Purpose of the study: This study examines the level of awareness about data journalism among communication and language students at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), an Islamic public university in Malaysia. Methodology: The study examines 34 students from communication and language background to learn about their awareness about data journalism. Via online survey, this study descriptively investigates the level of awareness among the respondents, readiness to learn data journalism and impression on data journalism. Main Findings: The findings indicate that the level of awareness among the students is still low, but they are ready to learn with the impression that data journalism is not easy to master but a necessary skill for them in the future. Novelty of the study: According to author’s knowledge, there is no study which has focused on awareness of USIM students related to data journalism. Therefore, this preliminary study provides early data about the level of awareness about data journalism of this specific group of students.

This article demonstrates the communication aspect of the Suratul Yusuf through the method of qualitative content analysis. The communication aspects that will be discussed are themes emerging from the analysis that include interpersonal communication, non verbal communication, self-disclosure, conflict management and inter cultural communication. This study, among others, suggests that human beings can benefit from certain stories in the Quran if they examine the deeper meaning of the verses. Although aspects of communication have not been highlighted directly in this surah, this study reveals some examples related to certain aspects in communication, and how they have been managed and thus how we can learn some lessons (regarding communication) from such events.

Teaching a writing subject is both fascinating and challenging. It is fascinating because the lecturer can engage with various ideas coming from students with different background and interests. It is also challenging to teach a subject that requires a lot of writing skills and other communication-related skills such as thinking skills. Students who are not well versed in the language used in the writing class might be left behind. In my Newswriting and Feature Writing course, it is even more challenging when half of the carry marks are given only when students get two of their articles published in the national Malaysian newspapers! The aim of the course is to familiarize students with news and feature writing. Newswriting is taught without compulsory publishing. For feature writing, however, it is compulsory for students to get their feature stories published either in English language newspapers in Malaysia, or in the Malay (native language) newspapers. In my class, most of the students chose the latter, with very few students able to get their works published in English. Although attempts are made, it seems the quality is not on a par with national newspaper writing. Those published in Malay language newspapers are able to publish in either the Letter to the Editor segment, or the Feature segment. For English newspapers, it is mainly in the Letter to the Editor section.

An understanding of job satisfaction, is a prerequisite to an integrative explanation of workers behavior at the workplace. This article analyses academics in higher education institutions satisfaction on co-workers and its differences based on demographic backgrounds. Using a simple random sampling technique, the researchers drew a sample of 1078 academics from three participating public universities. The findings indicated that the level of satisfaction with co-workers among academics was at the moderate level and there are differences of satisfaction based on demographic differences. The implications of the findings on co-workers satisfaction among academics in higher education institutions are discussed.

What becomes news in one country is different from another, and this is connected with the fact that news construction is a complex process. When discussing the complexity of news construction, one of the most important criteria that should not be neglected is the specificity of news construction in a certain country and/or culture. As such, the news construction model in Malaysia is one of the examples of a complex and specific process, as Malaysia is an Islamic country home to a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Thus, this paper will discuss two concepts that are suggested as the foundations of the news construction model in Malaysia. They include the principles of Islam and its connection to journalism practice, and multiculturalism. In discussing this, the paper argues that, these concepts are unable to demonstrate complexity and specificity of news construction in Malaysia, but they enable further the focus on the specificity of Malaysian news to be explored and extended by future studies.

The facts and truths of the news have always become the imperative point in informing and updating the public. However, the fake news emerged has disrupted the originality and authenticity of the news. It has become a longstanding issue when social media sites become a platform in disseminating fake news, videos, photos, etc. rapidly to the public. They become more aggressive due to the development of information communication technologies and made the quality of the news posted become questioned. Furthermore, fake news emerges abundantly and easily on online platforms than before. Thus, this paper discusses fake news by examining the current trends of fake news in today’s journalism through the previous scholarly discussion on this topic. In the era of Revolution Industry 4.0, the role of technology in reducing or/and increasing the threat of fake news in modern communication is also discussed. Lastly, this paper illustrates the concept of Islam towards the issue of fake news and provide what Islam has to say about fake news. It shows that Islam teaches us to be “wasatiyyah” or being moderate to uphold the trustworthy and highlight self-respect by dissemination news with facts, values, and reliability. Keywords: fake news, islamic perspective, online journalism

This special edition compiles a collection of papers presented at International Conference on Islamic Higher Education (SeIPTI) 2018 organised by Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) on 25 to 26 November 2018. SeIPTI is a conference that groups scholars to discuss issues pertaining to Islamic higher education. The fifth conference this year brings about the theme of “Barakah Campus”. Under this theme, various issues have been discussed including the concept of barakah in universities and wider topics that are not confined to merely discussions on Islamic higher education but also broader debates on developments related to Islam in various fields in different kinds of organisations. Hence, this special edition highlights the theme, “Developments in Potential Fields in Achieving Barakah”.

This article aims to analyze academics in higher education institutions satisfaction on communication and its differences based demographic backgrounds. The population for the study comprised academics from three public higher education institutions of Malaysia. Using a simple random sampling technique, the researchers drew a sample of 1078 from the estimated 2900 academics in the three participating universities. The findings indicated that the level of satisfaction in communication among academics was moderately high. The differences of communication satisfaction were also analyzed based on demographic differences of age, gender, and tenure. The findings of this study theoretically and practically contribute in terms of understanding the state of communication satisfaction of academics and its variation of demographic backgrounds.

Inisiatif daripada kerajaan memberikan komputer riba dan perkhidmatan internet secara percuma telah mengundang pelbagai reaksi yang positif dan negatif daripada masyarakat. Kajian awal ini bertujuan berkongsi pengalaman penerima Komputer 1Malaysia. Kerangka teoritikal adalah berasaskan kepada difusi inovasi dan modenisasi. Empat kumpulan fokus telah dijalankan di antara Oktober 2011 dan April 2012 dengan informan terdiri daripada penerima-penerima komputer 1Malaysia di empat lokasi kawasan luar bandar yang berlainan. Hasil dapatan kajian menunjukkan semua penerima Komputer 1Malaysia yang gembira, teruja dan rasa bertuah. Mereka memanfaatkan teknologi yang diberikan untuk tujuan pembelajaran seperti mencari maklumat untuk tugasan rumah dan mendalami subjek atau topik yang diajar oleh guru. Penerima Komputer 1Malaysia turut mempercayai kemudahan tersebut mampu membantu mereka menjadi modal insan yang lebih berpengetahuan dan berdaya saing. Keperihatinan dan komitmen daripada guru-guru dan ibu bapa telah membantu mereka memanfaatkan sepenuhnya kemudahan tersebut. Begitupun, di sebalik kebaikan dan manfaat kemudahan tersebut juga mereka bimbang terdedah kepada pengaruh unsur-unsur yang negatif seperti budaya kuning, akses kepada bahan lucah dan membazir masa sekiranya meluangkan terlalu banyak masa untuk melayari internet. Begitupun, kemudahan teknologi tersebut telah merubah gaya hidup mereka.

Kajian tentang kandungan yang dihasilkan pengguna (User-Generated Content - UGC) berkembang dengan stabil di seluruh pelusuk dunia. Ini kerana, UGC tidak hanya mempengaruhi kandungan berita, tetapi juga keseluruhan amalan kewartawanan. Dalam ruang lingkup kewartawanan warga, UGC mengaburkan sempadan antara siapa pengeluar dan siapa pengguna kandungan kerana keterlibatan khalayak yang menyumbang kepada kolaborasi dalam praktis kewartawanan. Penggunaan teknologi seperti media sosial mendefinisikan semula epistemologi kewartawanan yang tidak pernah kita fikirkan sebelum ini. Kajian ini mengkaji prospek dan cabaran aplikasi UGC di bilik berita Malaysia khususnya penggabungan UGC ke dalam amalan kewartawanan profesional di tiga bilik berita iaitu Berita Harian, Harian Metro dan Sin Chew Daily. Dengan menggunakan kaedah temubual mendalam dengan tujuh penyunting berita dan penyunting dalam talian di tiga akhbar ini, hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa UGC tergabung dalam pembinaan berita ketiga-tiga akhbar ini secara sederhana. Penglibatan khalayak hanya berlaku pada tahap penyediaan sumber bahan berita dan tidak lebih daripada itu. Bagaimanapun, peristiwa viral masih dianggap sebagai bahan yang sangat berpotensi untuk disahkan dan diterbitkan. Ini menunjukkan bahawa UGC dari segi praktisnya berguna di bilik berita Malaysia, tetapi aplikasinya masih terhad. Pada masa yang sama, media sosial dilihat sebagai alat yang sangat penting oleh wartawan untuk berinteraksi dengan khalayak.

Kajian eksploratori ini bertujuan mengenalpasti faktor pendorong dan kepuasan yang diperolehi daripada penggunaan portal berita dalam kalangan belia di Malaysia menerusi tiga perbincangan kumpulan fokus dan satu forum dalam media sosial di antara bulan Mac hingga Mei 2015. Dapatan kajian mendedahkan peningkatan populariti telefon pintar merupakan penyumbang utama belia memilih untuk mengakses kepada berita dalam portal berita berbanding saluran lain seperti televisyen, akhbar dan radio. Faktor pengaruh kawan telah mendorong mereka untuk turut memiliki telefon pintar yang mana telah melahir suatu trend penggunaan media yang baharu khususnya memudahkan mereka berkongsi maklumat dan bertukar pendapat. Portal berita Bahasa Melayu dan bahasa Inggeris akhbar arus perdana merupakan pilihan utama informan. Faktor utama yang dikenalpasti mendorong belia menggunakan portal berita adalah mudah, pantas, menjimatkan kos, fleksibel, mudah diakses, mengisi masa lapang, pembelajaran, mengetahui isu-isu semasa, dan keunikan portal berita itu sendiri. Mereka berasa lebih berpuas hati dengan portal berita kerana lebih mudah dan cepat untuk memperolehi maklumat tambahan yang diingini menerusi enjin pencarian seperti Google. Ciri-ciri berita dalam portal berita yang dipautkan dengan video kejadian selain berita-berita berkaitan yang lain menjadi daya penarik kepada belia memilih portal berita di samping tabiat golongan belia yang suka berkongsi informasi yang menarik dengan rakan-rakan menerusi aplikasi seperti WhatsApp. Bagi penuntut universiti, kesukaran mengakses kepada saluran-saluran media tradisional menyumbang kepada pemilihan portal berita. Perkhidmatan wifi yang disediakan secara percuma dalam kawasan kampus untuk pelajar menjadi sebab utama pemilihan portal berita. Bagi belia yang telah bekerja pula kekangan masa menjadi pendorong utama mereka memilih portal berita. Secara keseluruhannya dapat disimpulkan tabiat pencarian dan perkongsian maklumat itu masih sama, hanya bentuk berita yang diakses telah berubah kepada pendekatan yang lebih mudah dan jimat.

Culture covers a wide range of different aspects such as food, clothing, communication, relationship, way of life, way of thinking and etc. In Malaysia, with the diversity of the various ethnic groups and religions give us the opportunity to have cultural diversity. However, the practice of cultural awareness in Malaysia is still low because there are still some people who do not know even purposely disregard for other people's cultures. Hence, this paper will look into the history and definitions of cultural awareness in details by giving explanations from the experts. In addition, this paper also discusses the concept of cultural awareness and the necessity to practice it according to Islamic perspective and how the views and perceptions of cultural consciousness in Malaysia, whether among those who are Muslims and non-Muslims. This paper will also look at the aspect of the media as a medium to provide an understanding and knowledge of cultural awareness to the society. Lastly, in this paper, the authors also share their previous experiences with different ethnics, cultures and religions and has assessed how their level of acceptance of our culture and vice versa.

A lot of intellectual discourses has been initiated on the realm of the contributions and roles of university students who live out of the campus, towards the community that they lived together. The Council of University Housing Principals of USIM had taken their initiative to look into the real views of the community who live nearby the university about the contributions and roles of university students who live out of the campus, specifically in the religious activities and social activities. A qualitative study through non-probability sampling method had been selected, where semistructured interviews were done among 30 individuals who live together with USIM outcampus students. The findings show that majority of the respondents agreed that the contributions and roles of the outcampus students were high and effective in the religious activities but not in the social activities. Several arising issues and themes of discussion are discussed together with recommendations to uphold a better relationship between USIM’s outcampus students and the community. Keywords: Outcampus students, Religious activities, Social activities

Perdebatan dan perbincangan mengenai kandungan media sosial seperti Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp dan sebagainya dalam pengaruhnya menyebarkan kandungan seperti berita, foto dan video yang berkait dengan ekstrem dan keganasan seakan berleluasa. Kepantasan media sosial sebagai platform digital bertindak untuk menyebarluaskan kandungan berkaitan isu keganasan dari dalam dan luar negara perlu dipastikan kesahihannya. Hal ini kerana kandungan di media sosial berupaya untuk membentuk pengaruh, fikiran, dakyah dan ideologi yang tidak benar kepada pengguna terutama dalam kalangan remaja. Oleh itu, kajian ini akan membincangkan secara umum berdasarkan literatur yang lepas untuk melihat sejauh mana perbincangan mengenai isu keganasan di dalam media sosial ini telah didebatkan. Ini kerana, isu penyebaran kandungan berkaitan terrorisme di alam maya ternyata memberi impak ke atas pemikiran dan tindakan untuk meningkatkan kes-kes berkaitan keganasan sama ada secara fizikal ataupun serangan ideologi pemikiran. Selain itu, kajian ini juga telah menemubual enam pakar bidang untuk mendapatkan pengalaman dan pengetahuan mereka mengenai isu penggunaan media sosial sebagai platform penyebaran ideologi terrorisme. Selain itu, penyelidik juga cuba mendapatkan beberapa saranan dan cadangan untuk membendung isu ini terutama dalam kalangan pelajar IPT. Berdasarkan hasil kajian ini, cabaran untuk menangani isu ini sepatutnya dipikul oleh semua pihak yang berkepentingan sama ada dari pihak kerajaan dan pentadbiran, pihak berkuasa, pembuat dasar dan polisi, pihak media dan juga pengguna media sosial itu sendiri. Kesedaran, pendidikan dan pemulihan tentang isu keganasan ini perlu dipergiatkan yang mana akhirnya akan membantu untuk mencapai keamanan, keadilan dan memperkukuhkan institusi yang berkesan, bertanggungjawab dan inklusif di semua peringkat.

The way of reading news has evolved especially since the advent of the internet. Reading news from printed newspapers has long been abandoned and the majority of the world's population today reads through gadgets. This study examines students from three public universities in Malaysia which are Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and Xiamen University Malaysia (XMUM) in terms of interest in reading news and methods of reading. The students were randomly selected in this study and the selection universities are also by simple random sampling. Result showing that the majority of students do not read the news very often but if they do, they read it through a gadget. Meanwhile, international students tend to read news about their country of origin when continuing their studies in malaysia.

Many current studies approved that online newspaper is more popular compared to traditional newspaper, and this trend also included university students as one of the increasing readers. Therefore, this paper discusses the uses of online news among university students in Malaysia by specifically looking at their background which is gender, course of study, and the gratifications gained from the reading. Findings suggested that these three criterias must be considered in order to produce better online newspaper in future.

This research focused on the focal aim of analysing students’ perceptions in public universities in regards to the development of leadership values through their participation as the members of students’ representative council (JAKSA) in student’s accommodation.The current study implemented a qualitative methodology via semi-structrured focus group interviews among 19 students who are in the highest committee members and executive committees (Excos) in two student colleges in Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The current study found that almost all of the interviewees among JAKSA agreed that their participation as a JAKSA member gave a positive impact in terms of their leadership value and skill. Several characteristics and roles of leaders which are obvious among JAKSA were also stated and debated as a valuable drivers for their capability to organize their committee. Abstrak Kajian ini memfokuskan kepada matlamat untuk menganalisis persepsi pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi awam terhadap pembentukan nilai kepemimpinan melalui penglibatan mereka sebagai ahli Jawatankuasa Kebajikan Siswa/i Kolej Kediaman (JAKSA). Kajian ini mengaplikasikan metodologi kajian kualitatif melalui temubual separa berstruktur secara focus group dalam kalangan 19 orang pelajar yang menjadi Ahli Majlis Tertinggi dan Exco JAKSA di dua buah kolej kediaman di Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia. Hasil kajian mendapati hampir kesemua JAKSA bersetuju bahawa penyertaan mereka sebagai JAKSA di kolej kediaman memberikan impak yang positif dalam pembentukan nilai dan kemahiran kepemimpinan. Beberapa sifat dan peranan pemimpin yang terserlah dalam kalangan JAKSA juga digagaskan oleh responden kajian ini sebagai pemangkin kepada kemampuan mereka mengorganisasi persatuan mereka ini di kolej kediaman.

Keperluan mengkaji proses sosial dalam konteks tempatan adalah penting termasuklah bidang komunikasi. Persoalan sama ada wujud keperluan menjana pengetahuan baharu mengikut konteks sesebuah negara yang mengambil kira norma dan budaya tempatan menjadi penting berikutan sebahagian besar pengetahuan dalam pelbagai bidang kajian hari ini lebih dekat dengan nilai-nilai Barat yang ada-kalanya dilihat tidak sensitif dengan nilai-nilai lokal. Dalam bidang kewartawanan, kajian empirikal dan penjelasan tentang proses pemberitaan khusus kepada sesebuah negara mula dipergiat untuk menjana pengetahuan yang mendalam tentang sesuatu proses tersebut. Dalam masa yang sama, wujud pandangan terhadap keperluan membina sesuatu model yang berlandaskan objektif dan nilai-nilai Islam meskipun ada juga pandangan yang sebaliknya. Idea ini timbul bukan atas dasar majoriti rakyat Malaysia beragama Islam tetapi berasaskan kepercayaan nilai-nilai murni yang dibawa dalam ajaran Islam boleh dijadikan prinsip asas kewartawanan. Dalam erti kata lain, penyepaduan dua sistem pendidikan untuk menggabungkan sistem pendidikan Islam dengan sekular untuk mengembangkan kurikulum yang lebih komprehensif dan moden. Dengan itu, kertas kerja ini cuba membincangkan kedua-dua pandangan, dengan menjuruskan perbincangan dan menghujahkan bahawa pengetahuan berbentuk lokal adalah lebih berguna dan bermakna dalam menggagahi pelbagai bentuk transformasi sosial dan perkembangan ilmu di abad 21 ini.

Pelbagai peristiwa berlaku setiap hari. Namun, tidak semua peristiwa ini menjadi berita (Fleming et al. 2006, Lippmann [1950], 2006). Berikutan itu, persoalan asas yang sering ditanya adalah ‘Apakah yang menjadikan sesebuah peristiwa kepada berita?’ Untuk menjawab persoalan ini, banyak kajian media dilakukan untuk mengkaji dan mengenal pasti kriteria nilai berita yang secara implisit dan eksplisitnya mempengaruhi keputusan membuat berita. Namun, kajian banyak tertumpu kepada bentuk kuantitatif, terutamanya analisis kandungan (Galtung & Ruge 1965, Harcup & O’Neil 2001). Kajian ini cuba mengkaji nilai berita dalam akhbar Malaysia melalui kaedah kajian kualitatif iaitu melalui kaedah temubual dengan wartawan. Pendekatan ini melihat berita daripada perspektif individu yang terlibat dalam pembikinan berita (Harisson 2006). Pengkajian terhadap persoalan asas dalam kewartawanan ini bukan isu remeh dan menjadi satu usaha untuk menjana semula kekuatan ilmu media di Malaysia. Kajian yang meneroka perspektif pengamal media yang merupakan aktor utama dalam proses membuat berita memberi kupasan lebih mendalam dalam menjawab persoalan asas dalam ilmu kewartawanan ini dalam konteks tempatan.