Discourse On Religion

One religion that contains bias from the media is the Amish. “Amish settlements have become a cliché for refusing technology. Tens of thousands of people wear identical, plain, homemade clothing, cultivate their rich fields with horse-drawn machinery, and live in houses lacking that basic modern spirt called electricity” (Rheingold 221). The media takes a very sophisticated belief into an assumption that suggests that Amish do not use technology at all. Another religion that contains bias from the media is Islam. According to the media, Islam is a religion associated with terrorism. This media assumption is based on the, “emergence of the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (ISIS) which allegedly shows videos of the beheadings of their prisoners who are most often journalists” (Espiritu). This has caused people to use the terms Muslim and Terrorist interchangeably. Not all Muslims who associate with Islam are terrorists. For example, Malala Yousafzai, a Muslim, is the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner and an education activist. Media also makes assumptions on the religion for Jews, Judaism. Jews are often interpreted as incredibly prosperous, cheap, and unkind. “In truth, Jewish people can be wealthy or poor, intelligent or less intelligent, kind or otherwise” (Media Portrayals of Religion:

This has resulted in the public becoming active players in the media communication process. But has this changed the way the media influences our opinions since the beginning of the decade? in this case our understanding of Muslims and Islam as a part of Australian culture. It is evident people understand and interpret media presented to them by factors such as the education of the reader/viewer as well as their social and cultural background, however, the method in which the information is presented to them is also a considerable factor. An example of this is the editorial and presentation styles adopted by different media

One of the most widely discussed issues in the U.S. Muslim community is the negative image of Islam in the American media, an issue that was cause for concern even before 9/11. While appeals to the media for accuracy and fairness continue, newspaper headlines regularly print the words “Islam” and “Muslim” next to words like “fanatic,” “fundamentalist,” “militant,” “terrorist” and “violence.” Uses of the term “jihad” in television programs

How the has media poisoned peoples’ brains to think like this. Media has created this mental construct, in which all Muslims are the “bad guys”. Media plays a big role in a lot of different situations. Media mostly portrays African American as “thugs, and drug dealers”, media portrays Latinos as all being “illegal”. Media plays an essential role in the development of the young children, who’s brains are still developing. It really affects their world view.

After the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, media coverage throughout the United States was very opinionated in the reporting of the events, which caused many Americans to be immersed in a “culture of fear” (Asmal 40). In such cases of terrorism, the social role of media should be to calm the citizens and establish a sense of identity that leads them on a path of restoration to a normal life. However, media coverage after 9/11 was heavily invested in the results and trauma of the situation that it did not support Americans to adjust back to their lives, but rather influenced their attitude towards the actions of the terrorists. The way that mainstream media portrayed the danger of terrorism from the September 11 attacks caused Americans to attribute the terroristic actions of a select few who practice Islam with the entire community of Muslims. News reports of Muslim terrorist activity have caused Americans to deeply believe and see all “Muslims as domestic terrorists” (Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR] 45). A factor that contributes to this may be the unproportionate reporting of news related to domestic terrorists and Muslims. A 2014 study by the Journal of Communication indicated that out of the total amount of domestic terrorist news reports published, eighty-one percent of the reports were identified to be connected with a Muslim. In comparison, only six percent of total domestic terrorists in the United States, as reported by the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the same timespan, identified as Muslims (CAIR 45). The difference in the percentages between the media and actual data is shocking and reflects on the inaccuracy and bias of news coverage. In fact, the inadequate coverage of terrorism in Western countries has also contributed to the mere publicity of the terrorists

Currently, the anti-Muslim and anti-immigration political party is gaining more and more support all over the world, making it the third largest political group worldwide under the pre-text that “It isn’t Islamophobia when they ARE trying to kill you (barenakedislam).” While activists spread misleading information about Muslims to help protect their nation and culture, the public needs to stop accepting most media about Muslims as truth because it causes prejudice towards immigrants of middle-Eastern origin, it creates a fear of terror in our society, and it contributes to violence based on misinformation.

Islam has always been a controversial topic ever since the events of September 11th, 2001. Even before then, Muslims have faced prejudice. Nowadays, with allegations on social media and of recently elected leaders, it has not gotten any better. As a Muslim myself, I find it very important that this topic be addressed.

Initially, media in all their aspects portray the wrong meaning of Islam and lack the essential message of Islam in the world. Indeed, Islam from its name represents

The development of a new Christian discourse of faith would produce a new religious theology and philosophy within Christianity. The new theology (talk about God) would not only open an expanding discussion concerning spiritual understanding and authority, it would also lead to decades of strife and conflict which would ultimately split the Church asunder. This new theology would also change the course of history and permeate much of what we have come to understand as Western culture.

The media paints an identity, which is a vital role that impacts the perception of Americans about Muslims and Islam. Media depictions influence the public opinions of Americans that negatively modify Muslim people. The attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11) ignited hate and anger against Arab and Muslim Americans that posed serious life consequences, mainly due to biased media coverage (Eid 610). The most common explanation for this rationale is incited by the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror. The representations of Muslims are often aggressive, violent, and drawn to terrorism in a range of media such as radio, newspaper, and television. The exposure of media coverage stereotypes towards Muslims as violent can increase and contribute

Portrayal of Muslims in the Media Ambarta Noor San Diego State University Portrayal of Muslims in the Media Negative portrayals of Muslims in the mainstream media have led to widespread islamophobia in society. The way the media have illustrated Islam and Muslims in the media has influenced citizens to be misinformed about the true nature of both Muslims and Islam. As a result of the negative representations of Muslims in the media, societies views of Muslims have been adversely rendered and caused an unnecessary fear of Muslims in society. Exacerbation of islamophobia in the media has also led to a number of hate crimes towards Muslims (McQueeney, 2014). Instead of focusing on real news, medias often narrate stories

Although some fringe movements of other religions are quite radical and violent, extremists in the Muslim world receive a disproportionate amount of media coverage.

Muslims do not seem to have achieved social acceptance in the society as compared to other ethnic or racial minority groups. Although deviant behavior by Muslims or Muslim organizations can in no way be considered acceptable let alone be tolerable, denouncing an entire community of people of the same religion,

The connection between Islam and terrorism was not intensified until the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center that pushed the Islamic faith into the national and international spotlight (Smith, 2013). As Smith (2013) articulated, “Many Americans who had never given Islam a second thought before 9/11 now had to figure out how to make sense of these events and relate to the faith tradition that ostensibly inspired them” (p. 1). One way in which people made sense of these events was through the media channels that influenced their overall opinions by shaping a framework of censored ideas (Yusof, Hassan, Hassan & Osman, 2013). In a survey conducted by Pew Forum (2012), 32% of people reported that their opinions of Muslims were greatly influenced by the media’s portrayal of Islam that depicted violent pictorials and fundamentalist Muslims. Such constant negative depiction is likely to lead to the inevitable—prejudice and hate crime. For instance, in 2002 alone there were approximately 481 hate crimes that were carried out against Muslims (Smith, 2013). Ever since the 9/11 attacks Muslim people have been the target of “suspicion, harassment and discrimination” (Talal, n.d., p. 9).

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).