Short article. Terrorism, Future Extremism, and Media Reporting

Terrorism, Future Extremism, and Media Reporting
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Terrorism, Future Extremism, and Media Reporting
Terrorism is one of the most pervasive aspects of the modern society, and one that continues to remain extremely polarizing in the society. This is partly because of the devastation and chaos that it causes, as well as the discrimination and subjective reporting that it results in. In this respect, the manner in which terrorist attacks are covered by the media, especially in the US, can have a direct influence on the development of future Islamic extremism (Martin, 2013). This is based on the fact that broadcasting terrorist attacks in the US almost always appears to be a direct targeting of Muslims and Islam, appears to propagate stereotypes, and fails to encompass the multidimensionality of the terror complex (Nacos, 2007). As a result of this, the constant broadcasting of terror attacks in the US appears to have some influence in the development of future extremism.
First off, it is important to note that the majority of terrorist attacks across the world have been performed by extremist Muslims who are almost always ardent believers in their duty to wage jihad on non-Muslims (Nacos, 2007). However, it must also be noted that while jihad itself may be enshrined in the Quran, leveraging said jihad to wage terror on the rest of the world is a reserve of a handful of Muslims. In a world where more than 1.5 billion individuals ascribe to the Islamic faith, it is unfair to judge a religion based on the actions of a few thousands. Unfortunately, media outlets, even in the US fail to reiterate this fact in their reporting. In this sense, it serves well to propagate the social notion that all Muslims are terrorists or that all Muslims support terror (Martin, 2013). This comes across as targeting Islam, which only leads to extremists recruiting more individuals to help fight their cause and ‘defend Islam from attack.&rsq...