of yellow journalism gone wild. Unfortunately these dirty tactics of marketing news have become a norm. The news was picked up from British and Ukrainian newspapers which in summary said,

“Aspiring Miss Ukraine stoned to death under Shariah Law by Crimean Radical Islamist. The man was told to be a radicalised Wahabi extremist and the lady was reportedly a Muslim who was given this punishment by him as it is not allowed for women to take part in a beauty contest in Islam”

Sensational and ‘Masalay-dar’ as it sounds, our media didn’t bother to carry out any further research before propagating this piece, as it perfectly fulfils the purpose and agenda they are working on.

A few hours later the headline was amended to ‘’Teenage beauty ‘’ instead of ‘’Muslim beauty’’ and an addendum was added to the article as the original story was absolutely different to what was published. An elementary online research shows:

There are conflicting reports and according to Crimean Police, the girl was not a Muslim
The boy who killed her strangled her and then struck a blunt object on her head which according to the police was her cause of death
The boy was her admirer and was suffering from serious mental health disorder
The only relation of the killer with Islam was that his parents were non-practising Muslims who had never attended a Mosque.

According to Ukrainian Interior Minister, “There was no underlying religious, national or inter-ethical motives behind the murder.”

Big round of applause to Pakistani media which never misses an opportunity to defame Islam, Muslims or Shariah Laws by strictly following the rules of the game. This is in line with the negative stereotyping of Muslims, that western media is bent upon promoting. A threat, a bomb, a killing- a faint link to anyone having a Muslim sounding name, there you go! You have a perfect combination, so publish, propagate and make money.

How many of us know about a police officer killed in an explosion caused by a bomb planted under his car in Northern Ireland (the 2nd of April 2011), or Irish militants warning of a bomb blast in central London just a day before Queen Elizabeth’s first state visit to Ireland (16th May 2011) or the discovery of a bomb in town of Maynooth ,15 minutes away from Dublin and a second suspicious device found at a Dublin tram station (the 17th of May 2011). Of course, it doesn’t carry any material for any media hype as no Muslims were found attached to it.

How many of us remember Marwah Al-Sherbini, a 32 year old Egyptian girl who was called a ‘Muslim bitch and a terrorist whore’ and was killed by a racist in a German court. She was three months pregnant and was stabbed 18 times with a verdict by her killer, ‘you don’t have a right to live’ (July 2009). Has anyone seen our media talking about the plight of Muslims all over the world because of being Muslims’? Of course not! Because those 50 million dollars pledged by President Obama are not to serve that cause.

How many of us saw our media getting furious about Niqab ban in France. Did you see any feminist or human rights NGOs voicing this issue? Did you see any blog or article or even a news showing their fury or concern on Sharon Horgan’s comments on BBC’s ‘Have I got news for you?’ when she calls Makkah as Mecca (hub) of suicide bombers just a few days ago.

I was watching an interview with Yuri Bezmenov on YouTube , a trained KGB agent, recorded in 1985.

He tells “In recent times, 15% of the time, money and manpower is spent on espionage, and 85% is spent on the great brainwashing process called the ideological subversion or psychological warfare. It changes the perception of reality so much so that despite the abundance of information no one is able to come to sensible conclusions.”

In a nutshell, he lays out four steps to transform the thinking and behaviour of an entire population, namely:

Demoralisation (which takes 10-15 years to brainwash one generation)
Destabilisation (over 2-5 years) where economy, foreign relations and defence systems are rattled.
Crisis
Normalisation (a cynical term which lasts indefinitely and includes violent changes of power and structure and economy)

Demoralization is a task so religiously being fulfilled by our media, print as well as electronic. And you can be a part of it by qualifying to minimum criterion of joining the team which serves the purpose of ‘ideological subversion’. Believe! Pen is mightier than sword but only if your ink is made visible to public and that happens if you fulfil their criteria. So if you have a story (no matter how fabricated), or an opinion (no matter how useless) or you have enough vocabulary to bash the bearded, ridicule the word of God and blame the Shariah Laws, or simply have an obscene picture for an explicit topic like porn, sex, contraception, you are a perfect candidate to become a part of some ‘Sexpress Tycoons’.If you have a video showing a woman is being whiplashed by bearded men and you can stretch a story or add mirch masala to it, you have everything that takes to become a potential blogger or a writer.

I adore my prime inspiration, Malcolm X’s quote where he says,

“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like a victim and make the victim look like a criminal. This is the press, an irresponsible press. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppression”

Let’s keep our eyes open to the dirty tricks of the people who are out to sell their news (and Eiman) for a few bags of dollars and helping the confusion grow every day.