Role of Media in Recognizing American Muslims as Terrorists after the Incident of 9/11 - Research Paper Example

Introduction 9/11 incident is a grey mark in the history of America when people faced a massive terrorist attackby some Islamic extremists. In the year 2001 one of the most attractive and busiest buildings in America were attacked by a group of terrorists that was The World Trade Centre. Along with that some other buildings were also attacked in the United States. Many people lost their life during this attack and it lead to fear and chaos in the city. American social life was very civilized and peaceful but because of this incident the American Muslims had to suffer. They became a reason of hatred without committing any crime or without being involved in any kind of unsocial activities. The incident that took place in September 11 2001 is deeply regretted by American society and the impact of this attack was trembling. After this incident Muslims were recognized as terrorists in many places. Media played an important role in the depiction of the face of Muslims against the world. This was a period of sorrow for everyone including Muslims in America. This research paper analyses and discusses the important facts relate to the following research question “What was the role of media in recognizing American Muslims as terrorists after the incident of 9/11?” Analysis Media plays a very important role in shaping a society. Every individual has an opinion in the modern world this is because of advancement in technology and fastest means of communication possible via media. 9/11 was one of the biggest shocks for the people of United States despite of taking huge precautions this terrible incident happened and shook life of citizen. This day was a matter of sorrow for each and every people residing in United States which includes people of all religion. However the impact of media during the incident had a very negative progression (Rippin 140). Because of huge rush and mass messages media played a role that was very unfavourable for Muslims residing in America. Many Muslims were permanent citizens and because of social disturbance it became tough for them to live in the society. The terrorist activity involved only a couple of anti-social elements but the incident let innocent Muslims to suffer not only in the United States but all over the country. People following Islamic religion were seen in a face of threat instead of being accepted by other people in the society. Many Muslims had also died in the incident but the information forecasted by media was not in favour of Muslim people and hence the society had to witness them as anti social people and they were ill-treated in the society. There are some evidences that provide sufficient response to answer the question how media is involved in the negative impact on Muslim’s after 9/11. This incident happened and there were fear and anger in every place of United States looking for an answer to why this had happened. However on the other end media’s approach to people during that time was in such a way that people had to believe that Muslims were responsible behind the attacks and local Muslims were forced against the anger of people (Barkan 201). The messages quoted by media after the incident of 9/11 had direct relevance to involvement of Muslims along with the terrorist groups. These messages were harsh against the community and media had reached information to every corner of America. There was not sufficient proof behind those allegations however it was a hot topic that media could use for more and more publication. Though it is true that the extremists involved behind these were also Muslims but it did not have any relevance or involvement with the American Muslims. The real time logistics were found later on hence the community had to suffer a lot for their survival after the impact. From the year 2001 to 2008 the messages obtained from media had same kind of references which pointed on Muslims to be terrorists or helper of terrorists (Howell 335). The entire American society was staying in fear. Federal and police department also started treating Muslims as the prime suspects. In airports, railway stations and road-ways Muslims were the person who was ill-treated and they were not seen equally like other people in the society. After the incident of 9/11, Muslims were facing huge challenges while their stay in the United States. Many people left so that they could get a proper life with dignity. Some Muslims raised their steps to confront and neutralize the challenges. They delivered their messages against terrorism and asked terrorists to be punished severely because terrorists were responsible for social disturbances however the messages delivered were dispassionate and this community received only a little media coverage. Hence the circumstances did not improve for a long time. Most of the time the Muslims treated unequally had anger against the society and hence they put out angry and emotional messages in front of media. These messages consisting anger and emotions got more attention than the messages delivered for good purpose hence people kept on being disappointed with this community and the behaviour with them were harsh (Ponterotto 467). Undoubtedly for more attention in public, media had huge involvement in disturbing the social balance. People of the society unknowingly took some uncertain and absurd steps which in-turn let the destruction of social peace and prosperity and the entire society was suffering from fear and sorrow for a prolonged period of time. The reporters of different news channels came to the Muslim people when they had had to give out any negative comments to terrorism and war. The people used to get angry and gave out intense responses which were again taken against them (Geaves 78). They were made to suffer by different means and they were meant to leave the country so that society can be a better place to live in. These are some of the happenings that led the community to suffer for entire seven years without any pity on them. Media could have taken the other side and could have tried to stop the injustice people were going through however gaining public attention was the prime target of channel owners. Media is not only limited to television or newspapers but internet is one of the important sources from where news are fetched. There are many web-sites that give out some direct messages that can harm the human society. Keeping the incident of 9/11 in mind it can be said that the internet was one of the most important substitutes for other communities to talk against Muslim community (Kidwai 86). Posting blogs and communicating messages had increased and Muslims were the target after the impact. This had made the social life of people challenging because this fact was disliked by Muslims and they were not tolerated in the society. Discussion Based on the above analysis there are sufficient arguments that prove that media played a very important role that affected the Muslims after the incident of 9/11. The people of United States were facing many challenges as already discussed but the family members of the community including the females and the children were also treated in-equally every where this was the worst part that happened in few years after the incident. People of the American society after the incident had a strong perception that Muslim’s do-not care much regarding issues related to terrorism because it is always their religion that spread these disasters and Muslims are over-sensitive to their religion. These perceptions are not true in modern world because Muslims are like other people in the society they have the same food and follow that same life-style as others however when the incident occurred they were thought being different. The perceptions that people gathered about Muslims is not true at all because they did not have any contact with any terrorists. The children of this community who did not know the entire world was treated differently (Kabir 212). After watching televisions other students had a different mindset towards the children of this community and in return they were boycotted from the other children. After the incident of 9/11 the situations were so bad that even the school’s administration and the teachers started behaving un-naturally with small boys and girls who followed the Islamic religion. These were painful incidents that happened in the entire United States. The youngsters without substantial proof were taken to police custody and they were examined for months to check, whether they could have any influence or not. Many youngsters started to oppose the laws and rules made by the society because the entire society was turning against the Muslim community. Muslim community were also forbidden from building their own worship places and after aggressive reaction from Muslims it was promoted everywhere in every medium of media transfer that Muslims were very in-tolerable and given a chance they could affect the social peace resulting in anti-social and terrorist activities. After the initial six months many people had many things to speak against Islam, the initial six months when compared from later were totally different (Kern 81). The initial six months people were consoling each other whereas the later part of six months after the incident there were drastic changes in the perception and social life of people. Muslims feared to go out for work and so did children. They were completely frightened by the reaction of the people. Moreover it has been observed in many countries about Muslims how they dislike the interference of media in their social life. The reason is because they have been portrayed as terrorist, air-plane hijackers and suicide bombers. They have also been recognized to be the murderers and disturbances in a civilization. Media has tried to bring actual news in front of the world hence one part was true that the crimes are mostly committed by this community following Islam however there is another fact which proves that not everyone following Islam is a terrorist or anti-social person. Hence the perception that has been built needs to be corrected in order to maintain civil balance in the society. Media should try to bring both the facts out so that people can judge themselves. Terrorism has been a part of human society from a long time hence the attack on 9/11 was just another threat. There have been many other terrorist activities observed in many countries. United States has also been victim for numerous times because of these anti-social organizations and has suffered by loosing life and property. Hence this is a major issue that needs more attention and bad people need to be separated from good people so that every Muslim does not have to fear unnecessarily. Conclusion From the above analysis and discussion we get sufficient evidences how media plays important role in the society. Moreover the answer to the research question is clear that media played a very important role in depicting Muslims as terrorist after the incident of 9/11. As per the discussion it is observed that the interference of television channel and newspaper reporters was very high with the people of United States in the particular year. The positive messages delivered by the Muslim community were not paid much attention by media however the messages delivered with emotion and anger were more focused resulting other communities to grow aggressiveness against Muslim community. During this time only issues like Muslim population growth were observed and they were criticized by people. The internet and social media were equally responsible in shaping the ill-effects of 9/11 in the society. The people of the society were turning against each other because of non-tolerance factors. Muslims were hated all over after the huge expose of Muslims and they were depicted as terrorists in the society despite of their innocence. The incident of 9/11 was a day of sorrow, loss and anger for everyone in the United States. Many people lost their lives without any reason after the World Trade Centre was attacked. Many Muslims also lost their life during the attacks. Hence Media should have taken positive steps in order to maintain unity and strength in society instead of rivalry. Works Cited Barkan, Elliott. Immigrants in American History. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2005. Print. Geaves, Ron. Islam and the West Post 9/11. London: Sage, 2010. Print. Howell, Sally. Arab Detroit 9/11. London: Kogan Page. Kabir, Nahid. Young American Muslims. New York: Springer, 2013. Print. Kern, Montague. Framing Terrorism. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2005. Print. Kidwai, Saleem. US Policy towards the Muslim World. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Ponterotto, Joseph. Handbook of Multicultural Counselling. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print. Rippin, Andrew. The Islamic World. London: Routledge, 2013. Print. Read More