CANADIAN UNIVERSITY DUBAI

Media Agenda Setting and

the rise of Islamophobia Media Agenda Setting Theory and how it's creating

a steady rise of Islamophobia in the west.

Ada Siddique

112200031

Mass Communication-Journalism

Graduation Project

4/20/2015

This document will explain media agenda setting theory and how it shapes the way the general public will

think about a particular topic and it's relation of how negatively the media news companies present the

views of Islam to the audiences in the west, and how they associate Muslims to a violent community.

Abstract:

This document and thesis will look at one of the key theories that explain Mass

Media and Mass Communications and relate it to the current state of Anti-Islamic

sentiment and hostility that is rising in the West like United States and other

European countries.

This document will overlook at how media and news corporations manufacture a

media narrative and an agenda and present this type of news to the consumers of

that media. The term Islamophobia and its factors will be explained and observed

and how the rise of Islamophobia relates to this particular media theory.

This document will also understand and analyze real world cases over the recent

years and how the audiences that consume the content of different news media

agencies react differently to these cases.

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................. 4

Media Agenda Setting Theory ................................................................ 4

Core Assumptions of the Media Agenda Setting Theory ................... 5

Discussion ................................................................................................. 6

Islamophobia ........................................................................................... 6

News Media's attitude towards Islam .................................................. 8

Case Study.............................................................................................12

Chapel Hill and Copenhagen................................................................12

The Reason of Media Agenda Setting and Islamophobia....................13

Conclusion…………………………………………………………….14

References……………………………………………………………..15

Other Websites……………………………………………………..16

Introduction:

Media Agenda Setting Theory:

One of the major roles of mass media or news media is to present the news or information with

impartiality and objectivity. Along with that role, the media also has the power to set a nation's

idea or agenda for the audience to focus on as key issues.

What we know about the world is largely based from what the media tells its consumers and

audience.

Media Agenda Setting Theory is one of the earliest theories of Mass Communication and Mass

Media and was proposed by Dr. Maxwell McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw in the year of 1972

after developing a study of the 1968 presidential election. Also known as the "Chapel Hill Study"

where McCombs and Shaw surveyed 100 residents of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, U.S.A, on

what they thought were the most important issues of the election, and how that compared to what

the local and national media reported were the most important issues (McCombs & Shaw, 1972)

This form of deliverance was considered as the Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media, and

this theory suggested that the media sets the public agenda by telling you not exactly what to

think, but what to think about. The abstract in their first article about this theory states:

"In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff and broadcasters play an important

part in shaping political reality. Researchers search not only about a given issue but also how

much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its

position. In reflecting what candidates are saying during a campaign the mass media may well

determine the important issues that is media may set the agenda of the campaign" (Mc Combs

2003)

The main idea of this influence was sketched by Walter Lippmann in his 1922 classic, Public

Opinion, which began with a chapter titled "The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads."

He noted that the news media are a primary source of those pictures in our heads about the larger

world of public affairs, a world that for most citizens is "out of reach, out of sight, out of mind"

In 1963, Bernard Cohen noted that the media "may not be successful much of the time in telling

people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about. The

world will look different to different people depending on the map that is drawn for them by the

writers, editors and publishers of the paper they read" (Cohen, 1963)

Core Assumptions of the Media Agenda Setting Theory:

Agenda setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news

media. The two basic assumptions of this theory state that:

1) The press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it.

2) Media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads to the public to perceive those issues

as more important than other issues. One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda

setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different

media have different agenda-setting potential. Agenda-setting theory seems quite appropriate to

help understand the pervasive role of the media

This assumption makes it easier to understand how people get affected by the media from

different news sources.

For Example, when Fox News issued a poll regarding President Obama's birth certificate, 37

percent of Republicans respondents said they believe that Obama was not a natural born citizen

compared to just 12 percent Democrats (Blanton, 2011) The agenda setting theory suggests that

this is the result of repeated coverage by FOX News of the birth certificate issue, an issue that

was not covered as much by other networks.

From this example, it is apparent how media can shape the way news is edited and presented to

the masses. They show images and give enough time to those issues to which the media

companies think are important, in turn making the audience decide what should be focused on

and what should be regarded as important to them.

The consistency of this type of media agenda setting then leads to other types of ways the public

can take information from the media, for example 'Framing' and even 'Racial profiling' or

'Stereotyping'.

This document will now explain how the Media Agenda Setting theory and how it has affected

the rise of Islamophobia in the West through their media.

Discussion

Islamophobia:

The term Islamophobia was coined in the early to mid-1990s in the U.K (Richardson,

2004).Islamophobia, literally means the irrational fear of the religion of Islam or the fear of

Muslims, yet the term has come to signify an entire disclosure of othering which scholars have

differed on how to define as well as debated its usefulness as an academic concept.

According to the publication by the Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia entitled

Islamophobia: issues, challenges and action (Richardson, 2004:7)

appearances of hostility to Muslim threatening vibe include:

-Verbal or physical mistreatment on Muslims.

-Attacks on mosques or tainting of Muslim cemeteries.

-Widespread and routine contrary generalizations in the media, including the broadsheets, and in

the discussions and "practical judgment skills" of non-Muslims, individuals talk and write in

ways that would not be adequate if the reference were to Jewish individuals, for instance, or to

African-American people.

-Negative generalizations and comments in addresses by political pioneers, inferring that

Muslims in Britain are less dedicated than others, and that they must pick between "the British

way" or the "terrorist path",

-Discrimination in enlistment and employment practices, and in work environment societies and

traditions.

-Bureaucratic delay and inactivity in reacting to Muslim who ask for cultural affectability in

education and health awareness in arranging application for mosques, and other national Muslim

traditional centers.

Additionally Islamophobia in the West have other aspects like:

-absence of thoughtfulness regarding the way that Muslims in Britain are excessively influenced

by destitution and social avoidance,

-Non acknowledgment of Muslims specifically and of religion all in all by the rule that everyone

must follow, or by the law of the land.

-Since separation in work on grounds of religion has up to this point been legal and segregation

in the procurement of administrations is still legitimate.

-Laws abridging common freedoms that excessively influence Muslims (Richardson, 2004:7)

The report, Islamophobia: issues ,challenges and action (Richardson, 2004:7) states that

Islamophobia is another word for an old trepidation, which has been recorded and can be

followed back to eighth century European social orders.

Besides due to Islamophobia, the west considers Islam a primitive, nonsensical, primitive and

sexist lifestyle. The West feels as though they are better than the ways and traditions as that of

the Muslims. Demonstrations of Terrorism and Violence is connected with Islam. Anti-Muslim

sentiment or treatment is considered normal or natural, and sometimes even in extreme cases, the

West believe that this type of Anti-Muslim hostility is needed.

This absurd trepidation is available when individuals don't comprehend the exact certainties and

since all the major news companies provide simply a solitary perspective, a biased analysis, and

a totally one-sided examination in the matter of what Islam is, and how Muslims live their lives.

It's because of this one sided view, many people, especially in the West, perceive wrong

accusations and inaccurate information about Muslims all around the world.

News Media's attitude towards Islam:

After the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers in the U.S, the term "terrorist" was forever associated

with Muslims and those who follow Islam.

The information that is given from a news source seems as true and credible, so it has a

likelihood of having an impressionable impact on the average audience member.

Hatchen (2005:24) writes

"Global television, which is capable of bringing the world together to share a common grief,

such as the death of a president, a global celebration, as during Neil Armstrong's walk on the

moon, can also be manipulated to shock and terrify the world."

The 9/11 attacks were covered and broadcasted in a particular form that made people become

more frightened of Islam. People in the west think that Muslims are barbaric and have violent

tendencies, even though that is usually not the case. One of the reasons why there is this type of

misunderstanding, because the majority of United States of America and other Western countries

have a vast Christian population. The interaction between the general population and the Muslim

demographic is limited and non-existent, and hence, there is a tendency of believing what the

people see on the news as reality.

Over the years, there was a steady rise of extremist radical groups like Al-Qaeda, Taliban, and

the most recent one, ISIS. News corporations showcase these groups and their crimes and

slowly, audience members create a pattern all on their own.

Mass media and news agencies like Fox News, CNN and others, bombard the audience and it's

consumers with images of extremist Muslims, Imams and Muslim clerics committing these

violent acts against humanity with the use of heavy weaponry like bombs, guns and anything that

causes massive destruction, which in turn lead the people to think that all Muslims may live that

way. It is due to this particular type of representation of Muslims that people in the United States

and European countries believe that the ultimate objective of every Muslim in the planet is to

cause death and destruction to every non-Muslim in the world. Even in the world of Films and

Commercial media, Arabs and Muslims are depicted as barbaric, lustful individuals, whose only

intention is to blow up any person that does not follow their ideology. Now in this day and age,

whenever people and audience members of the West come across an image of a Muslim

individual, they are more likely to label them as a terrorist on the very first impression. So if, and

when there is a news story of any type of terrorist attack, especially when the attacker is of

Muslim origin, then there is a higher likelihood of that news story getting more coverage and

extra screen time than any other news story; in contrast, to those kind of attacks committed by a

different kind of religious demographic.

The style, with which the Western news reporters and broadcasters present the news, clearly

depicts their own personal vendetta and attitude towards the Muslims and their own views of

Islam. Since these broadcasters and news reporters (especially those of Fox News and CNN)

believe as Islam as a dangerous religion and Muslims to be a violent and savage society, the

news reporters and broadcasters will use specific type of language and terms when it comes to

describing and telling news stories that consist of anti-Muslim themes, this kind of delivery of

the news makes subtle impressions in the minds of the average news watcher. Critics of Fox

News, go as far as to say that the news reporters or broadcasters are brain washing the public so

that the general audience agree with their opinion.

The media companies perpetuate these same ideals on to the average news watcher, and since

the audience member, who is most likely living in a 'pre-dominant Christian' community, will

believe these stories or images, from the media companies, as truth or accurate facts that

represent reality, even though that is not necessarily the case.

If we compare news stories that were presented in Fox News and the same news stories that are

presented in another news media agency like 'Al Jazeera' we see vast differences in their style of

telling the news.

As mentioned earlier, with this type of consistency of the bombardment of this news narrative, it

leads to 'Racial Profiling' and 'Racial Stereotyping'. This creates a higher level of animosity

between Muslim people and Western civilizations, especially for those Muslims who live in the

West. Ramadan, 2012 was reported as the highest number of anti-Muslim activity and hostility

towards the Muslim minority in the United States. This kind of hostility and activity occurs

because of the permanent image and label that the majority of the Christian population believe,

that all Muslims are terrorists.

The Charlie Hebdo attack, where a satirical artist was attacked by a Muslim extremist because

the cartoonist in question was creating offensive images of the holy Prophet Muhammad. 12

people were killed in that attack, and this act of terror happened in Paris, France, earlier this year.

This news story was given the maximum amount of coverage and screen time in Western media

corporations, because it further propagates their agenda that all Muslims are violent human

beings. CNN, Fox News and other news agencies would give day to day, and minute to minute

coverage on that particular event. Consequently in that Charlie Hebdo attack, there was a Muslim

police officer named Ahmed Merabat, who was one of the 12 victims, he died when he was

trying to protect the artist from the terrorist attack. This fact wasn't even reported at first because

it goes against the media narrative, but upon further investigation, it was then documented and

broadcasted by Western news media, but wasn't focused upon as much.

The Western world reacted greatly against this terrorist attack, and Muslims were, once again,

facing criticism and statements of being savage and barbaric, even though Muslims all around

the world condemned this act of horror. The Western world believes that Islamists and Muslims

did not believe in free speech and the right to express themselves, even though the Muslim police

officer, Ahmed Merabat, gave his life to protect the very same artist, who offended his own

religion. After the Charlie Hebdo attack, #KillAllMuslims was the world wide trending topic on

Twitter. This kind of global social media reaction is frightening because of how the media covers

these tragic events and then show cases them to the world.

Case Study

Chapel Hill and Copenhagen:

In the month of February, 2015, there were two murders that occurred, one in Chapel Hill, North

Carolina, U.S.A and the other one in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In the 'Chapel Hill' shooting, three Muslim students were murdered by a white male named

Stephen Hicks who was an atheist, while in Copenhagen a Muslim gunman named Omar el-

Hussein, a Danish youth, who had a past of petty crime and was prone to violence had killed one

civilian and injured 3 other police officers.

Once again, both news were presented differently by major news agencies, the news about

'Chapel Hill' was given less coverage and screen time. It was first reported that the crime

happened due to a parking dispute, but then later on was broadcasted that it could have been

resulted from a hate crime.

The shooting by Omar el-Hussein happened in the span of two days and was the same kind of

terrorist crime as the Charlie Hebdo attack, where the gunman tried to shoot a Swedish cartoonist

by the name of Lars Viiks.

The 'Chapel Hill' murderer, who was an American White male, was described as a "lonely",

"troubled", and "disturbed" individual; in contrast to the Danish Muslim gunman, who was

Muslim and had a past of violence, and this terrorist activity was expected. The fact that he was

Muslim, according to the Western civilization, this kind of terrorist activity was bound to

happen, sooner or later.

Consequently, The 'Chapel Hill' murders were given less focus and screen time, whereas special

coverage and investigation was done for the 'Copenhagen' attack because, the Copenhagen

attack, fits the Media Agenda that Muslims are violent and Islam is a dangerous religion.

The Reason of the Media Agenda Setting and Islamophobia:

From the above two news story cases, an apparent news style is noticeable, The 'Chapel Hill'

shows the Muslims as victims and isn't reported as much, while the 'Copenhagen' attack is given

more screen time. Why do these media corporations like Fox News and CNN have this particular

media narrative and media agenda of showing Muslims in a negative and dangerous light? There

could be several reasons. One of the theories is that Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News,

corporation, is one of the biggest investors of an Israeli company that sends its funds to the

Israeli army, and aid them in their fight against Palestine.

Another theory is that, Islam being the 2nd largest religion in the world, and having a community

of 1.6 billion Muslims, the U.S and other Western countries are afraid of a world being

dominated by Muslims, and they use this type of Media Agenda Setting Theory to portray

Muslims and Islam in a negative light.

There are several theories and conspiracies that arise from why the Western media create a form

of racial distinction between all these communities.

Conclusion

Media Agenda Setting Theory is a theory that explains how Mass Media and Mass

Communication works with the general audience. Major news companies and

corporations edit, shape and present certain news pieces to the general public and

audience in such a way that after watching these altered news pieces, the public

then decide as what is important and what should be focused on. "The media

doesn't tell us exactly what to think, but they tell us what to think about."

The cases and news stories that were used in this document showcase how Media

Agenda Setting Theory, is used by major news corporations, to push their own

ideals on to the average audience member, and here in this case, the mass news

agencies, use this Media Agenda Setting Theory, to perpetuate the idea that Islam

is a violent religion and Muslims are a savage, barbaric and inferior community,

compared to the people of the West.

References

1) "An Overview of Agenda Setting Theory in Mass Communications, Amber M. Freeland,

University of North Texas, November 12, 2012, pg. 2

2) Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion. New York: Macmillan, 1922, pg.29.

3) Agenda Setting Theory, Kleninnijenhuis, J & Rietberg, E.M (1995). Parties, media, the public

and the economy: Patterns of societal agenda-setting. European journal of political research:

official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, 28(1), 95-118

4) Blanton, D. (2011, April 7). Fox News: 24 Percent believe that Obama not born in the U.S.

Retrieved March 15, 2015, from www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/07/fox-news-poll-24-

percent-believe-obama-born/

5) "Dispensationalism, Islamophobia, And the Mass Media in America" Christopher Cameron

Smith, May 2014, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, pg.8

6) Allen, C. (2001). Islamophobia in the media since Sept 11th Retrieved May 15, 2006 from

www http://www.fairuk.org/docs/Islamophobia-in-the-media-since-911-ChristopherAllen.pdf

7) Amjad-Ali C. (2006) Islamophobia or Restorative Justice: Tearing the veils of Ignorance.

South Africa: Diteshwanelo CAR2AS

Amjad-Ali C. (2006b). Lecture presented at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) May 02

2006 Not

8) Islamophobia and the media: The portrayal of Islam since 9/11 and an analysis of the Danish

cartoon controversy in South Africa, 12 02 08 Prof. L. Rabe pg. 19-20

9) Watt, D. (2008). Challenging Islamophobia through Visual Media Studies: Inquiring into a

Photograph of Muslim Women on the Cover of Canada’s National News Magazine, 8(2).

http://www.utpress.

10) Chapel Hill vs. Copenhagen-Which is Terrorism? Russell Brand The Trews (E257) [Motion

picture]. (2015). United Kingdom: YouTube.

Other Websites:

1)https://utoronto.ca/journal/ejournals/simile

2)https://mediapromotesracism.wordpress.com

3)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/08/muslim-policem

4)http://thinkprogress.org/world/2015/01/08/3609796/islamist-terrorism-europe/an-charlie-

hebdo_n_6431492.html

5)http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/16/copenhagen-shooting-suspect-omar-el-

hussein-a-past-full-of-contradictions