Document Type

Thesis

Date of Award

5-2007

School/College

School of Communication (SOC)

Degree Name

MA in Communication

First Advisor

Eui Bun Lee

Abstract

According to a recent PEW Research Center report, prejudice, being viewed as terrorists, ignorance about Muslim, and negative media stereotyping lead the list of the biggest problems that U.S. Muslims say they face. The terrorists' attacks on September 11,2001 continue to cast a dark shadow over Muslims in the U.S. and around the world. Many American Muslims are concerned about government surveillance, job discrimination, and harassment in public places. The purpose of the present study was to examine college attitudes toward Arab nations and news media's portrayal before and after September 11, 2001 attacks. The primary focus ofthis project was to uncover the issues and studies of American television and print media coverage ofthe Arab nations after September 11, 2001. With this statement there was a need to clarify how race relations have been over looked and reported inaccurately. Also, how does this change the American eye for information dealing with the Arab and war coverage after September 11, 2001 ? 1 2 The purpose ofthis study is to have three major questions answered by college students. Through the compiled data there was an attempt to show results that examine if there was a link between gender, age, and racial background that can be associated with the Arab relations post September 11, 2001. The-research included 148 randomly selected students at Texas Southern University. The questionnaire was composed of 42 items that covered many aspects of media consumption, personal involvement, and beliefs. There was a need to see if there was a difference in understanding and acceptance toward Arab nations. There has to be a connecting factor that brought the problems of the minority feelings of injustice to the forefront. There also has to be a way to make the media report in an unbiased manner that impacts the whole audience. Results from the survey showed little gender and age difference on most of the questions. However, there were significant racial differences on the profiling of airline passengers and monitoring of Muslims. In addition, a larger sample involving general population, instead of college students, will reflect more accurate attitudes and experiences toward Arab nations and population.

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