The ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ discourse was born from a media-driven agenda around Khomeini’s Iran

Evidence

In what Said described as ‘news overkill’, television networks repeatedly broadcast some of the most extreme forms of Shi’a Islam including self-flagellation, black clad women, the burning of American flags, and screaming mobs chanting for America’s death. Likewise, recurrent images of the black-robed Khomeini were so often broadcast that in many ways his persona – as constructed reality and identity – became the epitome of evil: personifying a rampant and uncontrollable anti-Americanism, the antipathy of Western values, morals and beliefs. Spending more than one million pounds per day to get the images and stories they wanted, Western – primarily American – news agencies had inadvertently stumbled upon what became a vital propaganda weapon in responding to the unfolding events in Iran. Through Khomeini and his association with what was increasingly being reported as the most extreme and untenable form of Islam, so a new discourse relating to ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ or just ‘fundamentalism’ was conceived and born: a discourse entirely derivative of a media driven agenda that was conceptually closer, more urgent, more damning and far more real than anything that had proceeded it in terms of the threat posed by Islam and Muslims. — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 219

Categorization

• DEFINE: Traces the genealogy of the contested label ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ back to a specific media event — key to how the term functioned as political act.
• XREF: Directly bears on the field’s central argument over naming and defining the phenomenon; connects to Halliday and Runnymede debates. — connects to: Televised coverage of the Iranian revolution created the modern discourse of Islamic fundamentalism — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 219; Media reattributed the Iranian situation to timeless Muslim traits rather than real causes — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 221; Far-right leaders exploit media-built Islamophobic climate to gain power — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 473 (+10 more)

Related

• Televised coverage of the Iranian revolution created the modern discourse of Islamic fundamentalism (similarity 0.93)
• Media reattributed the Iranian situation to timeless Muslim traits rather than real causes (similarity 0.88)
• Media imagery conflated Khomeini with all of Islam despite his minority Twelver Shi’a sect. (similarity 0.83)
• The 1979 Iran hostage crisis made Khomeini the embodiment of Islamic evil to Americans. (similarity 0.81)
• Televised Tehran hostage images brought the conceptual threat of Islam into Western homes (similarity 0.81)
• Iran hostage crisis coverage monetized the fear of an encroaching Muslim threat. (similarity 0.79)
• The 1979 Iranian Revolution shifted US policy from promoting Islam to denouncing it (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• The 1979 Iran hostage crisis made Khomeini the embodiment of Islamic evil to Americans. #exemplifies (0.88) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 248
• Media imagery conflated Khomeini with all of Islam despite his minority Twelver Shi’a sect. #expands (0.86) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 225
• A coded lexicon spread fundamentalism’s connotations across all discourse about Muslims #expands (0.85) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 223
• Iran’s 1979 revolution redirected US fear from secular nationalism to Islamism #corroborates (0.82) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 246
• Media distinction between Islam and terrorism was blurred by inflationary language #corroborates (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 571
• Media framing constructs the reality audiences accept about Islam. #expands (0.78) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 497
• Global events normalized Islamophobic discourse and made Muslims the ultimate Other #expands (0.75) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 255
• Media and state mutually reinforce Islam-violence associations for distinct functional reasons #expands (0.75)
• US-weakened leftists let Khomeini seize leadership of Iran’s revolution #responds-to (0.72) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 245