A modest proposal for conducting future research on media portrayals of Islam and Muslims in Indonesia

Recent issues on politics have been dominant in Indonesia that people are divided and become more intolerant of each other. Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population in the world and the role of Islam in Indonesian politics is significant. The current Indonesian government claim that moderate Muslims are loyal to the present political system while the opposing rivals who are often labelled’intolerant and radical Muslims’ by Indonesian mass media often disagree with the central interpretation of democracy in Indonesia. Studies on contributing factors and discourse strategies used in news and articles in secular and Islamic mass media which play a vital role in the construction of Muslim and Islamic identities in Indonesia are, therefore, recommended.近期印尼国内政治议题占据主导，致使民众群体对立，彼此间的包容度愈发降低。印尼拥有全球规模最大的穆斯林人口群体，伊斯兰教在印尼政治中扮演着举足轻重的作用。印尼现任政府宣称，温和派穆斯林忠于当前的政治体制；而时常被印尼主流媒体贴上“不宽容、激进穆斯林”标签的反对阵营，则往往对印尼主流的民主诠释持有不同看法。鉴于世俗与伊斯兰主流媒体在印尼穆斯林群体及伊斯兰身份认同的构建中发挥着至关重要的作用，因此建议开展相关研究，剖析这类媒体在新闻与报道中所采用的话语策略及其影响因素。