Media is no excuse

I recently took part in an online discussion forum involving Arab and British students and one of the issues discussed was if I recall well the role of Media in spreading wrong signals about cultures and religions, particularly in the current context of “war on terror”. My reaction was that Media can always feature events the way it wants, and I did not see any particular problems with that. After all, we are free to select amongst hundreds of TV channels, radio stations and websites and are clever enough to make informed choices.

I think problems only appear when, having received that information, people start interpreting it their own way. For instance, I sometimes witness people’s fierce reactions to certain pieces of information which are presented on television or newspaper in the most plain and narrative fashion. Attitudes are usually reflected in face expressions or explicit thoughts such as: “oh well, this is how it usually is in that part of the world...” or: “but of course, what else would you expect from people following that religion?”. People rarely question the information presented to them in the most appropriate manner, and tend to draw undue parallels and extrapolate on the basis of their longstanding beliefs and clear-cut visions of the world.

Which means that I wouldn’t put all the blame on media for the rising intolerance and rejection of alternative lifestyles that are currently taking place around the globe. I very much believe that we should all pay extra efforts in researching other people’s cultures, vary our sources of information, travel if possible, and ask questions.. rather than speculate.