Muslims in the Media
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The power of the media in the modern world is undeniable. In the way the media frames an issue or a people group, it can shape changing public opinion and the deep-seated beliefs of a culture. "Media bias is a perceived notion that certain press has and is pushing a viewpoint, instead of reporting news or airing programs in an objective way" (Ellis-Christensen, n.d.). Often, there is an underlying objective behind media bias, as in the case of repeated assurances by media that U.S. beef is safe and no instances of Mad Cow disease have been reported here. Such coverage is designed to protect the beef industry, not the American people, and video clips of diseased cattle falling(a telltale sign of Mad Cow's disease(and being electric-prodded by handlers to force them to stand up and be counted for the slaughter prompted riots in Japan and South Korea after their governments agreed to allow U.S. beef into their countries. The case of media bias against Muslims is similar. There is a "presentation of facts that shows a national versus international bias," and "In most cases, when key world issues are discussed in presentation of the news in the US, these issues are discussed in terms of how they are perceived by Americans," and not by the world (Ellis-Christensen, n.d.). Why are Muslims portrayed in the American media with a negative bias? There may be many reasons, but the primary one is that the media likes to "create" news by manufactur
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sm. Yet, there is an equivalence made between the two" (Foster, 2006). Karim asserts, "there are very few people who use terror in the name of Islam," and that "the majority (of Muslims) believe their religion stands for peace and harmony among human kind" (Panorama, 2005). The association between "terrorism, militancy or extremism" and Muslims is "1000 to 1 times more likely for Muslims than for any other faith group" in the media (Ahmed, 2004). Ahmed (2004) finds "this lopsided association" to be "troubling given the fact that all religions, not just Islam, have in the recent past fallen prey to misinterpretation by a radical fringe."
Not surprisingly, "growing anti-Muslim feeling" has been identified by several surveys conducted following 9/11 (BBC News, 2005). Leicester University professor Richard Bonney asks, "It cannot be denied that terrorists use Islamic teachings or interpretations for their acts but does this necessarily mean that Islam has promoted and encouraged these acts?" (BBC News, 2005). Bonney makes a case for the "silent majority," whose views he contends are not being aired (BBC News, 2005). He states that "If these views are ignored, or viewed as not 'newsworthy' then a biased picture may emerge
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Mainstream Muslim, Muslims Foster, Retrieved July, Muslims Britain, Karim Muslims, South Korea, Karim Karim, Muslims Media, Pew Forum, Rights Commission, july 13, retrieved july 13, july 13 2008, foster 2006, retrieved july, 13 2008, ahmed 2004, ward 2007, panorama 2005, bbc 2005, media bias, akel nd, university retrieved july, carleton university retrieved, panorama 2005 karim,
Approximate Word count = 1659
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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