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Introduction
The prominence of the negative reputation of Muslims in media serves as a compelling topic for discussion in the realm of social construction. Because the media enables people to reach the latest information relevant to their lives, it is just natural for it to deliver news in manners that could change the thoughts of those who would hear, see or read it. In other words, it is possible for the media to influence the people to view one topic in a particular manner through the way it reports the news. It is in that case where Muslims have gained an undesirable image in front of many people across the world. The frequency of the involvement of Muslims in large-scale violent crimes has led the media to portray them regularly in a deleterious manner, sometimes in irresponsible ways (Karim, 2000).
This study intends to explore on how the media socially constructs Muslims through its ability to spread information. Verily, social construction is relevant in understanding why Muslims have a bad reputation through media since such could help identify the involvement of both the media and Muslims in the process of reputation building before of many people. An important aspect that deserves specific notation in this case is the premise that the media may have committed irresponsible acts in reporting news concerning Muslims. Through a perusal of various pieces of literature on the matter, this study aims to establish the importance of the issue and the validity of the application of social construction and the foregoing premise.
Prominence of the Topic in the News
The reputation of Muslims in media has gained notoriety due to their frequent involvement in violent crimes, most notable terrorism. While there is a clear understanding that not all Muslims accustom themselves from doing so, a closer look at the facts reveals that radical Islamic factions are those that frequently figure in such crimes. The media has constantly reported that religious extremism is largely to blame for crimes associated with Muslims, which has cost the lives of many people (Karim, 2000). The September 11, 2001 attacks are perhaps the most prominent ones attributed to Muslim terrorist groups in recent history. The Al-Qaida terrorist group then headed by Osama bin Laden gained control of passenger planes that they used to crash towards the World Trade Center in New York City, United States (US). Subsequent attempts to target other important US landmarks such as the Pentagon have failed. The sheer disastrous effects of the attacks and the enormous number of people killed turned the focus towards Al-Qaida, which happen to adhere strictly to extremist Islamic practices. News bureaus that reported the attacks eventually conditioned the minds of the people that Muslims are terrorists. That kind of reputation still lingers to this day, despite many Muslims dissociating themselves from those extremists lenient towards violence (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
The topic on Muslims being more lenient towards violence still finds its way on some current events. Recently, the death of drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich, United Kingdom, has turned the attention to Islamic extremism anew due to the religion of the murderer, Michael Adebolajo. While there is currently scanty proof on whether Adebolajo has connections with any terrorist organization, it stands clear that the media has emphasized on his Islamic identity in describing his murder of Rigby, even coming up to the point where speculations on his religious character became a basis to reinforce the thinking that he might be a terrorist. However, a closer look at the situation shows that Adebolajo frequently committed gestures pertaining to his Islamic beliefs. While the media may appear to just report what has happened and how he acted towards the situation, the problem lies on the reinforcing factor of the gestures of Adebolajo in the generalized belief that Muslims are terrorists, to the peril of those who are not. Such is dangerous to the extent that collective hatred against the Muslims due to associated terrorist attacks may rise (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
Defining Muslims as Terrorists
The contemporary prevalence of information channels through media provides damaging effects to the image of Muslims. While it may be inevitable that extremist Islamic groups tend to resort to terrorist attacks and other related heinous crimes, the problem lies within the failure of media bodies to dissociate Muslim terrorists to Muslims, as a whole. The nature of media to deliver the latest information in the shortest yet informative manner possible leaves it with no room to create crucial distinctions. What the media does instead is to emphasize on the identity of Muslims to those who committed the terrorist attacks. While it may not be the outright intent of the media to do so, it is nevertheless inevitable for the compact style of news reporting not to accommodate important disclaimers. For instance, news reporters would find it tedious to remind people not to generalize Muslims for every report it discusses that involves Islamic extremists. Print media would not include reminders against non-generalization due to the essence of news space and the maintenance of briefness in reporting (Karim, 2000). The use of social media networks in news reporting deprives media bodies to inform people towards non-generalization in the name of delivering compact and easy-to-understand news (Allievi, 2003). Yet, in that wise, media ends up giving Muslims a bad name, given that it cannot control what its readers might think of them as people. Thus, it becomes the responsibility of newsreaders and observers to keep in their minds that not all Muslims are terrorists, although that could become difficult for some due to the sheer credibility of media bodies combined with their failure to think thoroughly (Patai, 1976; Karim, 2000; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
Discourse of Media on the Topic
Media bureaus tend to use a variety of words lenient towards the idea that Muslims are terrorists in reporting related news. The words “terrorist”, “Muslim”, and “Islam”, when combined, results to reports that lead people to think that Muslims are terrorists and Islam is a religion promoting violence. Despite the veracity of reports requiring the use of those words within one report, the impression forming within the minds of people that Muslims are terrorists is an inevitable emergence. The urgency of media bodies in reporting such news features reporters under stress due to the gravity of the situations and public opinion heavily resting on the involvement of Muslims. Reporting terrorist attacks involving Islamic extremists without fostering any prejudice on all Muslims thus becomes a highly difficult attack for media bodies, given the kind of words used and the natural reaction to duress of reporters in reporting (Samad, 1998; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
The rise of social media is another field in which media bodies tend to breed prejudice in news reporting. Social network sites, for instance, have users that prefer quick yet informative bits of information to appear in their accounts. The presence of websites and other information channels ready for distribution in social network sites reinforce the credibility of the medium as an effective information broker for many people. Media bodies could post official news content coming from their reports in their social network accounts. While the distribution of information is expeditious to that end, it becomes problematic to the extent that many people who may have construed and generalized views on the matter would receive it easily as with all other people. Many people who engage in online activities tend to be very opinionated as well. The freedom afforded by social media to express thoughts and reactions on particular incidents through using functions enabling people to post their comments and replies places the reputation of Muslims into greater peril. Satirical content also becomes violative of the reputation of Muslims, given that many people resort to subjects of ridicule in expressing their frustrations on the matter. Therefore, the main problem in this case is the fact that social media does not provide for a controlled environment in terms of promoting non-generalization towards Muslims. The fact that Muslims continue to have a negative reputation makes them more vulnerable in social media networks (Allievi, 2003).
Implications of the Topic on Possible Resolutions
The topic at hand, on Muslims having a negative reputation due to media reports, has several implications, all being negative. An important implication lies on the fact that animosity might breed between Muslims and non-Muslims. The media, when it reports on the involvement of Muslims on terrorist attacks, fail to add any form of disclaimers in their reports. Such allows readers and viewers to employ a discretionary approach in judging the news as they see it. With the inevitable consequence that some readers may view all Muslims as terrorists, animosity towards Muslims may form. At the same time, Muslims could become less open towards people who criticize them on a generalized scale. Lack of regard for cultural sensitivity becomes a factor in this case (Karim, 2000; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
Another crucial implication of the matter at hand is the marginalization of Muslims. Since Muslims have gained an undesirable reputation due to the constant portrayal of media of Islamic extremists involved in terrorist attacks, the tendency is that many people would end up practicing discrimination against them. Indeed, that is one aspect not well deserved by all Muslims. Discrimination could come in many fronts, such as security personnel treating Muslims as potential threats inside facilities, people speaking ill of Muslims even at first sight of their outfits and the like (Samad, 1998; Karim, 2000; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010). Furthermore, the wide usage of social media makes discrimination highly complicated in contemporary times, since it is easy to spread slanderous information against Muslims through anonymous user accounts. Such enables people to throw unfounded judgments against Muslims based on hatred and prejudice rather than facts (Allievi, 2003).
The integrity of the media comes in as another implication on the topic. Since media has its focus on delivering information to people in a fast yet efficient manner, it becomes nearly impossible to come up with compelling disclaimers noting non-generalization of Muslims in stories that involve Islamic extremists. The failure to add such disclaimers enables people to become more judgmental in their thinking, with some leaning towards the impression that Muslims are terrorists or troublemakers in their own right. At the same time, the frequent exposure of Islamic terrorist groups in media reinforces the thinking among those people that all Muslims resort to terrorist attacks to push their cause. While all negative impressions may have no substantial basis, the nature of people to focus on generalization places the reputation of Muslims in peril (Samad, 1998; Karim, 2000; Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 2010).
Conclusion
The issue on Muslims having the negative impression of being prone to violence has found multiple manifestations from media reports. Although there is a clear understanding that not all Muslims are violent, the generalizations arise due to the manner media bodies issue their reports. The simultaneous usage of the words “Muslim”, “Islamic”, and “terrorism” within related reports give undue impression to viewers and readers who employ discretionary approaches in understanding the matter. In addition, the fact that media bodies do not prioritize giving better regard for disclaimers against generalization in favor of expeditious and concise news reporting places the reputation of Muslims at peril, aside from the irresponsible thinking of viewers and readers.
Terrorism proves to be a highly controversial matter that has become the subject of several media reports. The frequent involvement of some Muslims in terrorist attacks may not be something considered as a fault of all Muslims on their end, but the irresponsibility of media to develop reporting mechanisms that would not lead to unfounded generalizations. In light of that, it becomes important for members of the media to become more sensitive towards the welfare of Muslims in view of the issue at hand. Prioritizing the use of any form of disclaimers in news reports is a necessity that must not find neglect on the part of media practitioners. Preventing viewers and readers to gain unfounded reinforcements on negative ideas towards Muslims is another consideration media bodies should have in mind. Through that, it could become possible for media bodies to conjure positive images of Muslims.
References
Allievi, S. (2003). Islam in the public space: Social networks, media and neo-communities. In S. Allievi and J. Iielsen (Eds.), Muslim networks and transnational communities in and across Europe (1-27). United Kingdom: Brill.
Goode, E., and Ben-Yehuda, N. (2010). Moral panics: The social construction of deviance. New York City, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Karim, K. (2000). The Islamic peril: Media and global violence. Canada: Black Rose Books.
Patai, R. (1976). The Arab mind. New York City, NY: Scribner.
Samad, Y. (1998). Media and Muslim identity: Intersections of generation and gender. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 11(4), 425-438.
