Hello,
You have brought up a very interesting topic. May God help carve the way and show you the path to truth.
Media writers and anchors all have "big bosses" at the top of the ladder that wants them to protray stories in a certain way that will keep everything in shape with the overall prospective of that media channel. After all, it's all about keeping the big bosses on top happy, and knowing you'll get that year end bonus check. Every media has a corporate mission & statement and how it wants the public to view them.
Stereotypes and misconceptions about Islam, in particular, in the media is rooted prejudice and ignorance.
A major factor which contributes to Islamic stereotyping in the West is due to the media’s ignorance of selecting their words that describe Muslims. Some common names heard or seen in the news about Muslims are "extremist," "terrorist," "fundamentalist," or "jihadist." These words are misleading and are mainly anti-Islamic. The media rarely uses more neutral terms such as "revivalist" or "progressives."
For example, jihad literally means "The struggle in the path of God", or "holy war". However, the Western media often abuses the meaning of jihad by referring to it as a holy war where Muslims unreasonably kill non-believers. But the fact is, is that jihad can mean a numbers of things that a Muslim does for the sake of God. Rarely has the Western media used this kind of a definition in their reports. The way the media represents jihad is wrong. The media often takes the word "jihad" out of context to propagate negative views on Islam. A student striving for top grades, individuals pursuing for equality and justice for all people, honoring your parents, a mother giving birth to a child, eating, and even simply sleeping can all be considered jihad.
The media helps to make an image of Islam to unsuspecting audiences. The Western public often is misinformed about Muslims through the images on television, motion picture screens, magazines, radios, and comic strips in newspapers, which promote strong messages among their audiences. All these mass communication tools are used to build a distorted image in the mind of uinformed audiences.
The Islamic world is poorly represented in the West in terms of press and media coverage. Not only are there just handfuls of news agencies in Muslim countries; there is the concern over the number of inexperienced reporters. Many reporters don’t understand the local cultures nor speak the language, leaving them with access to only those English or French speaking Westernized elites. Thus their representation is often a biased account of the political and social events from the point of view of the ruling minority in Muslim countries.
Aside from the fact that the media misrepresents Islam because of ignorance, the media is also a profit-seeking organization which often seeks to create a false image of reality. Islam is often news of an unpleasant sort for the general public of the United States. Islam has often been presented as a menace or a threat to the West. Bashing 'hot topics' like Islam is used as a way to make profit for media stations.
Westerners will eventually learn the truth about Islam and find out that these negative stereotypes are incorrect. It is possible that Islam will become one of the biggest religions in the United States. Islam is the most peaceful religion in world. IIf you want to know about Islam ask Muslims. Stick around TTI and you'll learn not just about the Western media but the core teachings and beliefs of Islam.
Peace
