This is with reference to the article “Violence, media and our brains” (April 4) by Saad Al-Dosari. It is very unfortunate that the Muslim world does not pay attention to social sciences. We are more interested in producing doctors, engineers and bankers. It seems as if these three types of professionals are the only ones running the affairs of the world.
The writer has raised an important issue. Such studies should have been carried out at least at the universities-level in our part of the world. Many people wonder how does the West take care of social and other problems so efficiently. The answer is: In the West there are dedicated professionals for almost every sphere of life and media studies is one of them.
The West has produced a huge body of work related to media effects on human behavior. On the other hand, I don’t see any similar work carried out in the Muslim world. We are basically consumers. We don’t produce anything — not even talented professionals and if we do they fly to the West because they know that their talent will be put to proper use and they will earn respect for their work and professionalism.
We love to criticize the West for every wrong thing under the sun without even considering our own faults. Our media outlets broadcast all sorts of videos and images without caring about their impact on different segments of their targeted audience.
I do agree with the writer that the frustration and rage we notice in our people is a consequence of the media coverage of our surroundings. Ironically, for a reprieve from all the violence around us, we usually hook to some video-sharing network, created in the West, to watch western programs. — Hasan Ahmed Jilani, Jeddah
Importance of media studies
