Adam Johnson reminds us in For U.S. Media, Victims of ISIL Terror in Europe Are 1,200 Percent More Newsworthy Than Those in Middle East, that Arabs don’t matter much to the U.S. media, in life or death.
From the post:
Since the back-to-back ISIL attacks in Beirut and Paris last in November of last year, many in media have noted the disparity in the outpouring of grief and coverage when ISIL attacks happen in Europe versus the Middle East. Recent attacks in Brussels have led others, including Salon’s Ben Norton and The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald to note a similar phenomenon: The U.S. media simply values European lives over those in the Middle East. And because neither Brussels or France are English-speaking nations or are in the greater United States, this can only lead to one conclusion: race is an essential factor when U.S. media determine what terror attacks to cover. Predominantly white countries simply matter more.
This racism is heavily informed by the U.S.’ ongoing wars in the Middle East. Since President Obama has taken office, he has launched seven bombing campaigns of Muslim-majority countries. This decades-long war positioning against the “other” has helped normalized deaths in the Middle East even beyond that of routine racism. But how wide is this disparity? I have attempted to quantify the gap in coverage using two comparable examples from Europe and the Middle East in the past six months.
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Adam gives a thumb-nail sketch of attacks over the past six months and the resulting media coverage to arrive at his conclusion that ISIL (sic, Islamic State) attacks in Europe are 1,200 percent more newsworthy than in the Middle East.
I find Adam quite persuasive but from a critical analysis perspective, have some suggestions that would strengthen his case.
For example, expanding his six months to cover the last five years and not limit attacks to those by ISIL (sic, Islamic State).
From memory (you need to check me on this), attacks in Arab countries, in particular attacks by the United States and a number of other Western powers, receive almost no coverage at all. Attacks in some countries, not necessarily by the Islamic State, become international hype storms.
Most Western press discriminates against Arabs and their legitimate concerns in both life and death. Then wonders why anyone would become “radicalized?”
Suggestions on how to build a “discrimination against Arabs” index for pubic media?
If the Western media continues to discriminate against Arabs, it should wear that badge openly.