Accuracy is a value fundamental to journalism, but journalists are often blamed for inaccurate reporting. News is the primary content of newspapers, and it is the responsibility of reporters, editors, and publishers to be well-informed of its formation, since it is they who might eventually be accountable for it. The inaccuracy of the media messages that results in the negative image of Islam and Muslims is related to ‘news value’ – the extent to which the messages are made more attractive and different from what is presently prevalent in the society. This study aims to investigate the credibility of Islam related news in selected Nigerian and Malaysian newspapers. Two daily newspapers were chosen from each of the selected countries using purposive sampling. Punch and Vanguard were selected from Nigeria while The Star and New Straits Times were selected from Malaysia. News articles that are directly related to Islam or Muslims were gathered from the selected newspapers using internet-based search from November 2015 until September 2016. The newspapers produced 599 different Islam-related articles within this period. The study showed that out of 599 news articles published in the selected newspapers, 306 news articles reported Islam on correspondence, and 224 were reported from news agencies, 30 from other media organizations while the sources of 39 news articles were unidentified. Nigerian newspapers reported more Islam-related news on correspondence than Malaysian newspapers. Meanwhile, Malaysian newspapers reported more stories from news agencies and other media organizations. Journalists should ensure accuracy in their writing through verification of facts and credible sources. Credible reporting sources would help reduce biases in news reporting.
Abbott, J. P. (2011). Electoral authoritarianism and the print media in Malaysia: Measuring political bias and analyzing its cause. Asian Affairs: An American Review, 38(1), 1-38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00927678.2010.520575
Anatsui, T. C., & Adekanye, E. A. (2014). Comparative analysis of foreign and local news agencies: Public relations approach in restoring the image of the local media for national development. Retrieved from: http://www.iiste.org/Journals/index.php/DCS/article/view/12870
Answers Africa (2017). Top ten Nigerian newspapers. Retrieved from http://answersafrica.com/top-10-nigerian-newspapers-most-read-online.html
Allen, F. (2014). Islamophobia in the UK: The role of British newspapers in shaping attitudes towards Islam and Muslims (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Cadwrfa Ymchwil Research Repository. Retrieved from: http://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/413/
Asmal, F. (2008). Islamophobia and the media: The portrayal of Islam since 9/11 and an analysis of the Danish cartoon controversy in South Africa (Doctoral dissertation). University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Azweed, M., Rashid, R.A., Kamariah, Y., Rahman, S.B.A., Darus, S., Musa, R., & Mat Teh, K.S. (2017). Discourse analysis on newspaper reports of apostasy cases. Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, 16 (48), 96-111.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2007). Research method in education. New York: Rutledge.
Dart, J., & Allen, J. R. (2000). Bridging the Gap: Religion and the News Media. Washington, DC: Forum First Amendment Center.
Eltantawy, N. M. A. (2007). US Newspaper representation of Muslim and Arab Women Post 9/11. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/communication_diss/18/
Fourie, P. J. (2001). Media studies: Institutions, theories, and issues. Claremont: Jutaand Company Ltd.
Freyenberger, D. (2013). Amanda Knox: A Content analysis of Media framing in newspapers around the world. (Master’s thesis). East Tennessee State University, USA. Retrieved from http://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2281&context=etd
Gardner, R., Karaka?o?lus, Y., & Luchtenberg, S. (2008). Islamophobia in the media: A response from multicultural education. Intercultural Education, 19(2), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980801889658
Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. New York: Haeper & Row.
Hrvatin, S., & Petkovic, B. (2004). Regional overview. Media ownership and its impact on media independence and pluralism. Slovenia: Peace Institute.
Hassan, I., Azmi, M. N., & Abubakar, U. I. (2017a). Framing Islam in news reporting: A Comparative content analysis. Asian Social Science, 13 (10), 112.
Hassan, I., Azmi, M. N. L., & Abubakar, U. I. (2017b). The use of terminology in reporting Islam: A comparative analysis. International Journal of English Linguistics, 7 (6), 236. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v7n6p236
Hachten, W. A. (2005). The troubles of journalism: A critical look at what's right and wrong with the Press. London: Routledge.
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732305276687
Ibrahim, F., Mustaffa, N., Kee, C. P., & Ahmad, F. (2011). Images and issues of superpowers: An analysis of international news coverage by the government-owned news agency, Bernama in four national dailies in Malaysia. The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 16 (3), 1-15.
Institute for Economics and Peace. (2016). Ten years of measuring peace. Retrieved from http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/GPI-2016- Report_2.pdf
International Media and Newspapers (2016). Top newspapers in Malaysia by 2016 Newspaper Web Ranking. Retrieved from: http://www.4imn.com/
Maslog, C. C., Lee, S. T., Kim, H. S. (2006). Framing analysis of a conflict: How newspapers in five Asian countries covered the Iraq War. Asian Journal of Communication, 16 (1): 19–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/01292980500118516
Michael, R. S. (2001). Crosstabulation and Chi square. Bloomington: Indiana University. Retrieved from http://www. indiana. edu/~ educy520/sec5982/we ek_12/chi_sqsummary011020. pdf
Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. London: Sage Publications.
Okeke, N. G. (2012). Nigerian press coverage of the Arab spring: A content analysis of six national newspapers (Master’s thesis). University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
Oyero, 0.S. (2006). Writing Feature Articles. In Folarin B., Obe J., Oyero 0. & Ekeanyawu N. (Ed.).Themes in Communication Writing (pp. 112-128). Akure: Standard Mass Concept.
Palys, T. (2008). Purposive sampling. In L. M. Given (Ed.). The Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods, 2, 697-698). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.
Pearson, M., Brand, J. E., Archbold, D., & Rane, H. (2001). Sources of news and current affairs. Humanities and Social Sciences papers. Retrieved from http://epublications.bond.edu.au/hss_pubs/96/
P?dziwiatr, K. (2010). Muslims in the Polish media–the new folk devil. Arches Quarterly, 4(7): 89-95.
Potter, J. W. (2012). Media effects. California: SAGE Publication Limited.
Ridgeon, L. (2013). Islamic interpretations of Christianity. Milton Park: Routledge.
Saidu, S. (2014). A comparative analysis of production sharing contracts of selected developing countries: Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia and Equatorial Guinea. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 2 (2), 34-40. https://doi.org/10.12691/jfa-2-2-2
Shadid, W., & Van Koningsveld, P. S. (2002). The negative image of Islam and Muslims in the west: Causes and solutions. Religious Freedom and the Neutrality of the State: The Position of Islam in the European Union. Leuven: Peeters, 1 (3):174-196.
Thomas R. L. (2014). Monopolizing the nation: Soft censorship in Malaysia. Retrieved from http://www.wan-ifra.org/articles/2014/12/18/monopolizing-the-nation-soft-censorshipmalaysia
Thussu, D. K. (2011). How media terrorism manipulates truth. Economic and Political Weekly, 32 (6), 264–267.
Wang, X. (2003). Media ownership and objectivity (Master’s Thesis). Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, United States.
Weaver, D. H. (2007). Thoughts on agenda setting, framing, and priming. Journal of Communication, 57(1), 142-147. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.146-2466.2006.00333.x
Hassan, I., & Azmi, M. N. L. (2018). Islam-related News Credibility in Selected Nigerian and Malaysian Newspapers. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(6), 848-857.
Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
