Media splits Muslims into good and bad based on US strategic interests
Evidence
Following the invasion of Afghanistan, we are probably going to have an even more dramatic cleavage separating good Muslims from bad, more news hailing the achievements of good Muslims like Hosni Mubarak, Benazir Bhutto, and Yasir Arafat’s anti-Hamas security forces, and more equating of good Islam with “moderation,” if possible, with freedom and democracy, which principally mean a “free” market economy, not an enhanced human rights situation in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, and Jordan. Few people, however, equate Afghanistan’s resistance to Soviet occupation with Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, a point made by King Hussein of Jordan when he appeared on Meet the Press June 22, 1980. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 287
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader body of work on how discourse frames (Orientalism, media framing) determine political perception of the Muslim world. — connects to: The good versus bad Muslim label tracks support for US empire rather than facts. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 87
Related
- The good versus bad Muslim label tracks support for US empire rather than facts. (similarity 0.84)
- Muslims are judged good or bad by loyalty to the US, not piety. (similarity 0.82)
- US instrumental use of Islamists produced today’s negative Islam frame (similarity 0.81)
- US policy treated Islam as good or bad depending on imperial alignment (similarity 0.81)
- Good and bad Muslim designations follow support for US empire (similarity 0.80)
- Media portrayals of Islam perpetuate hostility rather than convey understanding (similarity 0.79)
- Western media collapsed Al-Qaeda into representing all Muslims as extremists (similarity 0.79)
- Early Cold War discourse coded Islam positively when anti-communist (similarity 0.79)
- 53% of Americans think that coverage of Islam and Muslims by American news organizations is generally unfair to Muslims and Islam. (similarity 0.78)
- American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. (similarity 0.78)