Media is Distorting How the Middle-east views the Mohd. Cartoons

[JCMach1]

I grant you, many in the Middle-east are irritated to angry over this issue. However, if you believe the MSM coverage you see, you would belive the Arab streets are inflamed because of this.

They are categorically wrong. Once again, the media only shows the radical fringe here in the Middle-east.

What's worse, I have seen many DUers buying the MSM thesis.

[Hatalles]

1. I noticed the same thing.

Granted, Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR is making the rounds on cable news shows... Reza Aslam was also on NPR... they both were condemning the violence, gave examples of how the Prophet would respond to this type of thing, but still made sure to voice their great disapproval of the cartoons... still, the coverage of the fundie/radical reaction is 99% of what we get on television... and it's being eaten up by some even here on DU.

[mogster]

2. You should speak louder about it, JCMach1

I agree with you, and the worst is that this is setting the scene for the next war.

I imagine the environment is ripe with opportunities for agitators.

:hi: by the way.

[tjwmason]

3. Thanks for the clarification.

One never knows how much to trust what the media say - but when they're the only source of information there's not much else one can do.

[mogster]

4. Do you think the same is valid for Iran?

I see some people in Iran now demonstrating against this, but I remembered a post somewhere on a board that said that the Shiites doesn't take picturings of Mohammed so seriously, in fact that they have pictures of him themselves?

Not that these pics are in any respectful category, of course. But still. Do you know?

[PsychoDad]

5. As we all know...

Nearly a billion quiet Muslims don't garner the ratings that a few angry ones do on the evening news.

The media has a habit of showing only the most radical fringe, particularly when the current US administration could use a shot in the arm by showing the barbarians at the gate, as it were.

Thank you for this perspective. A shot of reality is always a good thing to wake up to.

Peace.

[Dunvegan]

6. If anyone should know the distortions of the MSM by now...

...it should be Democrats who have been watching the process for many years.

I agree. There is a terrible difficulty trying to understand this situation with the dust thrown up by the media.

I miss a media where you could find many voices that educated via neutral reporting. Those voices were not everywhere...but easier to find than these days.

Peace

[Wordie]

7. Some good news on CNN this morning:

I saw coverage of today's peaceful demonstration in London by Muslims against the cartoons on CNN this morning. So there are some efforts to present another side. :)

Here's an article covering the demonstration, in which many carried placards reading "United Against Islamophobia.":

Peaceful cartoon protest

By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
SEVERAL thousand British Muslims have gathered in London to protest the publication in other countries of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.

A diverse crowd that ranged from teenagers in jeans and t-shirts to women in head scarves and senior citizens met in Trafalgar Square with an added intention to condemn the violence that has flared around the world as a result of the cartoons' publication.

...Media director for the Muslim Association of Britain, Ihtisham Hibatullah, said: "It was absolutely wrong to publish the cartoons."

But he said demonstrators also wanted to send the message that "the clash of civilizations is only promoted by fringe minorities. We see the future as one of dialogue between practices, cultures, faiths and ideologies."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006070007,00.html

[Dunvegan]

8. I'm so happy there was MSM covering a peaceful march.

Sometimes the rhetoric becomes so inflamed so fast it's hard to settle things down.

One thing that Americans should consider about this situation might be that there are multiple different interpretations of Islam between different countries/cultures, groups, Imams and other religious leaders, and even individuals.

And with Islam being the largest religion in the world, there are virtually millions of differing viewpoints, I'd suspect.

I don't think most American's are often personally moved to apologize for the behavior of Americans of different religious or political beliefs than their own. That would be like a Catholic apologizing for a Baptist preacher like Fred Phelps and his line of hate. It's a little bit of a dis-connect.

Also, being a person of multi-racial origin who was raised in a Black family, I know that many Black families in the 1960 (when racism was still very much in control in America) tried to keep a low profile regarding many controversial events so as to prevent themselves from being doubly-targeted. Some didn't, but many did.

Happy to see CNN cover a non-violent protest of Muslims regarding the content/intent of the cartoons.

Peace.

[Hatalles]

9. I saw this too; however...

MSNBC covered the same protest and only did what seemed like 5-8 seconds on it (with absolutely no interviews or video of children, families, etc... there like CNN did). Before the ad break that preceded the bit, they built it up as "Protests against the cartoons CONTINUE and spread to western countries... etc". During the segment, MSNBC mentioned that the protests were "largely peaceful" while CNN had specificaly mentioned that despite some worries, the protests were peaceful and NO arrests were made. I was very dissapointed in the way in which MSNBC covered it.