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A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: MEDIA AND RELIGION IN THE MIDDLE EAST (WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON IRAN)

  • KHANI, MOHAMMAD HASSAN (Department at Bradford University in the UK, Faculty of Islamic Studies and Political Science at Imam Sadiq University in Tehran)
  • Published : 2018.06.15
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Abstract

Religion and new media are two important factors in contemporary Middle Eastern societies. Media is seen as a relatively newcomer while religion has been and remains an old and core component of the fabric of societies in this region. This article is an attempt to examine the encounter of these two phenomena in the Middle East. It will try to explore the variety of ways by which new media have served religion both positively and negatively, and how religion has taken position for and against media in Middle Eastern countries in general and in the Iranian case in particular. It is also the purpose of this article to look at the different aspects of this relationship between media and religion, analyzing how one affected the other, and how this interaction affected society. It is argued that the outcome of the interaction between religion and media has had a great impact on shaping the social and political culture of the countries in this region including Iran. The dimensions of this impact will determine the outcome of the clash between modernity and tradition in the region.

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