How Media Portrays Muslims as Terrorists?

The world is full of misinformation and misperception, which is used against societies, regions as well as people from different parts of the world. One evident victim of this stereotype and misinformation is the people, belonging to the Muslim faith. The western and other media around the world has created a concept of Islamophobia, which has created a bad image of Islam and Muslims in the western society. It is so unfair and sad to see that billions of Muslims are thought to be terrorists, whereas just one small section of the Muslim faith has been associated with terrorism. The fact of the matter is that every society has some terror elements like the western world has to deal with the terror of white supremacist, who does not want to see any other race alive in this world. The extremist elements are found in every part of the world, but it is quite shocking that only Muslims are considered terrorists. So, when any terror incident comes from a person belonging to the Muslim faith, it gets extra attention from the media, and things are presented with so much fabricated information, which forces common people to believe in the wrong fact that Muslims are terrorists (Sultan)

 Evidence from Research on How Media Portrays Muslims as Terrorists

            It is important to mention here that it is not just merely a perception that media portrays Muslims as terrorists; rather it is a fact, which has been proved time and again by the world media, especially the western media. So, it is vital to present some evidence that how Muslims' image is being tarnished by the media. The University of Alabama decided to interrogate this issue, so they conducted a detailed study to know the facts. The researchers expanded their study to record the reaction of media for different terrorist attacks happening from 2006 to 2015. These terrorists’ attacks were taken from the Global Terrorism Database. Then media portrayal of these attacks was analyzed in detail. The results came with shocking results, as a study found that if a terrorist attack was committed by a Muslim person, the attention received by the media was 357% more than any other attack. It was found that if any terrorist attack was committed by non-Muslim, it received 15 headlines on average, but attack by a Muslim terrorist received 105 headlines (Chalabi). 

Another study analyzed the reaction and information pattern of media during the Norway terrorist attacks happened in 2011, where no Muslims were involved. But media content analysis showed that media was using a bad tone against Muslims, and they gave their verdict in the initial period that these attackers must be Muslims (Alghamdi). Another study was conducted to examine the media coverage of terrorists’ attacks, which happened during the time period of 2011 & 2015. The study came with a shocking finding that among all attacks in this time period, only 12.4% of attacks were committed by Muslims, but still, these attacks received 41.4% media coverage in the United States. So, when an attack was committed by a Muslim, it was reported five times more intense as compared to any attack committed by any other person (Kentish).

Variety of studies has shown a clear bias of western media against the Muslims as common people are misinformed about Islam and Muslims. The recent Christchurch terrorist attack in 2019 showed that such wrong perception and image created by media can be so deadly against a fraction of society. The white supremacist killed 51 innocent Muslims. When people are propagated that certain fraction of society or people belonging to certain race or religion are bad people and they are terrorists, then it is equal to enticing hate against those people. So, you never know who would be provocative with hate, and take any wrong step, like a white supremacist taken in New Zealand. It is so sad to see that a person can hate his fellow human beings so much, just because they are Muslims. So, media has should realize the severity of the problem, and they should play more responsible role (Pirsoul)

Conclusion on How Media Portrays Muslims as Terrorists

After looking at so much evidence and aspects from the media, it can be concluded in the end that western and other world media has been biased against the Muslims. They have created a bad image of all Muslims that all of them are terrorists, which is an unlikely thing to happen with any faith. Good and bad people are part of every society. If there are extremists in Muslims, then western society has its own extremists. Then why only Muslims are being targeted by the media. It is time for the world to learn a lesson from the recent white supremacist attack in New Zealand that they should stop propagating against Islam and Muslim faith, and they must also play a part in showing the positive image of Islam, because fact is that only a small fraction of Muslim faith is associated with terrorism. 

 Works Cited on How Media Portrays Muslims as Terrorists

Alghamdi, Emad A. "The Representation of Islam in Western Media: The Coverage of Norway Terrorist Attacks." International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature 4.3 (2015).

Chalabi, Mona. Terror attacks by Muslims receive 357% more press attention, study finds. 2018. 25 October 2019 <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/20/muslim-terror-attacks-press-coverage-study>.

Kentish, Benjamin. Terror attacks receive five times more media coverage if perpetrator is Muslim, study finds. 2017. 26 October 2019 <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world-0/terror-attacks-media-coverage-muslim-islamist-white-racism-islamophobia-study-georgia-state-a7820726.html>.

Pirsoul, Nicolas. We need to stop conflating Islam with terrorism. 2019. 26 October 2019 <https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-stop-conflating-islam-with-terrorism-114073>.

Sultan, Dr. Khalid. "Linking Islam with Terrorism: A Review of the Media Framing since 9/11." IX.II (2016).