Islam-related News Credibility in Selected Nigerian and Malaysian Newspapers

Accuracy is a value fundamental to journalism, but journalists are often blamed for inaccurate reporting. News is the primary content of newspapers, and it is the responsibility of reporters, editors, and publishers to be well-informed of its formation, since it is they who might eventually be accountable for it. The inaccuracy of the media messages that results in the negative image of Islam and Muslims is related to ‘news value’ – the extent to which the messages are made more attractive and different from what is presently prevalent in the society. This study aims to investigate the credibility of Islam related news in selected Nigerian and Malaysian newspapers. Two daily newspapers were chosen from each of the selected countries using purposive sampling. Punch and Vanguard were selected from Nigeria while The Star and New Straits Times were selected from Malaysia. News articles that are directly related to Islam or Muslims were gathered from the selected newspapers using internet-based search from November 2015 until September 2016. The newspapers produced 599 different Islam-related articles within this period. The study showed that out of 599 news articles published in the selected newspapers, 306 news articles reported Islam on correspondence, and 224 were reported from news agencies, 30 from other media organizations while the sources of 39 news articles were unidentified. Nigerian newspapers reported more Islam-related news on correspondence than Malaysian newspapers. Meanwhile, Malaysian newspapers reported more stories from news agencies and other media organizations. Journalists should ensure accuracy in their writing through verification of facts and credible sources. Credible reporting sources would help reduce biases in news reporting.