Iran hostage crisis coverage monetized the fear of an encroaching Muslim threat.

Evidence

The hostage crisis lasted for 444 days, and mainstream television and print media capitalized on each day to deliver story lines, images, and narratives that drove the fear of Islam and a new encroaching Muslim threat into the private confines of every American home. Although the Soviet Union still stood as the primary geopolitical threat to the United States throughout the duration of the hostage crisis, coverage of the crisis alerted Americans to the threat that would eventually supplant it. Indeed, “the Islamic revolution of Iran and the hostage crisis became emblematic of the ‘threat of Islam,’” which news coverage readily and regularly delivered to an American public that could not turn away from its television screens. As Nathan Lean tells in his compelling book The Islamophobia Industry, reporting on the hostage crisis netted considerable revenues for television news networks and newspapers, and in CNN’s case established it as a major cable news station and commodity. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 250

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes McChesney/Chomsky’s political economy of media — how fear sells and builds a network (CNN). — connects to: Hostage-crisis coverage warned Americans about a domestic Muslim takeover. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 249; American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 254; Iran’s 1979 revolution redirected US fear from secular nationalism to Islamism — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 246 (+4 more)
• SEED: Possible essay angle: how a single news event can commodify a minority group’s image — the economics of Islamophobia as a media product.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 250

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia operates as a marketable commodity across media forms #expands (0.70) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 354
• American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. #exemplifies (0.60) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 254
• Iran’s 1979 revolution redirected US fear from secular nationalism to Islamism #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 246