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

(Paperback)

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Description

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.

Reviews

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
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
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
"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
"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

Author Bio

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).