The Media's Influence On Muslims And The News Media

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

Chaudhry, A,A. (2015) How does the media fuel Islamophobia? Islam21c. Available at: http://www.islam21c.com/politics/how-does-the-media-fuel-islamophobia/ (Accessed 20. October

After September 11, 2001, U.S. citizens were shocked that over 2,900 people were dead because of Islamic extremists (Kean, et al. "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States"). More deaths occurred in the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Tensions between the U.S. and Islamic extremists have not yet subsided. Americans receive information regarding Islamic extremists through the media, from which they form opinions on what the U.S.’s foreign policy with the Middle East should be, which affects military spending. To what extent has the media’s portrayal of Islamic extremists affected U.S. military spending and relations with the Middle East?

This is a 39% increase in the Australian Muslim growth rate since 2001, alarmingly, surpassing Australia’s current total population projections, however, although Islam is the fastest growing religion internationally, it is not domestically and Muslims are still an under represented minority in Australia. The above mentioned figures are an example as to how statistics can be manipulated into the wrong context to fit a media publications own construction of Muslim discourse. The contemporary (post 2000) links between Muslims and terrorism made by the media were the unprecedented widespread attacks in the United States that occurred on 11 September 2001. These events set the scene for the Australian medias role in implicitly and explicitly identifying Muslims as the other, equating Muslims [and Islam] with the threat of terrorism (Anne Ally,2007). An example of the equating of Islam with terrorism is Sharia Law. The media often associates this holy law of Islam documenting the expectations of Allah, and the positive principles followed by billions of Muslims of different backgrounds and cultures globally through scenes of brutality and oppression of the people in the conflicted middle eastern region linking it to the corrupted Jihadist fighters

Today one does not even have to wait for a movie to be released. Simply click the “ON” button on a remote and suddenly, thousands of news and television shows are available for one to enjoy. Muslims are also the target of prejudice in these news broadcasts and programs. One such television program released was a drama titled “24.” Issues and Controversies reports: “The show, which deals with a counterterrorism unit based in Los Angeles, featured a group of Muslim terrorist characters who were plotting to detonate nuclear weapons in the U.S. At the end of one episode, the terrorists successfully detonated a small bomb in a Los Angeles suburb, killing about 12,000 people” (“Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment”). This fictional show wrongly spreads the stereotypical image of Muslims and their clichéd image of the fundamentalists on 9/11. By adding the title and image of “Muslim” to the phrase “terrorist” the program wrongly advertised that potentially every Muslim could be a terrorist. This stereotypical image is similarly expressed in news broadcasts through the use of terrorism news. By increasingly using terrorism and Muslims in top

On the covers of newspapers and on the screens of many, the story of the Boston marathon hits the ground. Twenty six thousand eight hundred thirty nine people from all over the world came to run in this awe-inspiring marathon. Until the tragedy strikes right in their faces. The explosions, injuring scores of people, effected the lives of innocent civilians. Cheers were replaced with screams, sirens, and the first responders providing aide to the citizens. This was a brutal event just like the one on September 11, 2001. Instead of using seclusion towards political and economical reasons for events, the mass medias perceptive towards incidents involving the religion Islam has created the stereotypical thought in society in which we live in today.

Another way conflict has made the ethnic visibility of muslims portrayed through media is the Jiljab controversy of 2002 (Tarlo 2010). In September of 2002, a 13 year old girl of Bengali origin and her brothers, threatened the head principal of an London high school, for not allowing their sister to wear the hijab, because they said the Shalwar kamiz was not legitimate enough for their sister to express her religious beliefs. This matter was taken to court in 2004 where the brothers and their sister pleaded their case and walked out winners (Tarlo 2010). This controversy attracted major media attention and was featured in newspapers and television documents around the world (Tarlo 2010). This could be seen to exemplify the visibility of muslims in a way that portrays them to be people who ‘actively, publicly and consciously advocate their religious identity’ to the world (Schmidt 2011) showing that due to the conflict that had risen between a girl, her brothers and the school principal the medias effect portrayed this conflict to the whole world, representing muslims in a light that portrayed them as uncompromising and unreasonable, demanding people, which were at odds with ‘western liberal values’ (Tarlo 2010)

Since Islam is a religion that promotes peace and kindness, one could ask where the stereotype that all Muslims are terrorists originated. Following the tragedies of September 11, 2001, Arabs and Muslims have been presented as potential terrorists. This idea stemmed from the theory that, “media bias increases when a specific ethnic, religious, or racial group is seen as a threat to national security.” (Stiffler, 2013). Since the attacks on September 11, 2001 Muslims and Arabs have been “hyper-visible” in the media as potential terrorists. Due to the negative media attention and failure of most media platforms to

The government and media have a very important role in how other religions are perceived. There are "no problems of free speech," claims author Ursula Owen in reference to Britain, "just a mass of disinformation and abandonment of the responsiblity, by press and politicians to inform the public" (Owen 1). Ursula Owen questions whether the reports provided by the media really do inform citizens properly about specific religious groups. Often news stories seem to strengthen stereotypes rather than deliver a true understanding of cultural norms. For example, Muslims are protrayed as violent and misogynistic when another story surfaces about what is potentially just a localized incident (Owen 1). Is the media "part of the problem or part of the solution [...] How are concepts of culture and identity being represented? How does hate speech manifest itself in the media? How is religious intolerance being reported? How is the media reflecting the contentious debates and arguments about the place of free expression itself?" (Owen 1). The selective control of the media is a type of censorship that undoubtedly creates a sense of otherness. "Conservative politicians and media commentators have skillfully used concern about

The one sided representation that they get fed should not be the only one heard. Although the media depicts in such a negative way the lifestyles and/or beliefs of British Muslims, it is necessary to also see the good that media representation can do. Since the media is an important form or representation, challenging the mainstream press is a means of showing a view that the public eye is not aware of. This allows them to share who they are, which can lead to getting equal opportunity and dignity amongst communities and

Here and abroad, politicians adopt increasingly polarised responses to terror: either, the Barrack Obama pretence of blocking out all references to Islam, or the populist, and xenophobic view stigmatizing all Muslims and refugees in the process. Obama displayed a bewildering refusal to acknowledge Islam, most recently displayed when he ascribed the blame for the Orlando shooting on general attitudes to the LGBTI community. Any mention of Islam, or the fundamentalist sects within it, supposedly “feeds the narrative”, or “plays into the hands” of terrorists.

The Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, showed different news media sources with similar representation of the shooter, Omar Mateen. In the content analysis, it highlighted that within Australian print media, most articles used the terms terrorist and radicalised to describe Omar. It also found that the media was more likely to use the term Muslim interchangeably with terrorist or Islamic extremist. The findings of this content analysis further emphasized that the term terrorist was used to encourage the audience to perceive Omar as an outsider. Moreover, by using the term Muslim interchangeably with Islamic terrorist, the media associated the two as being the same. To understand how

Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.

As a result of the tragic events that took place on 9/11, Islamophobia was born. It has been over a decade and Islamophobia is not only still existent, but it’s unfortunately growing in the heart of the average American more and more each day. For this we can thank our lovely media. Muslims are being targeted at every corner. In this country, you are taught by society to fear Islam. You are led to think that it is a violent cult that preaches hate and teaches violence. The sad part is, whether Islam does any of this is still a question that is being debated. Only just recently, CNN attacked Reza Aslan during a live interview for not condemning the religion of Islam and its teachings. When he replied and defended Islam with supporting facts, they attacked him for being hostile. In this country, you are taught that Muslims hate your great American freedom, even though Muslim and American

“When I think Islam, I think belly dancers, bombs, and billionaires” This is something I have heard from many people’s mouths. When people think of the word Islam, or Muslim, a certain generalized picture comes to mind. I am sure this picture involves such things as sand, camels, oil, covered women, hookah, amongst other things. Though this is what the Western media generalizes Islam as, there is much more to Islam than the three B’s and these pictures that come to mind. Islam is not only a religion but is also a way of life. Like many things, Islam is stereotyped, generalized, and misunderstood. When most of us think of Islam we think of the “oppressed” women and “messed up” laws and we fail to see the truths of Islam and what it really stands for.