CNN reinforcing a negative Muslim stereotype
by Salman Hameed
Just yesterday, I had a post that pointed to a reasonable Muslim response to a billboard promoting atheism in Arabic and English. The response came from the head of the Islamic Center located two blocks from the billboard. The argument was couched in terms of freedom of speech and I thought it was a good response. But a reasonable response - I guess - doesn't make for good headlines. So CNN has a report on the same billboard - but with the headline: Atheist billboard draws Muslim ire. No seriously - where is the "Muslim ire"? Interestingly, the title of the actual title is simply Atheist Billboard Goes Up in NJ Muslim Neighborhood. Even in the "article", unnamed Muslims only offered disagreements with the message, but support for the right of speech on the billboard. Oh - the "ire"!! But CNN used the stereotype of Muslims in the US - an assumption of angry reaction - to lure the readers to the article. Here is the screenshot of the US section of CNN today:
And ladies and gentlemen - this is one of the ways media propagates stereotypes. Not to mention the fact that there is no actual news in this story. But then, news organizations like CNN stopped providing news a while ago.
Read the related post: A Reasonable Muslim Response Over Atheism Billboard.
Just yesterday, I had a post that pointed to a reasonable Muslim response to a billboard promoting atheism in Arabic and English. The response came from the head of the Islamic Center located two blocks from the billboard. The argument was couched in terms of freedom of speech and I thought it was a good response. But a reasonable response - I guess - doesn't make for good headlines. So CNN has a report on the same billboard - but with the headline: Atheist billboard draws Muslim ire. No seriously - where is the "Muslim ire"? Interestingly, the title of the actual title is simply Atheist Billboard Goes Up in NJ Muslim Neighborhood. Even in the "article", unnamed Muslims only offered disagreements with the message, but support for the right of speech on the billboard. Oh - the "ire"!! But CNN used the stereotype of Muslims in the US - an assumption of angry reaction - to lure the readers to the article. Here is the screenshot of the US section of CNN today:
And ladies and gentlemen - this is one of the ways media propagates stereotypes. Not to mention the fact that there is no actual news in this story. But then, news organizations like CNN stopped providing news a while ago.
Read the related post: A Reasonable Muslim Response Over Atheism Billboard.
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