The Middle East in the News

Without a doubt, the Middle East is a hotbed for media coverage. Even before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., the media took a very grim stance on the Middle East. Post-9/11 the amount of news coverage pertaining to countries in the Middle East has skyrocketed. This is somewhat understandable due to the conflicts in that area of the globe, but to what extent? One can hardly look at an online news source without finding an entire tabbed section dedicated to the Middle East. What's more, there is typically another tab labled with "War on Terror" or another reference to the conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or Pakistan. While searching through multiple news sites such as CNN.com, msnbc, CBS News, and ABC News, I found this pattern to be fairly typical.

While I will not argue that the conflicts in the Middle East are not newsworthy, I cannot help but notice that the headlines under the umbrella of the Middle East are typically also found on the tabs that pertain to the global threat of terrorism. In fact, every story that I looked at pertaining to terrorism also pertained to the Middle East. One cannot help but be curious as to why this pattern exists. If one was to dig deeper, would they find that terrorism comes from or occurs solely in the Middle East? The answer to that question is a resounding "no." However, the media has chosen to put a great amount of effort into turning the public's eye in the direction of the Middle East when the subject of terrorism is addressed.


This type of focus on the Middle East has assisted in the perpetuation of the "terrorist" stigma that can follow those of Middle-Eastern decent. Studies have shown that these images from all media sources influence the ways in which even children view those who are different from themselves. If the majority of what we see in the news or other media sources regarding those of Middle-Eastern decent associates them with terrorism, how is the public at large to see images which are contradictory to those mentioned before and form opinions which do not make this association?

The link below is to an article with the headine, "Bombings Kill 5 in Iraq." The main point of the article is to report the incidences. However, the lack of images of the Middle-East as a place not riddled with terrorists has led to a disturbing trend in American attitudes toward those of Middle-Eastern decent. Another problematic aspect of this story is the image that accompanies it. The caption reads, "A U.S. soldier secures the site of a bombing Thursday in central Baghdad." In this statement there are sparks of the idea that the U.S. is somehow rescuing the Middle-East from terrorism. It leads one to believe that the U.S. is the only thing standing between the countries of the Middle-East and oblivion. Whatever the reality may be, it is detrimental to state that the U.S. is acting as some kind of savior to another region of the world. To follow this train of thought is to slip into the "us vs. them" binary, in which we (the U.S.), are all-powerful and great, and those in and from the Middle-East are childlike and in need of being rescued. This leads to the portrayal of those of Middle-Eastern decent as less than Americans, as well as the perpetual stereotype of all Middle-Easterners as terrorists. If one was to follow this train of thought, one would inevitably come to the conclusion that, for so much violence and terrorism to be occurring there, most of the people there must be okay with that type of behavior or participating in it. Stories such as these do not communicate the entire truth concerning the Middle-East, only the dark and violent aspects.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/06/iraq.main/index.html