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8 JIJIS 246 (2008)
Why Do They Hate U.S. - Exploring the Role of Media in Cultural Communication

handle is hein.journals/jijis8 and id is 250 raw text is: WHY DO THEY HATE U.S.? EXPLORING THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN CULTURAL COMMUNICATION Divya Sharma* Utica College ABSTRACT The September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. jolted the social psyche of an average American, and brought the question of why do they hate us, in the mainstream media. Since then, there has been a barrage of violent images from other parts of the world that is shaping public perceptions about Islam and Muslims in the U.S.. This article begins with a discussion on the need of differentiating between Islam as being interpreted and applied in one cultural context from the other, instead of relating every Islamic act around the world to American Muslims. The tendency to look at American Muslims as outsiders reflects ignorance about Muslim presence in the United Stated for over two centuries, and more problematically, it adds to attitudes of hostility and negativity towards American Muslims. In the larger context of the global war on terrorism, the paper discusses the problems of a lack of moral clarity in the war on terrorism, a limited understanding of causes of terrorism, fear, hatred, and indifference. Further, the notion propagated through the media of it being a clash of civilizations, puts policymakers and the media itself repeatedly on the defensive to explain that it is not a war against Islam, while terrorist organizations use such rhetoric as a recruiting tool. The article also argues that part of the solution may be to provide more media space to the moderate Islamic voice, but it cannot take place in a social vacuum. he September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. jolted the social psyche of an Taverage American, and brought the question of why do they hate us into the mainstream media. It reflected, at one level a sense of naivet6 about the reach of global crimes prior to 9/11, and on the other hand, it was a symbol of a collective sense of helplessness and anger in the face of an act of extreme psychotic violence. It also started a political discourse that quickly swept the socio-cultural discourse of good versus evil, while Islamic terrorism became staple for the news and even entertainment media. Since September 11, 2001, references to Islam and Muslims in the news media have increased many-fold. The very tendency of the news media to cover stories on crimes and criminals means that most stories on Islam and Muslims are about extremism and fundamentalism. Table 1 carries data on Islam and Muslim references in the media before and after 9/11.1. Direct correspondence to dsharma@utica.edu © 2008 by the author, published here by permission The Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies Source: Nacos, Brigitte L. Terrorism as Breaking News. In Annual editions: Violence and Terrorism. Pg. 117

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