INFLUENCE OF THE MEDIA: HOW POST-9/11 NOVELS ARE REACTIVE TO NEWS COVERAGE OF MUSLIMS

摘要

The media, with their constant stream of news, have a powerful and ever-present impactudon the public’s opinion of events and people. This influence is partly due to the nature of theudmedia and their responsibility to report accurate and credible news, making the public believeudopinions as facts that some journalists include in their reporting. Since the attacks on 9/11, newsudoutlets have been covering Muslims with an intensified and negative focus that has been partlyudresponsible for causing the Islamophobia in America to increase. This paper analyzes how theudmedia portray Muslims and the ways in which some post-9/11 novels are reactive to theseuddistorted illustrations of them. While the media paint a shallower, one-sided, and stereotypicaludportrait of Muslims, the novels acknowledge these stereotypes presented through the news, butudalso incorporate a deeper look into a Muslim’s life in America after the terrorist attacks. In doingudso, the novels create a different, more complex, and compassionate side to Muslims than what isudtypically portrayed by the media.