Speech papers - Essay Example

The portrayals were characterized by repetitive and indiscriminate depiction of the Muslim community that reinforce stereotyping and misunderstanding among the wider public. Central to the negativity of the media's Arab and Islamic portrayals are the reporters themselves. The idea is that claims to objectivity in news reporting is a myth and that, in their reports, they have the power to shape and change meanings that influence public opinion just with use, misuse or non-use of certain words.

An excellent example of this is the way Palestinians are labeled terrorists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when the ANC that uses the same methods that got the former labeled as such were called as freedom fighters. (Manning, p. 52) Dr. Ibrahim Hilal added another example when he pointed out in an ABC interview how Western networks never say occupied territories in Palestine and instead mention “territories” or the just the “Palestinian people” in their reports about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in addition to the usual failure in mentioning the reason of resistance and violence on the part of the Arabs. (p52) There is also a tendency to opinionate and cast blame on Muslims as a whole by using specific incidents and personalities in order to represent their community and what they stand for.

For instance, during the peak of the media coverage of the Lebanese rape gangs, the Islamic religion was repeatedly dragged into the fray, with reporters going as far as pontificating how Islamic culture and values breed the kind of violence that Arabs are capable of. Manning identified the general media slant that declares rape is typical of men of Middle Eastern extraction and that “white” women are threatened by the communities that harbor them. (Manning, p63) What is happening is actually a sanctioned prejudice towards a race on the guise of public indignation on specific criminal acts.

The apt description, according to Michael Humphrey, is to “exoticize the Other” perhaps in an effort to demonize, curtail and control an ethnic minority. (p63) This comes in handy, for instance, when advancing certain policies that concern minority groups such as on the issue of what to do with refugees and asylum seekers. The section of the public who does not have any idea what the Muslims are or their faith and beliefs, their culture and their community have to depend heavily on the media and the printed material for their opinions and judgments.

It is, hence, unfortunate that they get to read about Muslim depictions that are negative one-dimensional and often misleading and malicious. What is more unfortunate is the fact – as has been previously explained – that this phenomenon is a deliberate and systematic campaign on the part of the media. The media is guilty with the typical Western prejudice on Muslims and Islam and also, the “otherness” that comes with having a different culture and way of life. This is unfair to the Muslim community and unjust in its most extreme manifestations.

It also harms societies that are multicultural and diverse. It breeds segregation and alienation among groups that should have been coming together and learning from each other, enriching the