Television, newspapers and the means of communication play a key role in reaching out the society. A study of the common world of culture shows that what is seemed real, interesting, beautiful and moral before the members of the culture and the meanings that its members ascribe to the world, are partly built up by individual members and institutions such as newspapers, radio and mass media. (Matson 2013: 9)
The result and effect of such media function in the formation of shared meanings among some of the American people towards Iran, are reflected in the results of the Gallup Institute’s 2006 survey, based on which most Americans find Iran to be their greatest enemy (Bichranlou 2011: 19) because what is represented and portrayed in American media as well as in news contents, reports, documentaries, films and radio and television roundtables about Iran and Islam, indicates the militarism, religious extremism, supporting terrorism, and cultural and economic backwardness of Iran and Islam.
Rhetoric
Iranophobia: Media, Representation and Discourse
Many terms convey negative feelings against Islam and Muslims. Islamophobia is one of these important words (Richardson, 2012: 1) that indicate hatred, fear, prejudice, and unreasonable discrimination towards Islam and Muslims. (Sophie Neiman, 2009: 23)
There are many incidents in contemporary times by which the Western attitude toward Muslims has been influenced. some of these important events are as follows: The Arab-Israeli War and the oil crisis (1973), the Iranian Revolution (1979); (Kaya, 2012: 402) the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in the late 1980s and the emergence of Islam as a new enemy and threat to the West, publication of the book “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie and Imam Khomeini’s fatwa against him (1989); The Gulf War (1991), the World Trade Center bombing in the United States (1993), the September 11, 2001 attacks and London explosions of July 7, 2005, the Danish cartoons controversy (2006), and the controversy over the issue of Iran’s nuclear program in 2010 which continues. (Kaya, 2012: 402-403)
Although the impact of these events especially the September 11th on the spread of anti-Islamic feelings is of importance, the role of the Islamic Revolution of Iran and its impact on the policies of the Western governments in promoting the concept of Islamophobia and Iranophobia cannot be ignored.
In studying the causes of Islamophobia in the West, Edward Said refers to the Islamic Revolution of Iran as one of the key factors and believes that this revolution, by presenting the concepts of and potential for anti-arrogance, justice and political rationality, has shaped a successful model of political Islam in an attempt to develop the Islamic uprising in the era of modernity (Moqimi and Sotoudeh, 2013: 253) he believes that:
The international summit of heads of states including Bill Clinton, Shimon Peres, Hosni Mubarak, and Yasser Arafat in Sharm el-Sheikh to study the issue of terrorism has provoked the Western media against Islam. In one of the speeches made at the meeting, Islam and the Islamic Republic were accused of being the cause and source of every evil act. (Ibid: 252)
That the Islamic Awakening was inspired by Imam Khomeini’s thoughts and ideas is a fact that has occurred on the eve of the 21st century and simultaneously with the collapse of the bipolar system of capitalism and communism. Thus, the capitalist system of the West has put all its intellectual, economic, political and military efforts into controlling the developments of the international system and preventing any type of transfer of power and culture that would change the status quo in a way that challenges the authority and domination of the West over the Muslim world (Ibid: 264).
Therefore, Shi’aphobia and Iranophobia scenarios have been raised along with Islamophobia, and Western politicians and strategists have used a variety of tools and methods in shaping such an atmosphere. To that end, media is considered to be a powerful arm.
Studying the influential factors involved in the formation of images and negative thoughts against Muslims shows that media content is one of the elements that play a significant role in the formation of such anti-Islamic sentiments. (Pratt, 2011) For example, a study that was carried out on analyzing the anti-Islamic thoughts of Fox News programs indicates that those who had found such news trustworthy and credible are more likely to see the Islamic norms being in contrast to American values. (Ogan and others, 2013)
The study of the American print media in 2007 also illustrates how the media have been able to present Iran as a threat to the world through the means of language maneuvers and stereotypes. (Ibid)
Meranci (Meranci, 2004) also points to the fact that the American media coverage of Iranian news has always been unreliable and biased. While referring to Iran’s nuclear program, such media have introduced Iran as an underdeveloped, inhumane and unreliable country. (Ibid: 9) Therefore, the media shape new ways of thinking and behaviour and transmit certain meanings through addressing various narratives (Williams, 2003: 145). Moreover, they are significant institutions through which we find the world meaningful. (Laughey, 2007: 61)
The success of the revolutionary ideology of Islam had been a valuable phenomenon and a unique characteristic of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. This ideology was a firm response to the contemporary politicized and disappointment of the demands of materialism.
In the light of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and Shi’ah Imams, the Islamic Revolution perused the political discourse of Islam while opposing the oppression and defending the oppressed.
Given the predicament and desperation of the hegemonic powers of the world concerning the instinct-oriented phenomenon provided for truth seekers across the world, the scenario of concealing the real face of the Islamic Revolution through various political and cultural methods is perused. Meanwhile, Western theorists and influential figures in media are aware of this fundamental point that changing those realities is difficult and virtually impossible, but the world of human minds and public opinion might be changed by providing them with wrong analysis. A typical example of such media paradigms is the efforts of these media to pose concepts such as the Axis of Evil, religious reactionary, Islamic fundamentalism, and the repressive regime against the individuals, groups and independent countries of the Islamic world, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Among the media policies of the West, we can refer to the virtual portrait of the Shi’ah school of thought that is presented to other religious denominations in an attempt to create divisions in the Islamic world. In that regard, the media would present extremist, irrational, sensational, and violent images of Muharram, Ashura and martyrdom in Iran.
The results of this study also indicate that the coverage of issues related to Iran on the “Fareed Zakaria GPS” program have been biased and the scenarios of Islamophobia and Iranophobia have been influenced by Fareed Zakaria’s discourse; because Zakaria has concealed the truth in addressing issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, the role of Iran in the Middle East and confronting terrorism, the role of the clergies in the country, domestic and international policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the position of the Supreme Leader of Iran. In addition, he has shaped his discourse based on anti-Iranian ideologies of media owners while relying on different linguistic elements.
The analysis of Zakaria’s discourse at the level of text shows that all linguistic elements – fallacy, lexical options, implications, categorization, polarization, generalization, conflict, citation and distraction – have been used in his discourse. Likewise, in terms of contexts, the results indicate that Iranian access to these programs was very limited and almost all participants had anti-Iranian and anti-Islamic tendencies. Therefore, it can be argued that CNN plays a significant role in the distortion of public opinion and promotion of Iranophobia through its programs. In the end, the authors suggest that we should shed light on the main reasons behind the opposition of the system of domination to the progressive origin of political Islam, which was the manipulation of thoughts on the issue of Iranophobia. Also, we need objective and authentic clarifications for such ideological hostility.
Archive of The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
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