Why does our media brainwash Americans into hating muslims and arabs?

Question

Have you ever seen them painted in a positive light in mainstream media like FOX, or CNN? By positive, I mean not being stereotyped or associated with the "terrorist" or "extremist" label. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist, but he was Christian - how ironic that you never see the label "Christian terrorist" in the media.

Answer 1

You might want to get your head checked to find out why you have this animosity towards white Christians. But in the meantime I can tell you what CNN and FOX are really brainwashing you into thinking. CNN and FOX are true terrorist organizations; they control people with fear. If you're ridiculously scared that the so-called "war" in Iraq is a fruitless bloodbath; that every nation on the planet hates us; that the American dollar is worthless; that Barack Obama is the Anti-Christ; that President Bush staged 9/11; and that the Earth's climate is changing so rapidly that we're all going to die and it's your fault for driving and using hairspray, then it's pretty likely that you're going to stay glued to the television so you won't miss any updates. It's not CNN's fault that Americans hate Arabs. Most people who hate them already hated them for most of their lives. And, truthfully, many Americans are racist or otherwise predjiduced and won't admit it to themselves or anybody else because it's socially unnacceptable. It's in style to like black people and to dislike Arabs; the tide will surely change in a few years. Until then, please stay away from FOX and CNN, BBC is relatively honest and not biased.

Answer 2

Timothy McVeigh didn't live in a Cave ither.
I think the difference is so much vast than whether or not he said she said stuff.
And whatever the belief is with these people,they still went out of there way to harm others.
So I can see your point in thinking he should have been labeled a Christian Terrorist,but then again that would put a negative mark against The US.While these other groups will have to learn that they are not the only ones on the planet.And if they want others to believe in them,they should cut down with the extreme killings and bombings.Then just maybe ,someone will stop to hear there word of God or beliefs. You can only abuse for so long then it gets old.

Answer 3

I prefer these over the terrorists Jihad web-media anytime. If you still haven't noticed yet we are at war. We don't exactly run around throwing ALL these people in holding camps like we did during WW2 with the Japanese. Besides anyone who watches the news knows we have soldiers who are Muslim and training them over there as well. How can our soldiers know for sure that the person next to them isn't an enemy infiltrator from Iran waiting for the chance to shoot him? We live in a democratic society so you can post away without losing your head here. How ironic is that?

Answer 4

The media portrayal of Muslims and Arabs is based in part on what the network wants to present, what information is available, and what the audience wants to see.

Ideally, networks want controversy, without offending a sizeable portion of their viewers. This is why they cover issues involving race, religion, scandals, etc. while avoiding offending enough (or the most vocal) of their viewers. They want people to watch, but they do not want them complaining to sponsors in any sizeable numbers.

Muslims and Arabs are disliked by a number of Americans right now, so negative portayals of them are often attracting more viewers than they may cost the network.

However, not all coverage of Muslims on the major news networks is negative. CNN and MSNBC have both done coverage of Muslims in America, I watched them both, and they were in a positive light. However, there were certainly issues involved in the coverage. Both pieces were relatively brief segments. They also allegedly showed what it was like to be Muslim in America, yet neither gave a very wide view of Muslims in America. One thing that I noticed was that both showed almost exclusively Arabs (I think I saw a Persian in one). The vast majority of Muslims in this country are not Arab. The plurality are black, the next largest group are white, southeast Asians make up a big chunk too.

As for Christian terrorists, I would suspect that this relates to the audience. If one claims an act of Christian terrorism, in a country where 75% of the population are Christian, one would get a lot of responses claiming that those terrorists weren't true Christians. This happens with Muslims too, but as there are far fewer of them in this country, their complaints may go unheard or not be considered a threat to the ability to get and keep sponsors.

There are most certainly many incidents of Christian terrorism in the world which are not reported as such in this country. If you take a look at East Timor, some of the recent conflicts were between the Protestant minority and the Catholic majority, over legal limitations to prosylitising. If you hop over to Sulawesi, Indonesia, you see the cases of Tibu, Riwu, and Da Silva. These three Christian men led an attack on hundreds of Muslims, mostly women and children. There is the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Pastor Ntumi in the Congo, the NLFT in India, various Christian terrorist groups in Nigeria, etc.

One other thing to consider. If you look back at News coverage in 2001, at the beginning of September, the U.S. was finally covering the Protestant-Catholic clashes in Ireland as religious violence. They were also giving them significant air time. Unfortunately, coverage of this pretty much completely stopped on September 11th. On Orange Day this past year, Belfast was ablaze, but got no coverage in the U.S. media. Some of us hope that this will gain coverage as time passes, but that one major event still has the attention diverted away from Christian violence.

Answer 5

I don't let the media brainwash me. I, like most Americans, recognize bias in the media, but take into consideration who owns the format. And by the way, McVeigh was not Christian.

Answer 6

Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist, but he was Christian?

He was an American- He was a murderer--and he was not-NOT a Christian.
He didn't carry out his acts as a Christian.
Never claimed God-nor Salvation.

Being American doesn't make one Christian.
Nor does being Muslim make one a terrorist,

Simple minds-reading posts by simple minds-
believe simply.

Answer 7

Many Muslims are terrorists and the Islamic religion has become a very dangerous religion. However I have nothing against Muslims as I have known many of them as never had any problems with them. I am more worried about the hispanic population and the gangs that are previlent in their communities. In my city it seems that every violent crime is committed by a hispanic or black person. Many times the victim is a Indian or Arab or Asian store owner.

Answer 8

From what I have seen, CNN is fairly objective, though I haven't watched enough to swear to it. FOX, on the other hand, is Rupert Murdoch's voice. It is conservative, biased propaganda and entertainment. Did you ever hear of a so-called "news" program that constantly used the words "liberal" and "conservative" and pitted one againt the other?? I blame Fox for the recent political divisiveness in America. They have polarized the country.

Besides, anyone who wants real news doesn't expect to get it from television, which is nothing but a series of sound bites. If you want in-depth news reports and analysis, look to public radio, public television, the BBC, and "The Week" magazine.

Answer 9

Muslims are the terrorists. Muslims TARGET the innocent. Islam is the world`s scourge. Open your eyes....muslims have a lot of work to do to repair their image. The quiet ones aren`t helping their cause.

Answer 10

You don't know what you're talking about, the media love Muslims, Arabs, and terrorists. It's conservatives, the military, and Christians that they hate.