Media is the major means of mass communication which includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet.
The media has contributed so much in the Swift delivery of very vital and important messages across the globe. Talk about health, disaster management, terrorism alert e.t.c. And it has also set the standard for the society. Everybody wants to have the latest trending stuffs and styles trending on the media, such that any other thing aside that is considered to be vague, obsolete and unacceptable. Then another style evolves and the taste keep changing.
The media is so powerful that it has taken over some people’s thinking. The “it is only what the media says and nothing else” syndrome, when even the truth is very obvious.
A lot of media houses we have are guilty of publishing false stories, and or giving wrong presentation of the correct one, or even ignore when it seems not favouring them or some supporting parties. The masses get this information first hand and hold on to it as the truth. Some eventually finds out how much lies they’ve being fed, while others never get to know.
The danger posed by the these media houses include but not limited to Racism, hate crimes, terrorism, poor social relationship, psychological turmoil.
As Muslims, we have the responsibility of sourcing the right and correct information especially the ones concerning the Muslim Ummah as a whole. Also, we (Muslims) must learn to take the study of our Deen seriously, have first hand information about major practices of the Deen so you can tutor, format and re install appropriately all that are from a lie-filled-brain who will say untrue stuffs about the deen. We must be able to identify the various forms of evil the media comes with, and ways of avoiding them while using the internet and other media outlets.
And finally, Muslims must also desist from spreading any sort of wrong information, or assisting it’s course.
May Allah grant us proper understanding of the Deen, safeguard us and deal with the perpetrators of evil. Aamin
Aaminah Qasim @knowislam.com.ng
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