American Media Representation of Islam Term Paper

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" (Iyengar, 2001) Lastly, the manner of presentation of a news story "significantly affects its ability to set the public agenda." (Behr and Iyengark 1985; Dearing and Rogers, 1996) Concluded is that: "In the current regime, American politics is almost exclusively a mediated experience. The role of the citizen ahs evolved from occasional foot soldier and activist to spectators. Those who seek public office invest heavily in efforts to shape news coverage of their candidacy. The returns from this investment provide them with leverage over public opinion, by setting the public agenda or by projecting a general impression of competent leadership..." (Iyengar, 2001)

The report published by the "MediaMatters for America' website entitled: "According to Maher, CBS's "Free Speech" is a Misnomer" states that Bill Maher, HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher show host states that "CBS rejected his request to comment on religion for his planned "Free Speech" segment on the CBS Evening News" stating that they would "provide him with a list of 'approved' topics that he might address." (2006) Maher reportedly states that: "I asked if I could talk about religion, and that was a deal-breaker right from the beginning...They said, 'We'll send over a list of acceptable topics, for our segment on free speech." (2006) in fact the first nine days of the "Free Speech" segements have featured Rush Limbaugh, Rudy Giulani, former New York City mayor and a former Bush aid, Michael Gerson without a "single Democrat or progressive." CBS denies that Maher was instructed not to speak of religion, however Maher is holding his position that CBS did just that." (Maher, 2006)

The work entitled: "What if Everything Changed for American Journalists on September 11, My Speculations" states that: "A PressThink reader, who is also a blogger, a Bush supporter, a believer in the war in Iraq, and occasionally a hostile critic of the press, John Moore has mentioned several times in comments here how startled he was to read the Society of Professional Journalist's code of ethics and discover no mention of any 'journalist's duty to the nation' or the language of the nation at all. it's as if they don't have one! He finds this remarkable." (2006) the question is asked: "Are journalists who inform citizens of the most powerful and influential nation in the worldly participants in the war on terror, in the worldwide struggle for democracy, freedom and markets, because their country is a participants - the biggest by far- and they inform it? Or can they get by with: "Terrorism and war are big stories and we're going to cover them as best we can. Our readers expect it. We'll tell them what we know." (2006)

Reported as well in the work entitled: "ABC, Scholastic Injecting Conservative Misinformation into the Classroom" states that: "...in conjunction with the September 10 premiere of its flawed, partisan miniseries the Path to 9/11, ABC has teamed up with Scholastic Inc. To urge 100,000 high school teachers nationwide and their students to watch the controversial miniseries and then use Scholastic's "discussion guide" in class. A Media Matters for America review of the ABC/Scholastic material has found it to be rife with conservative misinformation. The ABC/Scholastic material is deeply flawed because, in addition to omitting key information, it promotes conservative talking points: such as those as follows: (1) it tells students that the United States went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction -- but fails to note that, in fact, Iraq did not have WMD. Nor does it note the increasing evidence that the Bush administration knew this all along and manipulated intelligence in order to make a dishonest case for war; (2) it falsely suggests a tie between Iraq and the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; (3) it gives unjustifiably upbeat accounts of reportedly dire conditions on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan; (4) it suggests that military responses to Osama bin Laden by the Clinton administration could have "hinder[ed] the U.S. stance on the war on terror; and (5) it asks students to debate whether the media "hinder our national security." (2006)

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The theoretical perspective that emerges in the literature reviewed is that agenda setting is occurring between the political forces and the media in the United States and as well that the media is part of the social system in the United States.

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METHODOLOGY & DATA COLLECTION/ANALYSIS

In the attempt to research and examine the impact of media on the perception of the public it is necessary that a phenomenological interpretative study be conducted of the qualitative nature in order to inform the research as the quantitative methodology will not allow for the interpretation of the response data that this study will gather for analysis. This methodology of research will allow for a natural span of the news media penetration rendering a true result in media news reporting impact on the sampling population for the purpose of this research. Phenomenological research is the research method that is used in understanding social aspects of civilization and the origins can be traced back to Kant and Hegel. (Groenewald, 2004; International Journal of Qualitative Methods 3(1) April 2004)

In this theoretical framework it is held that: "To arrive at certainty, anything outside immediate experience must be ignored, and in this way the external world is reduced to the contents of personal consciousness." (Groenewald, 2004) the phenomenological research method was founded by Husserl, a student of Franz Brentano (1838-1917) who provided the basis for phenomenology." (Ibid) Heidegger (1990-1976), a student of Husserl, introduced the concept of 'Dasein' or 'Being there' and the dialogues between a person and her world..The aim of the researcher in this type of research is to attempt to provide a description that is as accurate as possible and while doing so to refrain from "any pre-given framework and to remain "true to the facts." (Ibid)

The study of phenomenologist is to understand "social and psychological phenomena from the perspectives of people involved" and concerns the study with "the ways in which ordinary members of society attend to their everyday lives" (Gubrium & Holstein, 2000, pp. 488-489) a researcher in the applied phenomenological research."..is concerned with the lived experiences of the people" (Greene, 1997; Holloway, 1997; Kruger, 1988; Kvale, 1996; Maypole & Davies, 2001; Robinson & Reed, 1998) who were the focus of the research." (Groenewald, 2004) an informed consent 'agreement' will be devised in this research for the purpose of gaining informed consent from participants including: (1) That they are participating in research; (2) the purpose of the research; (3) the procedures of the research; (4) the risks and benefits of the research; (5) the voluntary nature of research participation; (6) the subjects right to stop the research at any time; (7) the procedures used to protect confidentiality (Arksey & Knight, 1999; Bless and Higson-Smith, 2000, Kvale, 1996, Street, 1998)

The data obtained in this study will be as to the "thinking and feeling as well as the formed beliefs" of the participants and the focus will be upon what goes on within the participants as they are encouraged to provide a description of the experience they are living in a language 'free from the constructs of the intellect and society as possible." (Groenewald, 2004) the researcher's focus is to "enter into the individual's life and use the self as an experiencing interpreter." (Ibid) the informal interview is used as an attempt on the part of the researcher to engage in a dialogue or an interchange of views who are conversing about a "theme of mutual interest where the researcher attempts to understand the world from the subject's point-of-view, to unfold meaning of people's experiences." (Groenewald, 2004) the researcher uses 'field notes' to record that which is heard, seen, experienced and though during the process of collection and reflection on the process. The researcher must be sure not to be so absorbed in the process of data-collection that they fail to reflect on what is happening and as well it is important to maintain balance between descriptive and reflective recording to data. The researcher should tape-record the interviews for any needed further review or verification and will record data through coding of key phrases and words or statements. Three types of field notes are used in this research methodology which are those of: (1) observational notes; (2) theoretical notes; and (3) methodological notes. Observational notes are 'what happened notes' while theoretical notes are from which the researcher attempts to devise meaning. The methodological notes are 'reminders, instructions, or critique'.....

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