1.4 Reason for choosing topic
As said before, the media plays a vital role when it comes to shaping the opinions of society about topical issues. If the media is constantly portraying a certain group of people in a negative light it is almost inevitable that some consumers of media content will in turn begin to view that group in such light. This has been evident with people of Islamic faith, those within the Islamic community have been victim to the negative portrayal of the media, with the media often portraying them as a community to be weary of and subsequently this has led to the contribution to the notion of ‘Islamophobia’. The majority of those who practice the faith have expressed that Islam is a religion of peace and not war or terror.
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Some have said that defining Islamophobia is not what is important but understanding what encourages it and its effects on society is what is key. Islamophobia in modern day society is fundamentally aimed at marginalising Muslims from society. The negativity and all the hostility related with Islamophobia is what prevents people from appreciating and understanding the values and culture that Islam as a religion upholds. It is argued that their needs and demands are not adequately met by political leaders and negative attitudes from the public do not always give Muslims the opportunity to engage in critical debates aimed at addressing the issue of Islamophobia. Subsequently this just enhances the hatred and puts a strain on the social cohesion of the societies. It is a vicious cycle that at this present moment in time has no end in sight.
Chapter 3- Literature review
In this section of the thesis, the author shall examine previous studies relating to the topic of discussion which is the representation of Islam in western media. This section of the thesis shall cover four significant areas which have been explored in British media.
1. The construction of Muslims and Islam as the ‘other’
2. The role of race when constructing Muslim and Islam as the ‘Asian other’
3. The role of the media and the subjectivity of journalists when reproducing stereotypes of Muslim and Islam
4. The importance of international and domestic news reporting when creating images of Muslim and Islam in western
“9/11 changed America fundamentally, far more so than outsiders realized at the time. For Americans it genuinely was a new Pearl Harbour, an attack on the homeland that made them feel vulnerable for the first time in 60 years,” (Powell, 2003). The terrorist attacks of 9/11 affect America today because they instigated the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the “War on Terror,” and led to an increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes. “Often referred to as 9/11, the attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush,” (9/11, 2010). The most noticeable of these effects was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
I believe that it is important how religion and culture is shown in the media, because people of all ages watch films and this embeds ideas into their minds about certain ethnic groups. Projector: IMAGES Iron Man, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Zero Dark Thirty and Argo Presenter: I chose these films because I believe that they strongly convey the message of Muslims being the enemy of the
When I was fifteen years old and in middle school, there was this one kid in my grade that was Muslim. He sat by himself minding his own business but everyday a group of kids in the grade above us would come and make fun of this young boy, each day it would be the same thing, they would call him names and tell him to go back to where he came from. All because he was a Muslim boy in Australia. One day he fought back to the bullies and threw a punch at the main culprit, of course he got beat up and all the boys had to go to the office and talk to the principle but what was astonishing was that the Muslim boy got suspended for three days and all the bullies did not get into trouble. From that day, I saw how the world target Muslims and how there is this witch hunt for them.
The author in this reading is pointing out many instances of American people being hypocritical when writing or speaking about Muslim people. Some of the main topics presented are of American’s thinking they saved Muslim women, attitudes about war, veiled women and sex scandals. The author talked about the poor living standards in Afghanistan with most of the homes not having access to clean water and how 36% of people are living below the poverty line (pg. 18). The author then goes on to explain that 1 out of 7 Afghan women are widows and are left with no help from the government and are forced to make a living through begging, prostitution, or suicide (pg. 19).
When investigating the experience of being Muslim in America Ghazal states “In 2001, the US department of justice recorded a 1600 percent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes from the prior year” (Ghazal 40), reflecting the impact of rising hatred towards
The Media and The Manufacture of Deviance 800 words, Assessment Weighting 30% Briefly define the concept of ‘moral panic’ Cohen argues the concept of moral panic is a person or group that becomes defined as a threat to society to a person’s social value and their interests. Moral panic is fear that comes from a group or issue that causes panic within society, but it’s believed this fear and reaction is exaggerated and this is felt and reacted to by the public forms of media such as newspapers, articles and live news etc; knife crime and islamophobia. “Implicit in the use of two words moral panic is the suggestion that the threat is to something held sacred by or fundamental to the society” (Thompson, Kenneth 1998) Cohens definition of moral panic is an over exaggerated reaction by groups
Islamophobia. A serious, distressing issue in our world. It is supposedly prejudiced against Islam or Muslims, but is it really? Every terrorist attack caused by any bearded man of colour is known as “Islamic terrorism” but if the attack is caused by a white man, he suddenly becomes “mentally unstable”.
The purpose of this report is to address ethnocentrism and Islamophobia in Australian society and how it can be reduced. This report will cover three key points. The history of ethnocentrism in Australia, how extreme versions of ethnocentrism such as Islamophobia is effecting Australian society, and how it can be resolved. This information has been drawn from peer reviewed academic journals and online newspaper articles. ISSUE History of Ethnocentrism
A. PREAMBLE The terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 has sparked intense curiosity and interest in the world especially the West to learn and investigate the religion of Islam. The Muslim people are portrayed as violent and barbaric, and Islam as oppressive and antithesis to human rights values. Thus, escalation of public opinion about Islam has encouraged debates and forums, and also stirred demonstrations and movements which have compelled the Muslims to speak out their minds and interpret and recast their texts viz. Quran and Sunnah of prophet Mohammad and even question and challenge the prevailing culture and practices, and domineering structures.
According to an article on CNN, Muslims only make up less than one percent of the American population (Yan). This number can be surprising to many Americans because of what they see and hear on media. There are many misconceptions about Muslims in our society that is causing hate towards them. Through a personal story in Suzanne Barakat’s speech titled “Islamophobia killed my brother. Let’s end the hate” she effectively shows how bigotry against Muslims is a problem in society.
Ignorance is bliss and when it comes to prejudice that famous saying is profound. As a Muslim I try my best to educate any Non-Muslims whenever the topic of Islam comes up. Ignorance is our biggest enemy and the Muslims of the world need to make it their job to educate those around them in an attempt to remove any assumptions people have as a result of watching the
Arabs have many stereotypes that people tend to believe are true. The media is a very powerful tool of communication because it can show us other parts of the world that we normally don’t see on a regular basis. Therefore, people choose what they want to believe and what they want to accept as true
It has been explored how news media abuse people with different skin colour or religion. For example how they portray black people and constantly associate them with terms like crime. This theory is supported by Diawara where he says, “This tends to leave a negative impression of the certain group in the audience’s mind and they are more likely to associate their future experiences based on their impression.” it is also evident by (couriermail.com) where states, “The new problem is social media – it’s easy for people to hide behind a mobile phone to make racial slurs,”. In other words, it is easy for people to use their mobile phone and by speaking be rude to people from different cultures .
Media serves as communication channels through which news, entertainment or messages can be dispersed. Therefore, media serves as a good transport for prejudice and discrimination, because it is by media that the two concepts became popular. In this assignment will be critically discussing the following: Firstly, definitions of concepts like media, prejudice and discrimination. Secondly, incidents that happened over the years, that went viral over the media concerning the two concepts. Lastly, ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination.
The media plays an important role in influencing societies views and opinions about current news, issues and events that the world face. Within the emergence of new technology like the internet and cell phones, it has such current events and current news to be easily accessible to a global audience and to be consumed in real time. The Paris Terrorist Attack is a great example for the statement above because as soon as it happened, the attack instantly went viral all over social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Blogs etc. This essay aims to explain the growth of social media and specifically look at the impact it has on religion. It will discuss whether journalists should be religiously and culturally trained in order to report fairly