Culture and Media: Aggression or Religion


Today, the media that majority have and use combine all forms of ways in which people are made aware of their surroundings. The 21st century media is the internet Television- that is used by journalist and other communication professionals to broadcast news. This research paper is about the media broadcast’s influence on the society, specifically, masses’ intelligence and the effect of their rhetoric on audiences.  It is no news that people registered, and consume what they hear from all around them, and media broadcasts would be among these lines of communication transfers in ways they program, and address events. Silverstone 2006, said that “media is like our educational institution, where we listen, think, speak and possibly act.” In this class, it has been learned how Mediapolis aligned and unaligned with the society, and I have to say that what I understand from the seminars is, “how do we balance the space of appearance with media outlets? How do we recognize that what we are listening to is authentic, unfiltered, and unedited? I think we as public consumers of Medias’ outlets must understand that we are not average listeners; we are not common audiences, but critical a one.

It might, however, be because of how people have been familiarized with problems and terror on television, that they desensitized and detached themselves from the horrors on the screens. In Silverstone Rhetoric of evil, The Mediapolis, he explained that the entertainment media “provide comfort and entertainment, but they also become a screen, as we detach from the message, thinking that it is just drama.” I think this message also extends to broadcast media, we often listen without knowing the details, and we are given continuums that we ascribe or used to identify people. In this way, Silverstone R. said that “we are connected to information we see as media has lifted the veil that blinds; however, the adequate resources to understand the differences are neither explained, nor are the differences properly represented.” Although, the media, any type of media is a religion or culture by itself; but the media institution had however represent other religion and cultures as unhealthy for people through the aggressions acted out by some people who ascribed the aggression as a religious one, e.g. Islam. I mentioned earlier that we perceive media as educational institutes, but could we say that media is, however, ignorant for providing faulty or error reports upon the emergence of aggression and the person(s) that commit these aggressions. If so, what are we listening to- because these reports do affect how we perceive each other as a community? According to Merriam-Webster, Religion simply is “a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith;” aggression is “hostile action made without reasonable cause;” and ignorance is “lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.” the word Islam actually means people and the religion requires its followers to submit to Allah/ God. Corey Sailor said that "For many Americans, 9/11 was their first interaction with Islam; you'll see a sharp spike and then a settle period, but never back to what it was before 9/11." And since the September 11, countless of Muslims have been called a terrorist, and before 9/11, terrorism is not recognized to a person, or to a group of people and neither to a religion. Since the 9/11, there have been many terror attacks done by Muslims, hence the attack on the religion; what are its principles, and if Islam is of peace?

Interestingly, there are many other terrors attack carried out by non-Muslims to which their religion do not come into Medias’ focus. Example, the Quebec shooting to which six Muslims were killed, the Sandy Hook shooting; more than 20 people killed, 2011 Norway shooting took away 77 people, and often, the religions of the shooters are mentioned. Apart from the lack of media’s focus on religion, it has been researched that “the fact that mass shooting casualties have been occurring with little concern by gun rights advocates (e.g. early 2013) suggests that casualties inflicted by some certain groups elicit disproportionate concern,” (Econbrowser, 2016). And Hollywood has been examined in how “Muslims are portrayed in their films and this can be structured either by their own subjectivity or by a decision to appeal to the audience,” Kabir Ehsan, 2013). They are not the only one spreading what had been called “fantastical escapism, (Reigler 2010);” Indian film industry “at the very beginning and particularly since 9/11 incident portrays the Muslim with stereotype image (which is negative). And after the 9/11, the portrayal got worse, Indian film industry adds fuel to the fire by making a lot of movies on Muslims and presenting them as terrorists and negative ones,”( Khan M. A. Bokhari Z. S. 2002).  This brought me to the notion of the subjectivity of these entertainments’ representations and the decisions to appeal the audiences because the media are doing exactly that through the notion that the “Public life including politics depends on the oxygen of publicity which is, terror,” (Silverstone, 2006).

We have to ask is Islam that new in Western society or why the bias in media’s report of an Islamic faith perpetrator, and a perpetrator of another faith? Or as I have noticed- do the broadcasts’ report have to do with the choice of weapon of these perpetrators; it seems that when it is a bomb, it is a Muslim around it, and if it is a gun, a knife, it is someone that is not Muslim. This is like the police and African American society in the United State of America on incidents of profiling, and brutality between the two groups, I have mentioned about media’s bias, but not media profiling. If so, is this media’ profiling an authentic phenomenon? As we have known, profiling is among the consequences of stereotyping.  But this paper is not about that, but how we internalize what we hear based on real events (usually terrible) that we then used to categorize people. The consequences of these wrong profiles or media’s faulty reports are wrong associations of aggression with a person, or a group in which masses subsequently use in defining people around them. The Western society is filled with people with different religion, cultural and social backgrounds, and report like that of a Muslim, Quran associated with a terror put other Muslims in danger, and attacks. It is like putting a rabbit or a deer on a lion’s den. If the den does not have a large hole to escape, the deer or the rabbit is food for the lion.

There have been a lot of wrongful suspect on attacks like that of Boston bombing, and the Quebec shooting to the extent that it was even made the public news. The wrong suspects are sometimes known through phenomenon like internet detectives, crowdsource-investigation there is a - four different people were accused of Boston Marathon bombing, two of them are Muslim, one of them is a victim of the attack, and a Moroccan, (also a victim of the shooting) was thought to be the shooter for the Quebec one according to Fox. This naming wrong suspect also stretched to the London terror attacks, although, the suspect named is an imprisoned person serving jail time for another unrelated account. These are how broadcasts are getting it wrong all by themselves, and let us not forget that citizens participate.

The unintended consequences of these reports are the citizens that consume these reports and retaliated through violence. The repeated reports on Muslim extremists (Al-Qaida, Boko Haram) has caused Islamophobia on Western citizens, and the extremism mmmm have been attributed to other Muslims, and it has made communities unsafe for them. The Chapel Hill shooting; a white male killed a couple and the wife’s sister in their apartment near the University of North Carolina’s campus. The incident was deemed as a hate crime by a lot of media outlets like Hufftingpost for the reason that the perpetrator shared a lot of anti-Muslim posts and links. According to Corey Saylor, director of CAIR's department to monitor and combat Islamophobia, attacks on Muslim Americans have come in four waves since 9/11, (The Movement, 2016).  The FBI said that “in 2001, anti-Islamic hate crimes spiked by 1,600 percent with 481 incidents; and at least 78 anti-Muslim bias groups, and these groups wield approximately $200 million dollars, giving them more power than one might think hate groups would have access to.” Many of the hate crimes incidents occurred shortly after terror attacks or mass shootings, however, the CAIR has found that media portrayals of Muslims also feed Islamophobia. The Movement website also blamed politicians for all these toxic rhetoric of Muslims and Islam. The rate is not different from Canada, “In 2014, police forces across the country recorded 99 religiously motivated hate crimes against Muslims — up from 45 in 2012.” I think Muslims do retaliate, although, it hard getting examples of violent confrontations of Muslims against Americans- there is, however,  a message which stated that “Iran will ban Americans in response to Trump's refugee order  to ban Washington's visa against Tehran and six other majority-Muslim countries.”

All these violence and retaliations speaks to the Rhetoric of Evil in Silverstone’s book on the notion of otherness, and to see the other as inhuman in itself is the progenitor of evil. Through my explanations, notice the need to blame or credit someone for actions that impact everyone- and to break further, the actions that humiliate a culture, usually a minority one, hurting the other, usually a majority. Hence, the retaliation of the hurt, the majority- the action and reaction. Silverstone said, “Pearl Harbor and September 11 are events that are decontextualized and recontextualized and are tools for the determination of good and evil;” that is to say these events, as well as the context of which they are explained to the public, have been made visible to the public to judge people with. So, in creating awareness, the media broadcasts create paradoxes as “events become de-evented through analyzation that underestimates both political and moral power latent  in many of the globally reported event.” Hence, the reports produce a contrapuntal society as seen in the modern appearances of the Muslim-Islamic society and the Western world; or rather Muslims Americans and the Americans. The correlations or associations that media provide to the public sphere come to full use, and perhaps, the broadcasts need to define the usage of the messages they deliver. The juxtapositions in events de-evented created two societies in the dissonance of each other- the American Muslims versus the American citizens, and all the toxic rhetoric started through a sect that violently speaks for all. I must point out that majority of the Muslims know that Islam, as it has been used by the extremist sects, is not as it has been portrayed by the media or these extremists- although, the Muslim community both in the Western world and where they are populated suffer enormous tragedy. Think about the Syrian conflict, Palestinian versus Israel, Somalia, Libya during Gadhafi’s descent of power; the citizens of these countries which majority happen to be Muslims suffer the consequences.

So, is it the ignorance of the media that cause these dissonances? I rather say that it is the incomplete messages been delivered, as Silverstone put it “the events that were de-evented,” creating a moral tool that masses can judge each other on. The Muslims, the terrorists, the Blacks, the trouble makers, the Mexicans, the abject immigrants, the White, the that, the Yellow, the this- and the stereotypes are endless. As Silverstone pointed out on the plurality of individual and the media discourse, “the multiplicity and acknowledgment of an individual within the variety of data seek understanding and the judgment of actions in the world.” And this brings me to this, it is certainly appropriate and expected that Muslims, Americans or any other global citizen seek reasons for actions around them, or, hence, the evil that commences “with the absence of thought”(Silverstone, 2006).  I think as a society, we need to understand what media is for, that it is not institutions like colleges, schools, or universities, but just an institution that informs and perhaps, they do more than inform, but they do not become our moral compass. But they inform us- and we are creating a disharmonized world by events in the words of Hjarvard S. “produced and edited by the media and delivered through genres like news, documentaries, drama, comedy, entertainment and so on,” (Hjarvard, 2006).

Meyrowitz J. elaborated on how the broadcast media were able to create the discords and discourse of the public sphere through Hjarvard S. three disciplines of communication media: the media as a conduit, as language and as an environment. He said the conduits are the symbols and contents that are transferred, and the language been “ways the media format the messages and frame the relationship between the sender, contents, and the receiver.” And finally, the environment as in the public space in which the messages is heard or delivered. The environment of the 18th century been a unidirectional way of transferring messages, and the 21 century, been an interest multi-directional environment.



In conclusion, all the discourses and discords leave us nowhere when we continue to seek who to blame and punish for damages done to us. On the other hand, the discords and discourses would when we balance rhetoric we consume, both medially and individually. Because all the rhetoric have been affecting the Muslims, and since each side is counting causalities, a lot of Muslims are getting involved in American politics and the way to regulate media in order to inform moral agenda. Also, the entertainment industry could tune down the urge to appeal the masses because of the dire consequences of those who adhere and believe the exaggerated and edited broadcasts that we watch. And most importantly, like how broadcasts report on non-Muslim perpetrators on an individual level, they should extend the same courtesy to Muslim-perpetrators as long as it is with appropriate standards.


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Reference



Hoover M. S. (2006); Religion in the Media Age. USA and Canada: Routledge

Silverstone R. (2006); Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. USA and UK:

Polity press

Woods A. (January 2017). Swept In Chaos, Innocent Man Accused in Quebec

Terror Attack. The Star. Retrieved from


Definitions;

https://www.merriam-webster.com/

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/islam

Graph

Author (Unknown) (6 December, 2016). Mass Shooting Causalities, by Religion of Perpetrator: Muslim vs. Non-Muslim. Econbrowser. Retrieved


Unknown author retrieved info from Shane S. (2015, June 24). Homegrown

Extremist Tied to Deadlier Toll than Jihadists in U.S. since 9/11. The New York Times.


Discover The Truth (31 January, 2017). Alexandre Bissonnette Described Himself As Christian “Crusader” And Avid Trump Supporter On Facebook. Discover the Truth. Retrieved from

https://discover-the-truth.com/2017/01/31/quebec-suspect-alexandre-bissonnette-a-christian-crusader-and-avid-trump-supporter-on-facebook/

Scinto R. (24, November 2014). Adam Lanza: Report Probes Dark Interior Life of the

Sandy Hook Shooter. Newton Patch. Retrieved from


Hjarvard, S. (2008). The mediatization of religion: A theory of the media as agents of religious change. Northern Lights, 6, 9-26. DOI: 10.1386/nl.6.1.9_1

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233605968_The_mediatization_of_religion_A_theory_of_the_media_as_agents_of_religious_change

Riegler T. (2010). Through the Lenses of Hollywood: depictions of Terrorism in

American Movies. Perspective on Terrorism. Vol (4) 2. Retrieved from:

http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/98/html

Duran K.; Pipes D. (1993). Muslims in the West: Can Conflict Be Averted? Daniel Pipes,

Middle East Forum. Retrieved from

http://www.danielpipes.org/232/muslims-in-the-west-can-conflict-be-averted

Smith J, (2017, January 31). PMO slams Fox News for incorrect tweet about

Quebec City shooting suspect Retrieved from 


Business Insider, (2016, April 20). A mass murderer responsible for killing 77 people in

Norway just won part of a human-rights case against the government. Retrieved from:


Gayomali C. (2013 April 19). 4 innocent people wrongly accused of being


Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Retrieved from


http://theweek.com/articles/465307/4-innocent-people-wrongly-accused-being-boston-marathon-bombing-suspects


Griffiths B. E. (2017, March 23). Channel 4 News forced to backtrack after naming wrong suspect in London terror attacks. Retrieved from:


Farivar M. (2016, August 17). Attacks against US Muslims Growing in Frequency,

Violence. Retrieved from:


Farabaugh K. (2016, July 29). Islamophobia Increases Muslim American Participation in

US Politics. Retrieved from:


Ose E. (2015, February 18). Why the Chapel Hill Shooting Was More Hate Crime Than ‘Parking Dispute.’ (Web blog Post). Retrieved from:


The Movement(n.d). Islamophobia in America is worse on 9/11/2016 than it was on 9/11/2001 (Mic). Retrieved from

https://mic.com/articles/153864/islamophobia-in-america-is-worse-on-9-11-2016-than-it-was-on-9-11-2001#.z62c3SUQI

Greenwald G. (2016, January 6). The Deceptive Debate over What Causes Terrorism

against the West. Retrieved from:


Paperny M. A. (2016, April 13). Hate crimes against Muslim-Canadians more than

doubled in 3 years. Retrieved from:


Reuters. H. P, (2017, January 28). 'An open affront against the Muslim world':

Iran says it will ban Americans in response to Trump's refugee order. Retrieved from:


Kabir E.; (2013). The representation of Islam in the land of Hollywood. Retrieve from:

http://www.academia.edu/5668757/The_representation_of_Islam_in_the_land_of_Hollywood

Khan A. M.; Bokhari S. Z (2011). Portrayal of Muslims in Indian Cinema:

A Content Analysis of Movies during. Portrayal of Muslims in Indian Cinema: A Content Analysis of Movies during (2002-8). Vol (8) 1-15). Retrieved from:

http://www.bzu.edu.pk/PJIR/eng1AshrafKhan&Zuria.pdf

Holland J. (2015, Decemder 3). America Is Fine With Mass Shootings—as Long as

They’re Not Perpetrated by Muslims. Retrieved from


Lee D. (2013, April 19). Boston bombing: How internet detectives got it very wrong.





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