The media really needs to revaluate their reporting strategies.
The attack on the Mosque in Christchurch really shocked everyone the world over. Not a lot of news comes out of New Zealand, so the news of a vicious terrorist attack taking place in the country dominated airwaves globally.
The attacker was being referred to in most Western media as anything but what he was – a terrorist.
He had been called a “sick man”, a “mass murderer”, a “bullied child with mental health issues” and whatnot. And everyone noticed and pointed it out.
He is not mentally sick
He has no society issues
He is not a lone wolf
He is not emotionally ill
No further excuse
He is just a TERRORIST a cruel brutal #terrorist#CristchurchTerrorism— Shahid Bhatti (@sibhatti) March 15, 2019
It's a tough day for Western media. They are facing a real struggle figuring out how to report a terrorist attack on Mosque in New Zealand which killed 50+ Muslims, without using the word terrorist. Lone wolf, mass shooter, acting alone, gunman, mentally unstable… nice choices!
— Hamid Malik (@Hamidma02908960) March 15, 2019
Usually, the media defends its non-use of the word ‘terrorist’ for incidents such as these because they refer to the dictionary definition of the word ‘terrorist’, which is ‘using violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims’.
Now, the shooter at Christchurch, LITERALLY wrote a manifesto which pointed out to exactly why he carried out the attack which was to serve a greater aim; ridding the world of Muslims. Now if that does not meet the textbook definition of terrorism, then I don’t know what is.
And this broadcaster really did a great job of highlighting the Western media’s inherent bias towards ‘mass murderers’ who were white.
Jan Fran, the woman in the video, is an Australian journalist and TV presenter
She hosts the show ‘The Feed’, where she makes news funny and digestible. She has also worked as a VJ and has worked and lived in Bangladesh, Lebanon, France and Uganda.
In this video that’s going viral, she starts off by comparing headlines from the same publication about similar incidents; the Christchurch shooting and the Miami Pulse Nightclub shooting.
The words used to describe each man are incredibly different. While the Christchurch shooter is being referred to as an ‘Angelic Boy’ the other, brown man responsible for the massacre of 50 people in Miami was called an ‘ISIS Maniac’ from the get-go. And Jan even points out the differences in the images used; for the Christchurch shooter, a sweet image of a young boy with his father is used while for the other, a selfie in all black to represent a narcissistic man is used.
She also points out how the cover for the Christchurch killer story had no images of the victims but the story for the Miami shooter had a smaller image of the victims.
All of this just plays into the minds of readers and gets a bigger ‘Us’ vs ‘Them’ mindset going. Which is true. Reading the story on the shootings, it shows you how for the white terrorist, the publication has tried to find reasons for their violent behavior. Excuses such as ‘they played too many violent video games’ or that ‘they were bullied’. Anything which helps humanize the murderer more so that a difference can be shown between white murderers and those of color.
In the end, Jan points out to the underlying fear the Western media might have or is pandering to; keeping a difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’.
She talks about the privilege afforded to white people; the media wants to find some of their humanity and attribute reasons to their behavior but the same privilege is not afforded to those of color. And this proves to be a big problem as it colors the perception of viewers to be biased against those of people of color.
And that of course, is a big problem because the media moulds peoples’ thinking and perceptions which means it has a big responsibility on its shoulders to accurate reporting.
What do you think about the reporting the Western media has done on the Christchurch attack? Let us know in the comments below.
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Cover Image Source: @jan_fran / Instagram and arabianbusiness.com