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 manufacturing stereotypes and scapegoats that have little to do with reality and much to do with sensationalizing the news.
A report by the Islamic Human Rights Commission argues that films such as The Siege "have helped demonise Muslims as violent, dangerous and threatening, and reinforce prejudices" (Ward, 2007). The Siege links "inter-cutting Islamic ritual and terrorist violence...in the minds of audiences...depicting Arabs as 'ruthless caricatures' with 'exaggerated and ridiculous acc...