Page 133 - Conflict, Terrorism, and the Media In Asia

122 Benjamin Cole
into his global ‘jihad’. This is reflected in the fact that virtually none of the indige-
nous groups exploit al Qaeda’s messages in their own communications with the
media, and there is no apparent increase in either the number of citizens of these
countries joining al Qaeda or JI, or of Muslims from outside of the region arriving
to join indigenous groups. Islamist groups continue to recruit new members, but
they remain a small minority. Similarly, its impact on the development of passive
support for militant Islamism also seems to be minimal. In Malaysia for instance,
support for the Islamist party PAS has diminished significantly since 2001.
This illustrates the limitations of the media as a vehicle for shaping public
opinion in communities which are not receptive to particular messages or ideolo-
gies. There is some evidence of increased Islamism in Xinjiang, but that seems to
be as a result of local activists disseminating alternative media sources.
Instead, the mainstream media predominantly acts as an agent of social and
political stability by reflecting and reinforcing the views of governments and
majority populations. The majority view of Islam within most Muslim popula-
tions in Southeast Asia is pragmatic and moderate. Whilst dissident and militant
viewpoints are reported, the mainstream media overwhelmingly reflects and rein-
forces a moderate view of Islam. In those states dealing with separatist move-
ments, the mainstream media takes a nationalistic line in support of maintaining
the territorial integrity of the state.
In Malaysia for instance, limited media criticism of the government coupled
with its use of the media to co-opt Islam serves to reassure public opinion that its
concerns about oppressed Muslims overseas and the US ‘war on terror’ are being
addressed. At a more general level, militant causes and objectives have been assim-
ilated into the mainstream political debate. Whilst this might generate broad sym-
pathy for some militant objectives in Malaysian society, it has not fostered a causal
link to militant action. The Malaysian government, in common with other regional
governments, has generally used the media to scare the public about extremist
‘threats’, and this has strengthened public support for counter-terrorism. Across
the region there remains a disjunction between popular opposition to the ‘war on
terror’ as articulated in the media, and active support for militant groups.
Whilst the majority of the national media are acting as agents of stability in
relation to these conflicts, sections of the media in some countries are acting as
agents of restraint in challenging government policies. In Malaysia there is some
questioning of the government’s use of the ISA, although it has had no impact on
government policy. The Filipino media also comes close to fulfilling a monitor-
ing role, but even there, the pervasive influence of government sources on media
outputs coupled with deficiencies in media practice, means that whilst some
publications, or journalists, are acting as agents of restraint, the majority are still
acting as agents of stability.
Only in Gujarat has the media acted as a facilitator of change. This is evident
both in the role of some sections of the local media in spreading the Hindutva
ideology and fanning the violence in 2002, and also in the role which other
sections of the media played in forcing the federal government to intervene to
bring the violence to an end.