Image of Arabs and Muslims in Western Media - Research Paper Example

Image of Arabs and Muslims in the Western Media: Various set of events that have unfolded in the new millennium have led to strangulation of relation between different communities. The relationship between Muslims, the Arab world and West are one of them. The Media being the powerful tool of communication and image representation in the modern times is a major source that has been questioned and subjected to its image representation and creation on this account. On number of instances, the media has been dubbed to have played a negatively biased role towards portraying the image of Muslims, on others it has been seen as an agent of bullying the people belonging to one set of religious following are also seen in practice. The scope of media does not limit itself to the mere digital media, the press and other forms of paper publications are another source through which the role of representation of Muslims has been questioned at large and has resulted in resentment in the Muslims ranks (Rane, Martinkus, & Ewart, 2014,p. 129). It is an established fact that media plays a central role towards the creation of public opinion about a given phenomena. The Western media has been highly active in the regard of taking on the Muslims and Arabs with regard to their religious beliefs and responses to the Western life styles. Similarly the Western media has followed the different debates and topics extensively with regard to the modern concepts such as terrorism, concept of veil and other radical mindsets that are prevailing in the recent times on account of conflict between different political ideologies (Janson, 2011). It cannot be denied that the two societies (Muslims and West) had their share of differences with each other through the different traces of history. Yet that is not peculiar to the two societies and conflicts have emerged within West among the followers of Christianity as well. But that has never led to such a deep debate and isolation of the two mindsets from one another. It has not created such a rift and gulf between them creating serious fault lines that may lead to mutual co-existence as a virtual impossible within one living space. For example the element of Crusade, the Ottoman Empire and the Christian subjects handling, the nationalistic uprising in the Arab world towards the early part of twentieth century. Yet none of these went on to become a stigma and both the societies and people of the two belief groups moved on as soon as the issues were resolved. The case of terrorism and modern day hatred has given a relatively prolonged outlook to the hatred and negative representation of the one by the second (Mansbach & Taylor, 2013,p. 64). The 2001 incident in the form of twin towers bombing where nearly all of the alleged attackers and hijackers were from Arab world led to more speculation and distrust between the two communities and societies. Media being the direct representative of the large section of society and the kind of mindset that prevails within the society reflects the thoughts accordingly. Associating fundamentalism to the Muslims society, their curriculum are few of the negative introspect based reporting and media coverage that have seen their high scale promotion in the recent years (el-Aswad, 2013). These are instances which not only create hatred in the hearts of Muslims, but also create element of distrust and uncertainty within the society on behalf of the Westerners. The concept of polygamy which comes as an authorized and approved part of Islamic society and Islamic principles has also been taken up negatively in number of cases which has resulted in dismay from the Muslims in return. Furthermore, the men being portrayed as excessively dominant on the women and women enjoying little liberty in the various facets of social outlook are also some of the accounts that have led to the disapproval and distaste of the Muslims at large. There is no doubt that minor traces may exist in such regard, however this is not just limited to the Muslims and this is trait of any society regardless of any religious affiliations in general. Domestic violence can finds its roots in any society and any corner of the world regardless of any religious affiliations or believes in particular. These have more to do with the general individual traits of mankind than their religious ascribed traits. One simple example how the Western media has taken up the case of women and Muslims from Arab world is that of the veil. For example France alone has been the center of attention with regard to how women have been subjected to scrutiny and alien treatment on account of wearing veil or being forced to abandon the veil being worn in the public places. The Australian media and its role with regard to the representation of Muslim women in general has been stressed for more positivity as well which will enable creating a good and true understanding of the Muslim women, their reasons to wearing Hijab and possibly removing any myth that may dwell against it through the wrong interpretation and representation in the Western media in particular (Latiff & Sofia, 2013). Certain clear evidences have been noticed in the case of American media following patterns that are not just based on non professional guidelines of journalism in journal but also instigating hatred and distrust among the various communities. One particular example came about in this regard when a Fox News anchor termed an alleged miscreant and troublemaker as “Totally Muslim”. Such comments are a precedent of how the Western media has been seen as a subject of creating potential hatred and distances between the Muslims and targeting them primarily on the grounds that they hail from religion Islam. Steven Emerson who used such an expression for Muslims directly brought about an outcry from all those who had some sanity to understand the nature of statement published by him. As a result of the resentment and displeasure expressed by the Muslim community at large and other people who valued ethical understanding forced Steven Emerson to apologize and eat his words. In the American sphere, Fox News is not the only one that has been seen to have drawn on such negative representation of Muslims at large, C.N.N’s media coverage and representation has at times led to rising of eye brows too. One particular instance of such non professional undertaking came about in the wake of Charlie Hebdo events when one of their anchors put up a very lousy statement before the Muslim guest who responded back accordingly. Excessive highlighting of the ways of Muslims in the Western media often leads to the negative relationship and interpretation by the Muslims at large. This leads them into a sense of insecurity and feeling of being constantly under the radar and being scrutinized. Different scholars from various religions have been invited time and again to interpret and give an account of teachings of Islam on number of accounts. This has not gone too well with the Muslims at large because they feel it as a sense of scrutiny against their believes. There have been positive instances by the media on number of accounts where the anchors and agendas of the programs have been used to remove the element of hatred, mistrust and misrepresentation of the actual views and instructions of Islam. Oprah Winfrey aimed at addressing this issue and striving to clarify number of myths and misunderstandings on account of Islamic teachings and guidelines interpretations. Her program largely focused upon the single Muslim married women how they cope with the various challenges of life and how they aim at moving on with their lives. This was one of the positive interpretations of Muslim women in general which has been not so largely shown by the Western media. The recent attacks that took place in Paris on a magazine office were another aspect of how the media has represented the Muslims in general. Although the perpetrators of the events were Muslims, yet it does not reflect the general mindset of the large segment of Muslims or Muslim society that is resident in the West in particular. Furthermore, if the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo magazine office were Muslims, the individual and police man who sacrificed his life before those armed men and aimed at preventing the event from occurring was also a Muslim. While it may be established without a doubt that number of events that have unfolded be it in the form of the September 2001 twin tower bombings, or the Charlie Hebdo event incident, the individuals were Muslims, but it does not directly lead one to infer that it is a general mindset that is reflected from the common views contained by the Muslims at large. As a result any images and any ideas and bias and negative propaganda by the Western Media about Muslims being wild or barbaric as a society, humans is a total inappropriate approach (Mintz, 2015). It is an established fact that the majority of Muslims are moderate in their actions and views. The Muslims themselves deplore the actions such as those of Charlie Hebdo, Twin tower bombing and various other activities that have resulted or result in the loss of civilian human life. Those who are engaged in the hatred based actions are driven by political ideologies rather than any religious or socially driven ideologies. The Western media needs to understand this first and then highlight it in order to represent the actual image of the scenario that is at hand. The Arabs are often negative presented for their living styles and the lavishness that they enjoy in their culture. The absence of democracy in number of regions within Arab world, if highlighted is a positive element yet it along with various other facets of the social outlook of Arab world must be done so in a calculated manner without crossing the lines of professionalism and ethical upholding of values at large. A consistent pattern based ideas in the form of Islam-o-phobia is prevailing the West on the account of Media representation. This phobia and alienation is creation a consistent gulf between the different communities that are residing in the West and America at large. The level of concerns have grown so high that the Turkish President felt the need of highlighting this fact calling for an end to the evil trend that is prevailing and fast growing in the Western society (AFP, 2015). The undertaking of the subject of Jehad which comes as an integral part of religion Islam, has been the center of attention of Western media programs and debating topics. While the concept of Jehad remains an integral part of religion Islam, its dynamics need to be understood before implementing it and the modern day terrorist activities cannot be associated with the conventional form of Jehad that is suggested by the religion Islam. The Western Media needs to understand highlight this. Unfortunately, the Western media has not played its role actively or positively towards eradicating such a negative and dangerously prevailing concept in the West. Formulating principles and guidelines need to be devised that would enable managing and addressing the potential negatives and non professional agents that are operating within the Western media. Reporting with responsibility and slashing on any kind of bias or non professional attitude in this regard should be made a high priority. Zero tolerance principles and code of conduct based mechanisms need to be devised that would enable overcoming such negative trends. While the world is already faced with innumerable challenges, adding one in the form of phobia against the Muslims through the unfounded ideas will make the world a more difficult place to live in. The responsibility falls upon the politicians, the think tanks, the civil society, media organizations, and all other stakeholders that make up for a community and society together that are living in a socialized world of twenty first century. References: AFP. (2015, Jan 7). Turkey Condemns Terror, Urges Fight Against Islamophobia. Retrieved from Newsmax: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/France-attacks-media-Turkey/2015/01/07/id/617087/ el-Aswad, e.-S. (2013). Images of Muslims in Western Scholarship and Media after 9/11. Digest of Middle East Studies Janson, E. (2011). STEREOTYPES THAT DEFINE “US”: THE CASE OF MUSLIM WOMEN. ENDC Proceedings Latiff, Z. A., & Sofia, F. N. (2013). The Roles of Media in Influencing Women Wearing Hijab: An Analysis. Journal of Image and Graphics Mansbach, R. W., & Taylor, K. L. (2013). Introduction to Global Politics. Routledge Mintz, Z. (2015, January 14). Reporting On Islam: Muslims Chafe Under Western Media Coverage Of Paris Terror Attacks. Retrieved from ibtimes: http://www.ibtimes.com/reporting-islam-muslims-chafe-under-western-media-coverage-paris-terror-attacks-1782654 Rane, H., Martinkus, J., & Ewart, J. (2014). Media Framing of the Muslim World: Conflicts, Crises and Contexts. Palgrave Macmillan Read More