Page - 128 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Souley Hassane | Mainstream Media vs. Ethnic Minority Media 128 ‘portrait’ of Tariq Ramadan on France 2. […] There is a lack of new information, incorrect supposition, malicious interpretation, manipu- lated quotes of interviewees, and a litany of double, triple, and qua- druple meaning which continue to pursue Tariq Ramadan. Nothing can justify the angle chosen by the reporter. […] It is true that Rama- dan is a subject that sells. But the denunciation of Islamists and fun- damentalists, of which there is a consensus, in no way justifies turning a blind eye to the absence of any sense of ethics in this case (Dolé 2004). The Internet site received texts from writers sharing a certain ethical standpoint who directly attacked the stigmatizations and instances of discrimination proffered in the broadcast (ibid.). The open editorial policy allows those who are not Muslim, but who share the political commitments of Oumma.com, to air their views. This approach also crosses the borders of religion, community and identity and is a genuine indication of an integration which favors solidarity and good rapport. In 2004, the media event of the year was, without a doubt, the affair of the fictional assault on Marie-Léonie. The young woman claimed to have been attacked by “6 blacks and 7 Arabs” on a suburban train. The uproar was all the greater since Marie-Léonie was carrying her baby and a swastika was drawn on her clothes. The signs of misogyny and anti-Semitism were concentrated into hyper-charged negative media coverage. In the end, the ostensible attack emerged as having been imagined by the young mother. But by that point, politicians, intellectuals and the editorial staff of the major media had already jumped on the bandwagon, indistinctly and invariably taking up and employing the same xenophobic categories and repertories. Within only a few hours, one could no longer keep count of the ways to stigmatize the “youth of the poor neighborhoods”. The writers seemed to be engaged in a competition of sorts, each one searching for the best way to formulate the stereotypical phrases. This pathetic episode casts a cold light on the Islamophobic and Arab- phobic climate in this country. […] The most remarkable ob- servation is the strange unanimity of the media and the political par- ties, which put them all – in differing proportions of course – into the same pot, snubbing traditional ideological divergences. (Koues 2004) The reactions indicate what could happen if a similar or worse situation actually occurred. The reluctance to run the risk of being left an outsider only amplifies such tensions. Hopefully, the media have learned their lesson from this incident.