Habits of the Heart

Tag: media

  • Rashomon effect and understanding geopolitics in 2026: How to make sense of the world

    Rashomon effect and understanding geopolitics in 2026: How to make sense of the world

    We live in a post-modern world, where truth, with a certainty of 100% is very hard to establish, if not impossible. In a world of ubiquitous AI, seeing is not believing. We are also in a media context (in the USA and much of the West) where serious questioning of government propaganda is rare, if…

  • Should the real ‘war’ be against lazy thinking and bad English?

    As early as 1946, George Orwell argued that English language is facing a ‘decline’ of sorts. In his essay Politics and the English Language, Orwell pointed out that English writing in his age – and I would argue, even in our age – suffers from two main problems, i.e., staleness of imagery and lack of…

  • Does Islam need ‘reform’?

    I am truly upset and angry that more than 12 people have died because of some vile cartoons. It should not have been, but it is so. I think the important task for people in France now, as well as around the world is to come to terms with it and deal with the aftermath.…

  • The Fall of Journalism and Rise of PR?

    Are we witnessing the fall of journalism and rise of PR? I find myself asking this question, quite often. As a former Public Relations man, I can spot a plug, a media story that is promoting either a product, a person or an organization – off a mile – and unfortunately, this seems to be…

  • Why you should be Skeptical of Media Pundits’ Commentary

    Are the pundits (or experts) on TV actually making us more ignorant? I am starting to wonder if all this explosion of ‘experts’ around us is really helping us understand the complex issues in front of us, or are they ‘dumbing down’ things, in order to reach us, and in essence not really helping us…

  • How to write about Islam?

    Amidst all the noise about the end of the world scenarios being portrayed as a result of ISIS conquest of parts of Iraq and Syria and equally banal assertions that Islam is somehow inherently violent, and needs ‘reformation’, the common man out there is left confused. As someone studying Islam in America, I am at…

  • Why you don’t need so much “breaking news”

       I read an interesting article on Guardian critiquing novelist Rolf Dobelli’s ideas that reading news can be dangerous for you. The kind of “breaking,” “live,” news that characterizes much of our experience these days is not very helpful and at worst, actually can be harmful to your well-being   His argument is that real insight and…

  • Q and A with Riz Khan, Anchor at Al –Jazeera English

    It is not everyday that you get to meet your childhood hero. To me, Riz Khan has always been a role-model and continues to do the kind of work that I would love to do, though in a different format. Even though I am a bit star-struck by him, I managed an  interview about an…

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