conspiracy

Conspiracy

“There is a conspiracy that the media is against us.”

It is true that Islam gets a disproportionate amount of media coverage and it is on the whole negative.  But we really only have ourselves to blame.  If we do something silly then its more than likely to be shown on the news.  It is also important that mainstream western media still needs to be educated about certain things about islam, particularly some of the misconceptions and this will take time.  The media are an enterprise and they have deadlines to meet, so really, it is very unfair to make assumptions about the media just because we don’t like the way they report a story.

For those who have worked in the media or with individual journalists one will realise that there is very little time to put a story together and often the story is sensationalised and edited, to fit into the half hour and sometimes the truth is sacrificed for advertisements.  The journalist will usually try his or her best to be fair and accurate but from the start to the end of the making of a news story, there are many changes along the way and the story passes many hands along the process by the time it reaches the public.

Also, the media (newspapers, TV and radio) are a business, they have to make money and unfortunately do not have the time and patience that suits the needs of the Muslim community.  The media have an obligation to abide by the code of ethics but when we find Muslims burning flags and beating police in the streets, then that is going to get flashed around the world and the ordinary Muslim will pay the price.

The only way to beat the so-called conspiracy is to work with the media. We need to create and empower our own stories of strength and intellectualism.  We need to have our own writers, commentators and journalists who can work within the system and bring about positive change.  Its already happening and the changes are now just becoming evident.