Opinion

BROADCAST BIAS: Networks hide the ‘M’ word after Muslim terror attack

Media described alleged ISIS-inspired attackers as simply 'two men' while repeatedly labeling anti-Islam demonstrators

By Tim Graham Fox News

Published March 14, 2026 7:00am EDT

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Legacy media slammed for downplaying NYC terror plot as ISIS-inspired

Fox News' Shannon Bream and Jason Chaffetz discuss criticism of CNN and New York Times for allegedly downplaying an ISIS-inspired IED attack in New York City.

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Journalists inside our broadcast networks have a sensitivity to any criticism of radical Islam, bred by their loathing of conservatives. The term "Islamophobia" is on their lips when anyone recalls anything from 9/11 to people chanting "Death to America." When a violent or potentially event unfolds, they’re hoping the assailant isn’t Muslim, as happened after an attempted terror attack this week.

When Muslim Army doctor Nidal Hasan shot up Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13, Newsweek’s Evan Thomas proclaimed on televised pundit roundtable: "I cringe that he’s a Muslim. I mean, because it inflames all the fears. I think he’s probably just a nut case. But with that label attached to him, it will get the right wing going." NPR’s Nina Totenberg chimed in: "It really is tragic that he was a Muslim."

That reflex certainly applied to the March 7 protests outside Gracie Mansion, where New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani lives. Two Muslim teenagers turned up at an anti-Islam protest with homemade bombs, and the broadcast networks were extremely reluctant to describe them with the "M word."

On Saturday’s "World News Tonight," on ABC, anchor Linsey Davis was brief, describing "two people arrested after a suspicious device went off during an anti-Muslim protest here in New York. The protests outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, prompting counter-protesters to show up as well. Two were arrested for allegedly throwing what is believed to be a smoke bomb. No........

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