If you're a journalist, it's not easy to look at a different religion, a different
culture as an outsider.
It is incumbent upon us to try to ask some questions and
diversify the points of view that we hear about Islam specifically, Muslims specifically.
When the talk is about Muslims there is always this one angle
one narrative that seems to dominate and it is... it can get annoying
or sometimes hurtful.
I noticed during my time in Iraq that many of the
journalists who came to Iraq for the first time had no idea about the society
or the people there.
And I know it's a difficult task often, and sometimes
you may not necessarily find your inroads, say, into a community. It may be a
close-knit community, it may have its own biases against you as a
journalist and... for your looks, for you who you are - or what they think you are.
And it may be difficult.
I think it's important for young journalists to think
about Muslims as a diverse group and not just assume all Muslims are the same: not
ascribe stereotypes to Muslims. Just like we are careful with all other groups of
people, and not making assumptions when we report on them, we should have the
same mindset when we discuss Muslim stories and narratives as well.
Students can talk to Muslims. You know, there are Muslims in the community, or even take
some classes about Islam - and other faiths - that are offered here at Elon.
Any country or any culture in the world is just a click away from you,
so you can do your own research. Spend some time. Also, you can talk to
people here in the United States
And getting the information from people who
actually represent the faith tradition, rather than people who are
reflecting or analyzing, or looking from the political angle, or looking from the
homeland security angle.
So try to get past this and see that other side of the
religion as often as you can.
The media kind of lump sums all Muslims into this
one narrative, or one person, or and practice. And it just makes it sound
as if one person can be the representative of Christianity, or
Judaism, or any faith tradition - which is totally untrue. Even the same person - as
much as I try, for example, to to follow the Islamic tradition, I have bad days,
and I have bad moments.
I was at an Arab market one time, and there was a
non-Muslim woman there doing a book report, I think. She was interviewing different
people. And then she asked me, she said, "How do you make your grape leaves?" And I
said, "Well I'm from Mississippi, so Muslim food is fried chicken and cornbread. And
my wife's from Indonesia. You know, that's the most populous Muslim country. Muslim
food is fried rice for her."
Muslim societies are found in different parts
of the world. There are Muslims in Africa, there are Muslims in India, there are
Muslims in the Middle East. So that kind of understanding of this whole
variety of people who happen to be Muslims - I think there cannot be only
one single narrative. I would say "collect from multiple sources,
and in that way we can have a much more balanced understanding."
Muslims come from all over. Not all Muslims are Arabs, and not all Arabs are Muslims.
So, definitely educate yourself.
There is a diverse community, and there are a
lot of different interpretations out there. And whatever you hear and see in
the media, we usually end up giving voices to the terrorists. They commit a
big monstrous act, and they get to speak to the world, and they get to set their
agenda, and they become the spokespersons. And then we don't hear from the people
who are actually their victims. Most of the victims of terrorist attacks are
Muslims. So we're not giving a voice to the victims, we're just glorifying the
perpetrators, and we're just giving them a voice.
I really hate using the term "Islamic terrorism," I feel like you're you're
giving authority and validation towards that when it has nothing to do with
Islam. And you look at the KKK: no one seems to refer that as "Christian
terrorism." Islam says in the Qur'an, "if you kill one person it's
almost like you've killed all of humanity."
So we can say, "terrorists, who
claim to be Muslims," or something. This kind of insensitivity can be very
hurtful sometimes, especially when one is bombarded by it all the time, from
multiple sources.
We don't really hear much about the
other side of Islam, that it is not about violence, it is not about those
people chanting "jihad," or they're chanting "Allahu Akbar."
That's what makes the news often, and religious festivals, celebrations, how
people come together, doesn't make the news a whole lot.
So try your best,
do your research, and learn about the culture.
Gather a bunch of different perspectives.
Of course it's not easy, as I said before, as an "outsider" - not knowing
the religion, not knowing the culture, context... it's not easy, just try to be an
"insider" as much as you can, because it would give you a different perspective.
Do your best, until you capture the essence of the story.
But listen; listen carefully before before you finish your stories.