Journalism Practices in Western and Muslim Majority Countries: Culture Matters

Abstract

In this article, we suggest that the ideological cultural forces explain the differences in journalism practices in Western and Muslim majority countries (MMC). It is argued that the norms, values, and the deep political culture of the West and MMC have been materialized leading to different types of journalism practices. The statistical analysis of 11,246 interviews from twenty four Western and MMC conducted as part of the second wave of Worlds of Journalism Study demonstrates that journalists’ perception of influences, editorial autonomy, and journalistic roles reflect clear varied patterns, which resemble the overall cultural lines that shape their journalistic ideology. This article, we argue, has extended the hierarchical model of influences to embrace the wider regional cultural lines that avoid the trap of national media systems—centrism. Furthermore, it refutes the dominance of a global Western monoculture and, in turn, a singular global journalism practice.