Mediating Islam

Janet Steele is associate professor of media and public affairs and international affairs at George Washington University. She is the author of Email dari Amerika [Email from America] and Wars Within: The Story of Tempo, an Independent Magazine in Soeharto's Indonesia.

"A richly-layered overview of the journalistic landscape in Malaysia and Indonesia."- Peter Gordon (Asian Review of Books) "Steele's study is well situated within the literature on Islam and politics in Southeast Asia. It provides an important corrective not only to simplistic assumptions that Islam cannot allow for free expression, balance, or critique but also to superficial understandings of how religious values shape people's public activities."(Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia) "Steele's book presents a landmark work, setting the stage for more nuanced engagements with contemporary Muslim practices of journalism in a world of contested religious ideals, social values, and political projects."(Journal of Islamic Studies) "Janet Steele's book really is an eye-opener for anybody interested in comparative perspectives on journalism ethics. She skillfully deconstructs any possible assumption that ethical reflections in modern media organization is a privilege of the West."(Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly) "Janet Steele's new book on Islam and journalism in Southeast Asia is a refreshing tour de force of qualitative research, grounded in years of in-depth interviews and participant observation at five influential print publications. . . . this is an extremely important book that sets new standards for qualitative research on the internal workings of newsrooms, and the world views that prevail there."(Journal of Press Politics)