Past media coverage of Vietnam and the Gulf War has suggested that the media does play a role in influencing public opinion, which can also have an affect on foreign policy decisions. Any Journalism 101 class teaches students the W’s of reporting (who, what, where, when), but the way a reporter chooses to report a given story can be influenced by his own perceptions or personal biases. In a time when Islamophobia is on the incline, and the politically correct movement has left Muslims out in the cold, unbiased reporting is paramount.
Throughout the world, otherwise peaceful religions often come under the abuse and manipulation of twisted individuals or groups to promote some cause or another. Countless acts of violence have been committed time and again under the guise of some so-called religious cause. Yet when reporting on terrorist incidents, the media repeatedly and unfairly targets Islam by naming the religion of the perpetrator thereby essentially equating Islam with terrorism. Hence, charged terms such as "Muslim extremists" or "Islamic terrorists" are frequently used in news stories. In an effort to lure viewers, the media often relies on provocative sound-bytes or headlines to capture their audiences and keep them tuned in. Consequently it is small wonder why Islam, the most misunderstood religion of America, has been dubbed the religion of extremism, fundamentalism, and terror.
For the media to isolate Islam as a religion that fosters terrorism is biased and just plain irresponsible. In 1995 when Timothy McVeigh committed "the worst terrorist act in American history" by bombing the Oklahoma City federal building and killing 167 people, many of them children, reporters did not sensationalize the story by referring to McVeigh as a "Christian terrorist." Had the perpetrator been a Muslim, even a non-practicing Muslim, it is easy to imagine the headlines that this would have stirred. It is worth noting here that after the Oklahoma City bombing, the TWA 800 disaster, and the Olympic bombing, Muslims and Arabs were initially blamed, which resulted in harassment of Arab-Americans and Muslims. After the Oklahoma bombing, this resulted in approximately 220 attacks against Arab-Americans and Muslims.
It is the individual that should be held responsible for committing the act of terror, not the religion. Far too often Islam has been the scapegoat for terrorism. Because the media is in the position of educator and informer, it has a responsibility to its audience to report fairly and accurately. Careless reporting can only lead to rabid misunderstanding and misperceptions. This kind of reporting should not be tolerated and has no place in journalism.
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