Media Influence on Peoples Perception

Medias Influence on the Society

Dina Mansour

AUS

Abstract

Media nowadays is one of the most important things in our lives as it makes things easier and within arm's reach. Although media is making the world more practical, it affects individuals' perception of various issues. While not much action has been taken, media was able to highlight racism and clarify the causes of it, which could later on lead to a change. Media also has some negative effects as it spreads Islamophobia specifically after the 9/11 incident. Furthermore, one of media's most important effects is the increasing degree of globalization because people now are more exposed to the other cultures and societies. On a personal level, the way media presents the news affects people's perception of events, which highly influences the way they form their political opinions. Regardless of media's many drawbacks it remains an important aspect of our lives as it makes things exponentially easier through its many advancements.

Keywords: Media, discrimination, racism, Islamophobia, globlization

Media Influence on the Society

It is a relatively easy task to pinpoint specific historical inventions, figures and achievements that were pivotal to the progression of the human race. One of the most fundamentally vital epochs of history that is of seemingly unlimited reach and impact is what has been coined as media, both traditional and new. In the past decade, the world has witnessed some of the most tremendous advancements, in both thought and culture, which have been strictly correlated with the progression of media and information technology. Although some may argue that media can only impact people's lives to a certain extent, it has evidently had a plethora of impacts on our present societies, some of which include it's influence on the public perception of social injustices and discrimination, it’s advancement of globalization within our societies, and it's impact throughout the political sphere.

One of the most fundamentally significant impacts that the media has had on the public in regards to the various social injustices and discriminations faced by millions of people around the world, specifically African Americans, is solely due to the fact that it has brought these issues to the public sphere. Until quite recently, most of the world populations were oblivious to the racial injustices that are constantly inflicted on countless minority groups, and believed that this concept was a mere problem of the past that has long been resolved. However, the media has played a pivotal role in bringing these problems to light; giving the public a glimpse of what various minority groups, including African American communities, face on a daily basis. For example, had it not been for the media, the videos of the unjust murders of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castille, along with countless others would have not been viewed by millions and would have been quickly dismissed as mere fallacies, as was the case in the past (Cobb, 2014). Moreover, the 'Black Lives Matter' movement – which emerged as a mere twitter hashtag - is one of the most influential and prominent social movements that advocate the eradication of racism and white supremacy, and has since brought together all black people around the world regardless of their religion, social status, or nationality under one banner. It has also integrated many African Americans that would have once not been able to take an active role in their protests against the injustices they face such as those who are uneducated, have extremely poor living conditions, or those of old age.  Therefore,  the media has,  in many ways, greatly impacted the public’s perception of the racism and prejudice faced by African Americans on a daily basis.

However, the media was unable to demonstrate a change in the discriminations it was broadcasting, regardless of the public's increased awareness concerning the discussed issue. There is still major discrimination against black people, which is proven by the multiple incidents posed against them solely due to the color of their skin. It is nowadays arguable that even more discrimination is present because of the media's concentration and fixation on the topic. Seemingly, the media is not able to unite people under a common cause and has possibly created an even bigger divide between people of different backgrounds. Due to the media, people are now more aware of the racism that exists but aren't putting in any effort to actually fix the problems. Nevertheless, people are currently more aware of the causes and effects of racism, which is a huge step in the right direction and is an improvement when compared to the situation in the past. In the long run, a change may take place due to the fact that people actually know about the issues that are occurring.

While media can improve the way people view racism and discrimination, it can also instill racist notions in the minds of millions through its various outputs . This is highlighted through; the increased levels of Islamophobia and hate crimes against Muslims due to western media in the past decade. According to Quraishi (2015) “Islamophobia is a prominent example of moral panic. It is the dread or hatred of Islam and therefore leads to the fear and dislike of all Muslims” (para. 6). At a certain point in time and because the media was controlled by certain agents in society, Islamophobia was on the rise - specifically after the 9/11 terror attacks. The way the American media generally made it out to be and whom they decided were the culprits influenced people's opinions about this religion in an exponential way, which resulted in Islamophobia reaching an all time high during the early 2000s. In the years following 9/11, the American public dehumanized anyone that had a mere correlation with the Muslim image; someone who wasn't Caucasian, who had a beard, or an accent. This very ideology led to the killings of not only innocent Muslims, but also Sikhs, Buddhists, Hindus, and even some Christians who were simply mistaken as members of the religion for their similar appearance. The impact of the media at the time, through its various nationalistic and subliminally anti-Muslim advertisements and campaigns led to an increase in hatred toward Muslims.

However, some may argue that discrimination against Muslims has always been prevalent within Western societies and that the media hasn't influenced it. According to Rose (2013), the levels of Islamophobic attacks increased by "1,700% in 2001. Prior to 9/11, the FBI recorded just 28 hate crimes against Muslims. The following year it increased to 481" (para. 4). In the year 2001 media did not yet reach the level of influence that it has right now and yet there has still been major discrimination against Muslims. This further proves that injustice towards Muslims was present regardless of media's input.  In the past five years and with the rise of smartphones and individual access to media outlets that are not nationalized, stereotypes and misconceptions of Islam as a religion have either been clarified or have planted the seeds of doubt in predisposed Islamophobic sentiments. This also cleared many misconceptions about what radical Islamism is and that its most frequent victims are Muslims themselves. This was most recently covered and shockingly brought to the western dialogue with events such as the bombings of the Prophet's mosque in Saudi Arabia, which was brought about by a supposed Islamist group. Therefore, it is no doubt that the media has had a great influence on the perception of Islamophobia and Islam itself by the general public.