International Policy Fellow 2003
Irina Kouznetsova-Morenko
Research
Proposal
Representation
policy of the Russian and Tatar Mass media towards Islam in the light
of
forming interconfessional tolerance
Russian mass media has been paying
great attention to Islam since the 1980s. It is caused by the revival
of
religion in Russia with the post-communism process
which spread along the whole territory of the Soviet Union. Islam renaissance can be proved by
the following facts: there are 7000 mosques in Russia now (compared with 311 in 1986),
about 40 independent Muslim Authorities and about 40 newspapers and
journals.
According to the some data, Islam is confessed by 15-18 % of population
in Russia.
The events in Chechnya, acts of terrorism on the territory of Russia and Dagestan caused mass media’s great interest
toward Islam. The members of Northern Caucuses gangster groups are
often
introduced as Moslem members of revolutionary fighting groups, through
often
they are not proved to belong to Islam or Vakhabism.
Such notions as “Islam fundamentalism”, “Islam terrorism”, “Islam
radicalism” have become firmly established in mass media, referring to
the
events in Afghanistan, Balkans and Israel especially after the teracts
in the USA in September, 11.
In 1999 the Human rights committee of United Nations Organizations passed the resolution in which the
following fact was indicated: some representatives of mass-media
provoke
violence and discrimination referring to Islam, and as a result of such
media
policy, Islam is associated with human rights violation and terrorism,
and this
is absolutely unfair.
As general the data on Islam in mass
media of the
Soviet period is missing, the new information (the modern one) about
Islam is
accepted by “tabula rasa”
of the public-consciousness. The small period of peaceful co-existence
in
Caucuses region after perestroika does not seem enough for Russian
people’s
public-consciousness to form the positive image of Moslem peoples.
Peaceful
Islam representation is inferior to the information which bears negative idea
about Islam and forms identifying of the notions “Moslem” and
“extremist”. The
state of inter-confessional and international relations in the country
and
accordingly social consensus and stability in the society depends
greatly on
the fact how the population of Russia imagines Islam. The great role of it belongs to mass
media as the greatest part of the Russians get information about Islam
in mass
media, and they form their ideas about this religion and its followers
according to it.
Does the image of Islam, broadcasted
by mass media correspond with the real face of this religious and all
the
processes in the Moslem world in Russian Federation? The given problem has not found
reflection in the scientific discourse, through many religious
statesmen appeal
to mass media with the request to avoid phobia to Islam.
In the Russian mass media the image
of Islam is rather contradictory. Chasing sensation in their strive to
support
rating of their printings, mass media is
puffing up
the topic of “Islam extremism”. Such a position of mass media is
dangerous
enough as mass media always form people’s evaluation of the happening
events in
the modern world and it influences social orientations. The news and
events
reflected in mass media as important ones become those in people’s
minds.
It should be mentioned, that mass
media is a source of religious information for many contemporaries
according to
the results of mass polls.
The purpose of the
investigation is to study
the influence of representation policy of Russian and Tatarstan
mass-media on interconfessional tolerance.
This aim requires some objectives to be settled
successively:
a.
To estimate the level of attention of Russian and
Regional press for the
life of Muslims in republics of traditional distribution of Hanafit
maskhab (Tatarstan, Bashkortostan).
b.
To expose opinions, norms, values and stereotypes
concerned Islam and Muslims translated by mass-media.
c.
To determine the volume and degree of attention of
Russian-speaking and
Tatar-speaking press and TV of Tatarstan for contemporary state of Islam in
republic.
d.
To investigate the dominated appraisal of processes in
Muslim world of
the different subjects of Russian Federation reflected in Russian and Tatarstan
press.
e.
To characterize the dominated appraisal of processes in
Muslim world of
foreign countries reflected in Russian and Tatarstan press.
f.
To reveal peculiarity of treatment of the questions
concerned processes
in Muslim world of Russia in Russian press.
g.
To characterize
the deep of analysis of the problems concerned Islam and
Muslims
through exposure theoretical validity of information.
h.
To describe peculiarities of representation of Muslims
life of Tatarstan
in local press.
The following hypotheses will be tested:
1.
Information with negative image of Islam with low degree
of tolerance prevail in general volume of
information of mass-media,
concerned Islam.
2.
Image of Muslims translated by Russian Mass-media mainly
consist of
information messages concerned radical Islamic organizations.
3.
Life events of Muslims in republics in republics of
traditional
distribution of Hanafit maskhab
(Tatarstan, Bashkortostan) do not have wide reflection in mass-media of
Russia.
4.
Russian mass-media represent role of vahhabits and
extremists in Chechen
war as a main.
5.
Values of events in Muslim world of Near East, Middle East and Russian Federation mostly have negative character and
concerned perspectives of distribution of radical Islamic ideas and
geopolitical aspirations of extremists.
6.
Tatarstan mass-media do not refute to materials of
Russian mass-media
with negative characteristics of Islam.
7.
Messages about contemporary state of Islam and interconfessional
relations in Tatarstan represented in local press insignificantly.
8.
Processes in Muslim diasporas
are almost not
represented in mass-media.
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Research methodology based on constructionist
perspective – where social problems are analyzed
as product of activity of interested groups who translating their
position in
mass-media.
In this project the use of qualitative
methods of collecting and
analyzing the data is supposed: the discourse-analyses and interview.
The use of discourse-analyses
is aimed to reveal the discursive characteristics of the confessional
stereotypes and influence of the mass media discourse on the
mass-consciousness.
The main object of discourse-analysis is weeklies,
dailies and periodical press of Russia and Tatarstan from
several periods connected with
following cases: event of Nord-Ost,
Holiday of Curban (2003), war in Iraq (2003) (pre-war and war periods), election to the local government in Tatarstan (2003).
Discourse-analysis will consists of
investigation of macro-structure and micro-structure of the text.
Macro-structure
of the text is headlines and sentences in subheadinings.
Bases of manipulability and forming of public opinion are produced
there.
Another important part of discourse-analysis is research of methods of
nominations of actors and their activity (for example – frequency of
using of
word-combination “Muslim extremists” as a designation of Chechen
soldiers).
Micro-structure of the text consists of meanings
of words and sentences. Lexical indexes of Islam and Muslims as a basis
of
inculcation of stereotypes and prejudice will be studied in this level.
Paragrafical factors will be also studied:
color, type and size of litters, photos, pictures, models of message,
place of
the article on the page, title of the rubric.
The random of periodical press bases on two criteria:
public-political character of the source and level of popularity. It is
planned
to analyzed following Russian newspapers (edited in Moscow):
“Komsomolskaya pravda”, “Moskovski komsomolets”,
“Argumenti I facti”,
“Kommersant”, “Rossiskaia
gazeta”, “Nezavisimaya
gazeta” and
“NG-religions”. Tatarstan newspapers: “Respublika
Tatarstan” (newspaper of the government of the republic), “Vremya
i Den’gi”
(leading business
newspaper), “Vechernya Kazan”, “Vostochnyi exspress”,
“Zaman”, some newspapers
edited for elections (Tatarstan),
informal oppositional newspapers (Tatarstan).
Russian journals: “Profil”,
“Itogi”, “Vlast’”,
“Ogonek”.
Tatarstan journals: “Tatarstan” (journal of the
government of the republic), “Oasis” (journal of Muslim youth).
To find out motivation,
values and views of journalists, Muslim leaders concerned of
representation of
Islam in mass-media it is necessary to provide 40 non-formal
in-depth interviews. It is planned to organize interviews
with the Moslem leaders, editors/leading journalists of the local press
and TV,
lead teachers of the Department of Journalism of KSU, Tatarstan media
decision
makers. Interviews with Moslem leaders will be held in Tatar, which is
the
native language to the proposed informants.
Among them – 25 interviews will be held in the
capital of Tatarstan, Kazan, other 15 – in
different
region of the republic.
At
the end of the project I am going to organize the seminar
“Islam and mass media: perspectives interconnections” for
politicians, agents from the Government’s religious affairs Council of
Tatarstan, Moslem Church Authority agents, journalists, media
decision makers and scientists.
Realization
of the project will help not just to reveal peculiarities of Islam
presentation
in mass media, influencing interethnic and Interconfessional tolerance,
but
also will throw light on peculiarities of the Moslem Church Authority,
Officials cooperation with mass media and fixing actors responsible for
co-operation with the press and journalism.
The investigations materials will be
reflected in the several papers for the conferences and causes a series
of
publications devoted to the problem of Islam representation in mass
media and
the influence on Interconfessional tolerance is being prepared in
Tatarstan
newspapers and magazines.
The shorthand record of the seminar
“Islam and mass media: perspectives interconnections” will be published.
The investigation results will be
used in teaching such subjects as “Sociology”, “Ethnical-social
processes” and
“Mass communications” at the Kazan State Medical University, Department
of
Social work and will be used in some sociological and journalism
courses at
Kazan State University.
The results of the project, policy
analysis will be represented to the Religious Affair Council of
Tatarstan and
can be solved in the course of Tatarstan Republic Parliament sessions.
Also the
policy analysis will be represented to the to
the
Moslem Church Authority (of Russia and Tatarstan) and to the Ministry
of information of Tatarstan, press and mass media (both Russian
speaking and
Tatar speaking, local media and representations of the central media).
Policy
memos and press-releases about seminar will be represented to
information
agencies of Tatarstan.
Seminar
will promote
integration contacts between politicians, journalists and Muslim
leaders and
will help new media strategies.