Page - 182 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Kenneth Starck | Perpetuating Prejudice 182 - Present a conceptual basis centering on framing and “othering” in an attempt to explain media coverage of the Arabic immigrant communi- ties. - Review studies of how U.S. media have depicted peoples of Arabic heritage who live in the U.S. - Show how the Arabic community has tried to refute negative stereotyping through the establishment of organizations and media promoting Arabic interests. - Finally, identify means by which media might achieve a fairer, more accurate portrayal of an entire ethnic group. Appearing regularly in the news media are items such as these: - An Arab immigrant, Mohamed Ben Abdallah, filed a lawsuit saying he had been subjected to such ethnic slurs as “Bin Laden” and “Terrorist” as well as other indignities in his work as a plumber for a contractor (Bulkeley 2006). - Northwest Airline apologized to 40 American Muslims barred from a recent flight returning to Detroit from a Hajj pilgrimage (Northwest 2007). - A U.S. Congressman objected publicly to a newly elected Congressman (from Minnesota) who wanted to (and eventually did) use the Koran for his ceremonial swearing in (Zeller 2006). There’s more. USA Today reported on several promotional messages that Arab organizations objected to – and which ultimately were withdrawn (Koch 2006): - An advertising billboard promoting ethanol, a corn-based product used in a blend with gasoline, showed a farmer in a cornfield and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia with this question between them: “Who would you rather buy your gas from?” - Another billboard, this one planned for North Carolina and New Mexico, was designed to make driver’s licenses more secure and showed a man in a traditional Arab head scarf holding a grenade and a driver’s license with this message: “Don’t License Terrorists, North Carolina.” - Boeing and Bell Helicopter apologized for a magazine advertisement that showed U.S. armed forces in one of their helicopters descending by rope from a plane onto a mosque surrounded by smoke and fire.