Editorial Notes: Communication, Media And Its Impact In Times Of Crisis

This issue brings on the theme of Communication, Media and Its Impact in Times of Crisis which eight of them are selected articles presented at the 2021 International Conference on Islam, Media and Communication (ICIMAC2021) which was held on 10 & 11 July. Another four are submissions made by the individuals who wish to publish with Al-I'lam respectively.  The conference was organised by the Communication Program, Faculty of Leadership and Management, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM). The topics presented in this conference were related to the current situation where the whole world is being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and during this crisis, communication via proper media is needed as a message delivery channel.

When a crisis occurred and affected the whole nation, the government will play the role to make sure the citizens are in their best condition. Thus, using the right channel to communicate with citizens in the early stage of the crisis is important to avoid panic attacks (Lin, Spence, Sellnow & Lachlan, 2016). In this era of technology, the use of media, especially social media in crisis communication can become the best strategy as it allows more than two-ways interaction between government, media and the public (Lin et al. 2016 especially the content uploaded on social media, which can influence and attract thousands of audiences to follow and have trust in the post. It is important to be credible when it is related to religious content so that people would not be misunderstood on the information given. Meanwhile, Wawarah and Wan Amizah (2021) in their article titled Naratif Drama Islamik: Motif Visual Mior Hashim Manap melalui Latar Lokasi discussed the selection of television drama's location as one of the important elements in message delivery to the audience. Dramas selected were considered dramas that have high Islamic values, which were aired on TV Al-Hijrah. The findings show that the selection of locations for the selected dramas was suitable with the message as the director wished for. This research explores another aspect of da'wah message delivery, which is not only relying upon the actors and actresses, but the location also can give the impact.
The media's role as a channel to deliver the message cannot be denied. In the era of technology where social media is one of the popular channels, traditional media such as television is still useful to the people. Daniel, Mohd Nor Shahizan, Wan Amizah and Mankroen (2021) see television as an essential medium in disseminating information to the public. Their research on Indonesian TV9 Nusantara, which is known as Islamic television in Indonesia was concentrated on Islamic content and at the same time managed to remain sustained with the support of the local community in Surabaya.
Another article is about Halal Lifestyle during COVID-19 Pandemic; Expanding the Scope of Government Public Relations in Sharia Economy, which discussed government roles in enhancing halal lifestyle in Indonesia. Tria, Sa'diyah, Nani and Mariam (2021) are concerned that the halal lifestyle will be led to a greater impact among Muslims and non-Muslim to make halal products more popular worldwide. The researchers expect that Indonesia with the largest Muslim in the world could become the halal hub for the ASEAN region. Furthermore, this can be accomplished with strong support from the government agencies especially the public relations departments 33who can promote Indonesian halal products worldwide.

A paper titled The Role of Social Media in Creating Awareness During and in the Aftermath of the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Field Study of a Sample of Future was also
presented. the problem of the study focused on identifying the role of social media in raising awareness of COVID-19 risks and their repercussions from the point of view of Yemeni students at Future University. The papers tried to find out the advantages and disadvantages of social media during the pandemic time to raise students' awareness of Covid-19. It also tried to find out how universities are making use of social media during this time. The study data confirmed the importance of social media role in raising awareness of COVID-19 risks.

The Role of Media Professionals in News Production on Al Hayat Radio and Radio
Jordan on the Credibility of Media News: A Comparative Study was also presented. It aimed to reveal the role that media professionals have in producing news materials on Al Hayat Radio and Jordan Radio. The paper tried to find out the role of media in Jordanian society and the credibility of news media. It also tried to find the extent of objectivity, impartiality and honesty of media practices. The main finding of the paper is that the radio station must train its employees to enable them to acquire the necessary skills at work so that these experiences and skills contribute to the performance of various tasks due to lack of skills and training to be able to run the radio professionally.
Far from the Covid-19 pandemic, but close to the epidemic of the annexation of land and occupation; another paper was titled Israeli Violations Against Palestinian Journalists. It focuses on the role that the Palestinian media played in building up awareness of the Palestinian issue. Specifically, this study addresses five main topics: Protection of journalists in the international law, the types of Palestinian media outlets and their development, the national role of Palestinian media and journalism in the Palestinian struggle, the Israeli violations against Palestinian journalists, and statistics on the Israeli violations against Palestinian journalism in the past decade. The study results show that journalism is important in Palestine and is deemed as a part of the Palestinian national work, and the occupation committed all sorts of violations at the Palestinian journalism without being held accountable. The study recommends the formation of a unified Palestinian body that represents journalists in Palestine, and that has a solid reference across the Islamic countries; and the formation of legal committees that can prosecute the occupation at international institutions to hold it accountable for the violations against the journalists.
The final paper was titled The impact of the use of new media on the gratifications achieved by Dhofar University students. The study tries to find out the uses of new media