The mass media are blamed for constructing a negative image of Islam through the use of Islam-related terms in reporting terrorism. It is presumed that when Islam-related terms are used without regard to their original connotations, they are likely to lose their original meanings and begin to take on altered meanings created by the media. Therefore, this study aims to explore the use of Islam-related terminologies in selected eastern and western mass media outlets in relation to their semantic and linguistic interpretations. The study employed a qualitative approach in which content analysis was used. Using purposive sampling, The Jordan Times and Al-Jazeera were chosen from the eastern Arab world while The BBC and The Guardian were chosen from the western media. A total of 368 news articles focusing on Islam and Muslims were collected from the selected news media outlets using internet-based search from March 2018 until October 2019. The findings showed significant differences (P = 0.000/P < 0.05) exist between the selected eastern and western mass media outlets in using Islam-related terminologies. The terms are used more frequently in the western media outlets than in the eastern media outlets. Further analysis of the findings revealed that the selected media outlets use Islam-related terminologies, such as “Islamist” and “Jihadist”, in negative contexts. The use of Islam-related terminologies in the selected media outlets could be influential in making the audience to perceive Islam as a religion of terrorism. The negative use of Islam-related terms could be minimized through training of journalists on news coverage of religion, provision of proper guidelines on religious reporting and ensuring that these guidelines are strictly followed. It was envisaged that this study would be useful to the media outlets, particularly in the process of news gathering, production, and dissemination.

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对选定的东西方大众媒体中伊斯兰教相关术语的实用分析

大众媒体因在报道恐怖主义时使用与伊斯兰教相关的术语来构建伊斯兰教的负面形象而受到指责。据推测，当不考虑其原始含义而使用与伊斯兰教相关的术语时，它们很可能会失去其原始含义并开始呈现媒体创造的改变含义。因此，本研究旨在探讨在选定的东西方大众媒体中使用伊斯兰教相关术语的语义和语言解释。该研究采用了使用内容分析的定性方法。使用有目的的抽样，约旦时报和半岛电视台是从东阿拉伯世界中挑选出来的，而英国广播公司和卫报则是从西方媒体中挑选出来的。从 2018 年 3 月至 2019 年 10 月，使用基于互联网的搜索从选定的新闻媒体中收集了 368 篇关于伊斯兰教和穆斯林的新闻文章。结果显示，选定的东部地区之间存在显着差异（P = 0.000/P < 0.05）。和西方大众媒体使用伊斯兰教相关术语。西方媒体比东方媒体更频繁地使用这些术语。对调查结果的进一步分析表明，选定的媒体在负面语境中使用与伊斯兰教相关的术语，例如“伊斯兰主义者”和“圣战主义者”。在选定的媒体中使用与伊斯兰教有关的术语可能会影响观众将伊斯兰教视为恐怖主义宗教。通过对记者进行宗教新闻报道方面的培训，提供适当的宗教报道指导方针并确保严格遵守这些指导方针，可以最大限度地减少对伊斯兰教相关术语的负面使用。预计这项研究将对媒体有用，特别是在新闻收集、制作和传播过程中。