MEDIA: CAUSES AND STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME ISLAMOPHOBIA (PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY)

Abstract

A stereotype appears and describes that Islam is the cause of a series of terror. Therefore, some states are worried and suspicious toward Muslims (Islamophobia) up to the present. Islamophobia associated with negative prejudices against Muslims and Islam, and lead to construction of anti-Islam. Prejudice is based on a claim that Islam is an inferior religion and can threat the dominant values in society. The phenomenon of Islamophobia can be assessed by two perspectives: sociological and psychological. In the case of Islamophobia, media became the object of analysis because it has the dichotomy function. They become the cause for the outbreak of Islamophobia symptoms (latent functions). On the other hand, the media is an information agent which has role to provide education and social change effects (manifest functions). Thus, the media can be an instrument or strategy to overcome the turmoil of Islamophobia by involving a synergy of government, Islamic organizations, and institutions of higher education.