American media representation of Islam and terrorism after 9/11

AMERICAN MEDIA REPRESENTATION of ISLAM & TERRORISM POST-9-11 in AMERICA: ARE THEY the ONE and the SAME?

The objective of this work is to prepare a research proposal that will reflect how the American media (print, broadcast and online) portrays Islam's connection to terrorism post 9/11 in research focusing on "When an average American audience picks up the morning paper and reads an article about terrorism on the front page - what are the first two things that pop into their minds? (1) Muslim extremists; and (2) the September 11, 2001 attacks on America and to answer the question of: "Why is this? It is the position of the researcher that this is due to the one-sidedness of the American media, where America is portrayed as the victim of 9/11.

INTRODUCTION

Practically each morning since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States the morning paper is laden with fearful projections, Islam phobia and the vulnerability of the United States taking up the headlines. It seems that this media blitz is designed for the purpose of striking dread in the hearts of American citizens with a focus on the 'evil' that exists in the Muslim countries and within the religion of Islam. Islam is portrayed as a religion that is set actively against the United States with evil intent of destruction at each and every turn whether it be via airlines, railways, at border-crossings and whether through the method of biochemical attacks, suitcase bombs, or other means of penetrating the 'oh so vulnerable' security of the United States. However, one must wonder how realistic this view actually is. It seems that the American media and particularly the mainstream American media is intent on keeping American citizens in a constant state of frenzy and fear of the third-world Muslim countries and that the media seizes upon every possible opportunity to propel the American public toward fearful trepidation of the next terrorist attack on the American homeland and this research asks the questions of why that this is so, and to what end the American mainstream media works so diligently to instill fear in the hearts and lives of American citizens? Never before in the history of the United States has the media been so diligently adherent to the policies of the Washington administration and at the same time the mainstream media has completed abdicated its' role in reporting all viewpoints and sides of the story as related to terrorism. With embedded reporters the war in the country of Iraq has proceeded and those reporters who dared to venture into Iraq without the 'benefit' of being 'embedded' by the present administration have suffered many fates from death, such as the Reuters reporter shot dead by American troops, to kidnapping and disappearance without a trace. What is the driver behind the media control being witnessed in the United States? What is the expected result of an administration that is so intent on keeping American citizens in fear of Muslim countries that are very far away from the United States mainland?

STATEMENT of the PROBLEM

The purpose of the research proposed herein is the investigation of the mainstream media in the United States in the manner and method used to report the events following the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States. News reports have recently reported that one in every three American citizens believe that the government was complicit in the attack on the World Trade Towers in New York City. Other reports run across the Internet which speak of a massive sum of money that disappeared somewhere in the Arab countries simultaneous to the attack of New York's Twin Towers, and yet even other reports state that it was a military plane that hit the towers instead of a passenger jet. This research cannot hope to answer all of those questions however the research that is proposed does seek to understand the media's method and intent in the style and manner of reporting that has been used in the post 9-11 period and the effect that reporting has had upon the citizens of the United States.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Paul Thompson and his team of researchers who joined at the Cooperative Research Center to attempt to organize the events chronologically that occurred on September 11, 2001 in the work entitled: "The Terror Timeline: Year-by-Year, Day-by-Day, Minute-by- Minute - a Comprehensive Chronicle of the Road to 9/11 - and America's Response" makes a solid effort in piecing together the events that occurred leading up to, during and following the attacks on the United States as well as pointing out discrepancies and mistakes made by the administration in Washington.

In the work entitled: Media Influences Perception of Terrorism, but Fails to sway Action by the Public" reported is a "national survey of 1,000 Americans" which gives indication that approximately 2/3 of respondents "feel the media has influenced their views on the importance of terrorism as a national problem." 9 Jimirro Center for the Study of Media Influence at Penn State University) the report reveals that "Americans view about the threat of terrorism are shaped at least in part by the media...however, we have not found that the news media are effective in motivating preparedness behaviors." (2003) the study states the following: (1) 65% of respondents state the media reports have shaped their views about the terrorism problem; (2) 29.2% respondent that media reports have 'exerted alot of influence on their views; (3) 35.3% stated that the media's terrorism coverage has had 'quite a bit of influence' on their perceptions of terrorism as a national problem; (4) 87% stated belief that the terrorism problem is 'very' or 'extremely' important; and (5) 7.9% stated the terrorism problem as being unimportant." (Penn State College of Communications, 2003)

When the President gave his speed on the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States Stannard of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that: "Three things can be expected from Bush's speech, according to a new study by three Columbia University researchers: The media will repeat the president's remarks. Public fear of terrorism will increase. And the president's poll numbers will rise." (2006) This is not conjecture but the findings of political scientists Brigitte Nacos, Yaeli Bloch-Elkon and Robert Shapiro in a report "prepared for this month's annual meeting of the American Political science Association." (Stannard, 2006) Stated is: "The real new thing here is the mere threat, heavily mass mediated, achieves at least part of what actual terrorism achieves," Nacos said. "(Terrorists) want to intimidate, they want to spread fear and anxiety, and they want to take influence through the public on government officials. Much of the Columbia team's research focused on the press -- especially the television media -- and how it reacted to threats of terrorism."

In the work of Joakim Nisson, which is a review of the work entitled "The Case of Media Bias" published in the Press Bias and Politics - How the Media Frame Controversial Issues" publication a Praeger Series in Political Community written by Jim a. Kuypers sated is that: "outside of Academia, a harsh and seemingly ever-growing debate has appeared, concerning how the mass media is distorting the political agenda. In much the same manner as the manufacturing consent theory Jim a. Kyupers notes, referring to studies made by Irving Kristol, that there is an important symbiosis between the national press and the political elite. However, far from the Chomskyan perspective, Kuypers raises important arguments about how we may have to limit the implications of such a relationship between established political elites. Kuypers states that even though a vast majority of journalists in the United States declare to be pro-Democrats, this doesn't imply that they can't take part in fair and balanced news reporting." (2002)

Stated in the work entitled: "Engineering Consent: The Renaissance of Mass Communications Research in Politics" is that: "Media politics is now central while the importance of political institutions traditionally entrusted with organizing and aggregating public preferences (political parties and interest groups) have correspondingly declined in importance. Today, the use -- even manipulations 00 of the mass media to promote political objectives is not only standard practice, but in fact is essential to survival. The new engineers of consent are not party or interest group leaders, but the legion of pundits and spokespersons that make their daily rounds on television news programs and the editorial pages of our newspaper." For a number of Americans, "the news media represent the sole point of contact with the world of public affairs." (Iyengar, 2001) Stated is that "at the very least, we can attest to two classes of media effects on public opinion which are (1)."..a salvaging hypothesis in the dialectic account of the search for media influence in the work of McGuire (1986) which "may be termed agenda control of media-induced changes in the public's political priorities; and (2)."..a direct extension of the classic McGuire studies on attitude change, and corresponds to direct political persuasion." (Iyengar, 2001) Research conducted on agenda-setting has "identified several antecedent factors that condition the media's ability to shape the public's priorities which include "the personal relevance of the issue, the political involvement of the audience, and the prominence of coverage." (Iyengar, 2001) Lastly, the manner of presentation of a news story "significantly affects its ability to set the public agenda." (Behr and Iyengark 1985; Dearing and Rogers, 1996) Concluded is that: "In the current regime, American politics is almost exclusively a mediated experience. The role of the citizen ahs evolved from occasional foot soldier and activist to spectators. Those who seek public office invest heavily in efforts to shape news coverage of their candidacy. The returns from this investment provide them with leverage over public opinion, by setting the public agenda or by projecting a general impression of competent leadership..." (Iyengar, 2001)

The report published by the "MediaMatters for America' website entitled: "According to Maher, CBS's "Free Speech" is a Misnomer" states that Bill Maher, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher show host states that "CBS rejected his request to comment on religion for his planned "Free Speech" segment on the CBS Evening News" stating that they would "provide him with a list of 'approved' topics that he might address." (2006) Maher reportedly states that: "I asked if I could talk about religion, and that was a deal-breaker right from the beginning...They said, 'We'll send over a list of acceptable topics, for our segment on free speech." (2006) in fact the first nine days of the "Free Speech" segements have featured Rush Limbaugh, Rudy Giulani, former New York City mayor and a former Bush aid, Michael Gerson without a "single Democrat or progressive." CBS denies that Maher was instructed not to speak of religion, however Maher is holding his position that CBS did just that." (Maher, 2006)

The work entitled: "What if Everything Changed for American Journalists on September 11, My Speculations" states that: "A PressThink reader, who is also a blogger, a Bush supporter, a believer in the war in Iraq, and occasionally a hostile critic of the press, John Moore has mentioned several times in comments here how startled he was to read the Society of Professional Journalist's code of ethics and discover no mention of any 'journalist's duty to the nation' or the language of the nation at all. it's as if they don't have one! He finds this remarkable." (2006) the question is asked: "Are journalists who inform citizens of the most powerful and influential nation in the worldly participants in the war on terror, in the worldwide struggle for democracy, freedom and markets, because their country is a participants - the biggest by far- and they inform it? Or can they get by with: "Terrorism and war are big stories and we're going to cover them as best we can. Our readers expect it. We'll tell them what we know." (2006)

Reported as well in the work entitled: "ABC, Scholastic Injecting Conservative Misinformation into the Classroom" states that: "...in conjunction with the September 10 premiere of its flawed, partisan miniseries the Path to 9/11, ABC has teamed up with Scholastic Inc. To urge 100,000 high school teachers nationwide and their students to watch the controversial miniseries and then use Scholastic's "discussion guide" in class. A Media Matters for America review of the ABC/Scholastic material has found it to be rife with conservative misinformation. The ABC/Scholastic material is deeply flawed because, in addition to omitting key information, it promotes conservative talking points: such as those as follows: (1) it tells students that the United States went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction -- but fails to note that, in fact, Iraq did not have WMD. Nor does it note the increasing evidence that the Bush administration knew this all along and manipulated intelligence in order to make a dishonest case for war; (2) it falsely suggests a tie between Iraq and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; (3) it gives unjustifiably upbeat accounts of reportedly dire conditions on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan; (4) it suggests that military responses to Osama bin Laden by the Clinton administration could have "hinder[ed] the U.S. stance on the war on terror; and (5) it asks students to debate whether the media "hinder our national security." (2006)

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The theoretical perspective that emerges in the literature reviewed is that agenda setting is occurring between the political forces and the media in the United States and as well that the media is part of the social system in the United States.

METHODOLOGY & DATA COLLECTION/ANALYSIS

In the attempt to research and examine the impact of media on the perception of the public it is necessary that a phenomenological interpretative study be conducted of the qualitative nature in order to inform the research as the quantitative methodology will not allow for the interpretation of the response data that this study will gather for analysis. This methodology of research will allow for a natural span of the news media penetration rendering a true result in media news reporting impact on the sampling population for the purpose of this research. Phenomenological research is the research method that is used in understanding social aspects of civilization and the origins can be traced back to Kant and Hegel. (Groenewald, 2004; International Journal of Qualitative Methods 3(1) April 2004)