CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Framing Fear: How the Corporate Media Weaponizes Islam in “Terror” Coverage

Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair

When a gunman opens fire in a crowded venue or a vehicle plows into pedestrians in Berlin, New York or London, the linguistic reflex of Western corporate media is swift and predictable.  If the perpetrator bears an Arabic/Muslim name or background, the media seizes upon terms like “Islamic terrorism,” “radical extremist,” or “jihadist plot.” Faith is immediately elevated as the primary interpretation for the unlawful act.

Yet, when similar acts of mass violence, domestic bloodshed or ideologically-motivated murder are committed by individuals identifying as Christian, Jewish or other major Western traditions, the nomenclature shifts dramatically.  They are routinely characterized as “lone wolves,” “troubled youth,” “mentally unstable” outcasts or victims of personal grievance.  Their religious texts,  affiliations or institutions are rarely, if ever, offered up as breeding grounds for terror.

This disparity is not a product of fair journalism or academic discourse.  It is an institutionalized rigid double standard shaped by global politics, systemic bias and old ideas about human worth.

The root of the imbalance—the “othering” of one group over another—lies in how news rooms, classrooms........

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