Imagine a day in the life of a typical American news reporter. They might cover a city council meeting in the morning, a car accident a few hours later, then a controversy over signs that mysteriously popped up at a mall proclaiming, “No Muslim Parking … Your Car Will Be Towed.”
The general assignment reporter is expected to know a little about everything – or at least do some serious Googling – but when they are handed a story involving complex, controversial religious issues, especially those concerning Islam and Muslims, they are often ill prepared, according to Dr. Lawrence Pintak, dean of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University, a former CBS News Middle East correspondent, and the author of several books on media coverage of Islam (including the free download, “Islam for Journalists”).
Dr. Lawrence Pintak of Washington State University speaks on “Covering Islam on Main Street: How a Foreign Crisis Has Become a Domestic News Story.” Photo by David Yonke/Toledo Faith & Values
“Most local reporters know next to nothing about Islam,” Pintak said in a lecture Tuesday night (Sept. 30) at the University of Toledo.
Even the big TV news stars don’t always get it right. Pintak pointed out a blunder by Erin Burnett of CNN in which, during an interview, she asked if Egypt might become a religious state with ayatollahs, like Iran. Only Shiite Muslims, the majority in Iran, have ayatollahs; most Egyptians are Sunni Muslims, which don’t have ayatollahs.
And international events almost always have a local news angle, Pintak said. If there’s a revolution in a foreign land, for example, good reporters will find someone with relatives in that country, interview local immigrants from the nation, or check to see if there is a refugee population from that nation.
“The foreign story has become a local story; the foreign beat has become a local beat,” Pintak said.
The “No Muslim Parking” signs was an actual news story from Spring Branch, Texas, as Pintak showed a screenshot from a TV news broadcast.
The impact of media coverage on a religious group can hinge on the reporter’s approach to a story, Pintak said. Most reporters are not trying to make any particular group look bad, but ignorance – and deadline pressure – can lead to errors, stereotypes, insensitivity, and use of clichés.
Some news media deliberately stir things up, turning to sensationalism to boost sales and circulation. He showed a Newsweek cover titled, “Muslim Rage,” with a man with a maniacal look on his face, and a New York Post headline, “Holy Shiite – Newsweek retracts its deadline toilet tale.” And violence erupted in 2006 after a Danish newspaper published insulting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam.
Media coverage plays a big role in shaping public opinion, Pintak noted, and whether stories include misinformation due to ignorance or distortion caused by bias, a lack of understanding or a slant by reporters can contribute to Islamophobia.
Dr. Lawrence Pintak discusses Texas TV news coverage of signs barring Muslims from parking in a shopping mall. Photo by David Yonke/Toledo Faith & Values
The divide between the portrayal of Muslims by the American media and the perception of America overseas grew when the Al Jazeera network was established on Nov. 1, 1996, according to Pintak. Before Al Jazeera, virtually all media in Muslim nations were government owned and controlled, and most national TV stations only reported on stories within their borders. The rest of the news came from the American media.
With the arrival of Al Jazeera, the Muslim world was now seeing the news through a Muslim lens, Pintak said. While American reporters were embedded with troops behind the Iraq battle lines, for example, showing mostly “antiseptic” images of the war, Al Jazeera was broadcasting scenes of civilian casualties and dead babies in targeted cities.
“The perception gap continues to grow, because we see the world differently,” he said.
The rise of social media has exacerbated the divide, as citizens worldwide are posting their own photos and opinions on Facebook and Twitter.
There are some positive signs, Pintak said. Many U.S. reporters and editors are more aware than ever of the importance of having knowledge and getting it right on stories involving religion. And American Muslims are getting better at getting their message out, as well as dealing with the media.
He cited a current Twitter hashtag campaign, #NotInMyName, in which Muslims denounce the atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The lecture, which drew about 75 people to the McQuade Auditorium in UT’s College of Law, was sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the UT Center for International Studies Program, and the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio.