The American mainstream media are influenced by Islamophobic sentiments and anti-Islamic organization that deliberately distorting the public perception of the events of 9/11. These events and the awareness of the security threats have contributed to a reduction of freedom of access to information in media. Government and security officials can block or delay the dissemination of information, could affect the journalists by various means. Now the freedom of speech can be limited to protect national security, public order, health or morals or the rights and reputation of others. The impact on the media and journalism was a direct attempt to reduce the amount of information allowed for publication due to the severity of the alleged act of terrorism concerns. Other long-term trend is the growing emphasis on entertainment in the evaluation of real news. Information context means simplification of the news, which reduces the role in society of serious journalism.
Moreover, for the majority of the US public television was the main source of news. This affects the compactness of integrated reporting on activities of foreign policy. One of the consequences of recognition as a television news resource implies minimization of discussion and prerequisites of a particular event. Researchers detect similarities between the texts of news and articles in leading newspapers and television programs such as the NewYork Times, USA Today, Washington Times, CBS News, CNN and Fox News. US media have portrayed Islam as a threat to the country's laws, secularism, freedom of expression, women's rights, and (because of the frequent association with terrorism) security of the country or even the whole of the Western world “that give new meaning to social categories such as "us" and “them”” (Bail 2014, p.5).
Another trend that affects limit the role of the media after 9/11 means the emergence of large corporate conglomerates leading to abuse their control over the media, for example through deliberate political bias. Such conglomerates are involved in the creation of monopolies among the owners of the private media, reducing media diversity perspectives and link their interests with the media. They often form close links with certain political elite. Biased position has been developed together with the spread of the ideology of representations of the "clash of civilizations”. "Islamophobia has gained such a discursive prevalence that western European society is becoming even more uncritically receptive to an array of negative images and perceptions about Islam and Muslims" (Abbas, 2004, p.29). Furthermore a vivid manifestation was the public call of the American pastor Terry Jones, who went out into the streets and proposed to commit mass burning of the holy book of Muslims Koran. So "on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, a nondenominational church in Florida decided to host an" International Burn a Quran Day” (Amiri, 2012, p.1).
Information portals, newspapers, magazines and television began to publish materials that put Muslims in a negative light, and Islam is portrayed as a religion of destruction and underdevelopment. Journalists do not burden the differences between religious sects in Islam, they talk about connection of Islam and terrorism as an established fact. Today, Islam is unable to demonstrate the cultural characteristics of its ancient religious tradition, to show a different side of Islam. Islam is often not able to do it, and the media actively promote the history, demonstrating the barbarity of the Islamic countries, for example, stories about early marriages. Religion changes its place and role in society, but the media are unable to talk about it. Normalization of Islam passes through an internal split and the triumph of moderation over extremism. This view allows to throw the blame for the violence on another: terrorism is not the colonial aggression of US bombarding civilians and Muslim extremism. Also in the case of the death of an American citizen all media agencies show this episode as the world's most important event in the deaths of tens of thousands of Africans or Muslims, this message is simply not available, and even ignored.
Islam is often associated with Islamism, which, according to tradition, borrowed from the US neo-conservative circles, called it as the new totalitarianism and compared with Nazism or Stalinism. This analogy is based on a mixture of heterogeneous ideas, it also rests on the one-sided understanding of Muslim fundamentalism and even the whole Muslim world. Gradually the figure of the Islamists and terrorists come together to justify the tightening of immigration policy in the new and in the old immigration countries. So Islam is one of the prisms through which the population is represented by the former colonies and which is amenable to stigma. In the Christian world, in fact, a new situation that has evolved from a previously-existing racist tendencies and the way the foreign enemy. Fear of Muslims as the most important object of enmity was created by new circumstances, such as unemployment in the United States, the aging of the population and it has gradually turned into paranoia.
Such publications incorrectly oriented society and the authorities to look into the causes of religion heinous crimes committed by extremists. They contribute to foment religious intolerance and hatred, which in itself is a threat to national security for the United States. Thus, it can be said that the sharp rise of Islamophobia in the world connected with the terrorist attack on the United States September 11, 2001. Radical anti-Muslim organization dominated in the media and they show fear and anger to Muslim Americans. Then Islam was called the enemy of civilized world community because of terrorism and extremism in general. The ensuing ground US military operations in the Middle East have intensified upward trend of islamophobia. Along with the idea of Islam as a potential center of hostility to the United States it can be noted that Islamophobia will be developed as a propaganda tool, which will be created for the preservation of the political, military, economic powerlessness of Islamic states. American politicians not only the extreme right, constantly discredit Muslims. Not being "ethnic Americans", they remain forever "immigrants" and even compared to "nazis."
References
Abbas, T. (2004). After 9/11: British South Asian Muslims, Islamophobia, multiculturalism, and the state. American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 21(3), 26-38.
Amiri, M. A. (2012). Muslim Americans and the Media after 9/11. Islam and Muslim Societies-a social science journal, 5(2).
Bail, C. A. (2014). Terrified: How anti-Muslim fringe organizations became mainstream. Princeton University Press.
