Abstract: Various studies have proven the leverage of the media exposure in exerting their power on the mindset of the audiences. Therefore, this study illustrates exposure of media reports to understand if exposing to media’s reports paves the way for changes in perception. The main objective of the study is to identify perception of non-Muslim Malaysians towards information concerning Islam and Muslims in the media. The media contains misleading and unreliable contents, which can lead to destabilization by generating negative depictions on the perceptions. Significantly, in a multicultural country like Malaysia where various races are living together in harmony and peace, small portion of negative beliefs or reports on any religions or sect could jeopardizes the peace process in the nation. The major results concludes that mass media in general are all pervasive in their reports but not particularly pervasive. This statement summarizes most of the significant in currently accepted perceived facts about mass media in Malaysia. Non-Muslims in Malaysia hold positive perceptions towards their fellow Muslims. As non-Muslims in Malaysia are well aware of the media hegemony, one’s ideology could not be simply breached by negative reports. Significantly, non-Muslims respect Islam as the official religion of people in Malaysia.
Keywords: Media exposure, Islamophobia, Islam representation, Media reports.
Title: Exposure of Media Reports on Islam among Malaysian Non-Muslims
Author: Ali Parvin
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3156 (Print), ISSN 2348-3164 (online)
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