The U.S. Media and the Middle East: Image and Perception [Paperback]

Yahya R. Kamalipour (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275959147 | ISBN-13: 978-0275959142 | Publication Date: January 30, 1997

In this thought-provoking volume, experts explore the disturbing ramifications of portrayal of the Middle East by the U.S. media; analyze the stereotypes and misconceptions that Americans have of Arabs, Iranians, and other Middle Easterners; and discuss the far-reaching political and cultural impact of the United States on the Middle East. Focusing on the U.S. media (books, magazines, newspapers, motion pictures, television) coverage and portrayal of Arabs, Palestinians, the Intifada, Middle Eastern women, Iran, Islam, Turkey, and the Persian Gulf War, the book also examines the impact of motion picture classics on young children and the perceptions of American students relative to the Middle East. College students, educators, media professionals, policy makers, researchers, writers, and all those concerned about political communication, cross-cultural education, media effects, and international communication will find startling information about a critical topic on which very little has been written.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Hats off to Professor Kamalipour for bringing us...a collection of writings that examine the phenomenon of media stereotyping. Reading this book, one becomes aware of a lack of objectivity and balance among the news and entertainment media....The U.S. Media and the Middle East makes excellent reading for a number of courses: Yes, for the International Communication course, but also for the Media and Society or Media Ethics courses. It should also be helpful to scholars studying media images of 'others,' as well as to students of medial performance and media criticism.”–International Communication Bulletin

“The book is...a valuable production. We complement the editor on his success in highlighting a few sensitive issues that are significant in their own right.”–International Studies Journal

“The work seeks to explore not only how stereotypes of Islam and the Middle East are transmitted by the mass media, but also how such portrayals shape the civic perception of, US policy towards, and US actions in the region.”–Middle East Journal

“Taken together, the two books under review shed much light on some aspects of the media's relationship with civil society and the foreign policy establishment.”–Journal of Palestine Studies

About the Author

YAHYA R. KAMALIPOUR is Professor of Mass Communication and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication and Creative Arts at Purdue University Calument, Hammond, Indiana. He has published at length on media effects, broadcast education, and international communication in popular and professional journals. He is the editor, with Hamid Mowlana, of Mass Media in the Middle East: A Comprehensive Handbook (Greenwood Press, 1994).

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Paperback (January 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275959147
• ISBN-13: 978-0275959142
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,836,221 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Images, Politics, and Policy, August 29, 2001

By 

Faizan Haq (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The U.S. Media and the Middle East: Image and Perception (Paperback)

The book does an excellent job of challenging the US media. Each of the eighteen essays brings out a unique approach. This work definitely needs to be followed up with comprehesive reaserch project to measure the impact of these images on the daily lives of Muslims, Middle Easterners, and Americans no matter where they live on the globe.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, insightful book, June 6, 2009

By 

AZNmovieFan (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The U.S. Media and the Middle East: Image and Perception (Kindle Edition)

The author has put together a very strong analysis of the persistent bias against and demonization of Muslims, particularly of Arabs in American media. The mantra of hate speech which passes as news in American media is indicted in this book. Definitely recommended book.

19 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The U.S. Media and the Middle East, August 13, 2001

By 

Daniel Pipes, Middle East Forum, Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The U.S. Media and the Middle East: Image and Perception (Paperback)

In a display of remarkable consensus, all eighteen chapters of "The U.S. Media and the Middle East" argue that the American "public has a grossly distorted view of the Third World" in general, the Middle East in particular, and Arabs and Iranians most of all. Author after author flays the press for its exaggerations, inaccuracies, and falsehoods. Editors, editorialists, reporters, movie makers, and even cartoonists come in for a severe tongue lashing. It's as though every author had been given the ideological script in advance, then told to flesh out with details.

But wait. Is the American press really all that bad? One author, Mahboob Hashem (an assistant professor of communications at Fort Hays State University in Kansas) combed through all of Time and Newsweek for a four-year period, 1990-93 and found the coverage predictably wretched ("stereotyping Arabs and portraying them as backward, terrorists, camel jockeys, and the like"). But then Hashem usefully summarizes seven main themes he found in the weeklies' coverage. These bear noting, for they will strike most Americans as reasonable: "Middle East region in decline; fundamentalist movement growing; democracy lacking; Arab unity a facade; Arabs live in the past; slavery exists in parts of the Arab world; and political climate changing" (that is, rejectionists weakening, peace process taking hold). Maybe, just maybe, the media has the story basically right and these professors of communications, media studies, and public relations have it wrong. Maybe too, professors of communications should stay away from the Middle East. (A welter of errors reinforces that notion, my favorite being "King Saddam Hussein).

Middle East Quarterly, December 1995