The Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research released its new issue (Vol. 8, Issue 3, 2015), edited by Noureddine Miladi from the Qatar University. The issue focuses on media representations of conflicts, portrayals of social groups, and social networks advertising.

The book traces how the West is represented as the Occident in the country's media. From the Qajar period and the Tobacco protests of the late nineteenth century to the ill-fated Anglo-Persian Treaty of 1919, through to the 1953 coup and 1979 hostage crisis, the author highlights the various points in history when misinterpretations and conflicts led to a demonisation of the other in the Iranian media. The major recent source of contention between the West and Iran has of course been the nuclear issue and the resultant regime of sanctions. By examining how this and other issues have been represented by the Iranian press, Bakshandeh offers a crucial and often-overlooked aspect of the key relationship between Iran and the West.

The book explores the changing status and function of journalists and journalism given the new realities of reporting in the digital age. The authors draw on focus group discussions, interviews, and social media traffic surveys to examine how social and new media have been integrated into Arab and pan-Arab newsroom operations and harnessed to enhance engagement with an empowered audience. Efforts to engage with audiences in social space, the authors argue, are part of a broad and long-waged information war aimed at winning hearts and minds in the MENA region. Social platforms present excellent opportunities to engage with audiences, but the extent to which such opportunities can be realized are hamstrung by limits on free expression and online access—and vary significantly from country to country and from media channel to media channel.

The Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research released its new issue (Vol. 8, Issue 1, 2015), edited by Noureddine Miladi from the Qatar University. The issue focuses on media propaganda and journalism.