Investigating Edward Said’s Claim That Orientalism Is Dominating the Media

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Data Selection
An Analysis of the Cases
Evidence on Islamophobia in American Consciousness
Notion on Violent Militia Extremists Against White Supremacists
Conclusion
References

Introduction

One of Edward Said’s core concepts in orientalism is that knowledge about the East is formed via imagined constructions rather than objective facts. Said’s definition of orientalism envisions Western superiority over Eastern cultures (Said 1981). Said observes that the global perception of the Islam community is significantly influenced by the newspapers, mainly from the United States, that have orientalist representations (Said 1981). This research paper investigates if Said’s claim that orientalism is dominating the Newspaper media is valid or not. The conclusion responds to the question; Was Said’s claim that orientalism dominates the media valid? The newspapers’ entities may be using orientalism as a product to sell to the public.

Data Selection

The ranking of the newspaper publisher on the global stage was considered when selecting the news outlets. The selection of the most relevant media publications was based on publication dates of no more than five years and the randomized keyword on the title. The select keywords include extremism, violence, irrational, islamophobia, racism, anti-Sufism, anti-Muslimism, Far-Right, radical Islam, and terrorism. The occurrence of one or more of these terminologies qualified the newspaper publication to count as an orientalist representation, with preference given to the document with the most recurrence of the keywords.

An Analysis of the Cases

Orientalists Barring Muslims from Entering the United States

Several Newspapers have referred to cases of Muslims facing discriminatory treatment fueling the debates on orientalism and confirming Said’s notion of the Media. The bias against the muslin travelers existed due to increased rhetoric on trust between the East and the West. In the United States, Newspapers have highlighted cases where the political right has generally shown greater distrust of Islam and Muslims than the political left. Such bias is discussed in Said’s interpretation of orientalism and its impact on Islam.

Orientalist Notion of Enmity

Said’s definition of orientalism also cautions that the extremist using the Media to brand Middle East Muslims as the enemy before the invasion is also valid. There is evidence of such publications that reflect on the Muslim minority as an enemy of stability in the West (Said 1981). For instance, some conservative media celebrities have displayed significant enmity against Muslims (Hawley, 2022). Other conservative intellectual and political elites have advocated for religious tolerance (Ailworth, 2021). As a result, rural voters have gotten contradictory signals from elected Republicans and conservative political commentators (Besser & Roscoe, 2021). Recently, a right-wing populist campaign that expressly called for a ban on Muslim immigration, American views toward Islam and Muslims became an extremely contentious issue (Khan et al., 2019; da Silva & Hall, 2022). Said’s notion that orientalism is dominating the Media is true.

Orientalist Warmongering

Orientalism is also evident in several Newspapers published beating the drums of war between the United States and the Muslim world in the East. Most publications acknowledge an apparent connection between the increased attention to radical Islam with the increasing debate of war between the East and the West (Said 1981). The notion of aggression toward war confirms orientalism from Said’s perspective. The prejudice is that American Muslims are incapable of patriotism since Islam sets them against the United States (Key, 2022). As a result, they must constantly demonstrate their commitment (Afzal, 2021). Also, Newspapers have published that immediately after 9/11, the default assumption was that all Muslims were evil and potential terrorists until they demonstrated their commitment to the United States and its War on Terror (Chicago Reporter, 2021; Khan et al., 2021). There is an obvious concern for international security in such a context, with the United States taking an aggressive position against the Islam community.

Orientalist Silencing the Muslim Voices

Said’s perspective on orientalism is based on the notion that the United States is secure in its power and that the Media is over-emphasizing supremacy. In most of the select Newspapers, there is concern regarding the increased extremism in the paradigm of the devout Muslim. For instance, the journalists note that Muslims were effectively eliminated in the United States from criticizing U.S. government policy (Kanji, 2022). Some patriotic Muslims established themselves as the ultimate paradigm of the devout Muslim (Allam & Nakhlawi, 2021). The debates introduce ideas of patriotic Muslims coming forward to distinguish themselves from terrorists by openly pledging allegiance to the United States and its dominating ideals (Beauchamp, 2021). These are orientalists in the United States using the media further to marginalize the Muslim minority in the United States.

Orientalists’ Increased Insecurity Concerns

Orientalists in the United States fear the increase of Muslims in the military. The Media capitalizes on the subject by introducing debates on the possibility of compromise on national security (Said 1981). Newspapers have gone to the extent of publishing debates on the calls for Muslims serving in the military to prove their allegiance and share their knowledge on Islam extremism (Bayoumi, 2021; Gunter et al., 2021). Similarly, more than a dozen white supremacist organizations that biased toward young American men and women, with a slight preference for people with Islam affiliations (Mchangama, 2022). Said’s statement on the role of the Media in increasing extremist ideas is validated.

Orientalist’s Perception of the Middle East

Orientalists also relate to the Middle East as the breeding ground for extremists. Said’s understanding of orientalism is largely accurate considering the number of Newspaper outlets that empathize with the distorted view of the people from the Middle East (Said 1981). The Newspapers insist that the Middle East is still the breeding ground for extremist agitation and violence on the far right (Mchangama, 2022; Zahra, 2019). Men with ties to one of the banned organizations were responsible for the 2010 shooting at a Perth mosque and the 2019 assassination of a German lawmaker (Walters & Chang, 2022; Levine, 2021). The U.K.’s Council co-authored the study for the radical right and Hedayah, a UAE-based research center on Islamic terrorism (Peterson, 2021). The report states that Australian chapters of more fringe neo-Nazi cells are actively participating in radical right terrorist acts and violent activities.

Evidence on Islamophobia in American Consciousness

There is also a connection with President Joe Biden’s action on former President Donald Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban shortly after his inaugural ceremony. The White House acknowledges that those activities stain our national conscience (Holt, 2021; Frum, 2022). This standpoint aligns with the tens of peaceful demonstrators who marched in the streets and airports across the home nation in January 2017, when the first Muslim Travel Ban was implemented (Cole, 2022). The extreme acts were accompanied by slogans of unity with immigrants, standing with Muslims Against Islamophobia, and stopping Islamophobia (Nguyen, 2021). It tries to exclude or deport anyone considered Muslim on the prejudiced notion that “they” are violent potential terrorist adversaries of the United States of America (Zimmerman, 2021). The ban can be defined as orientalism, the executive order that restricted entry to the United States for persons from primarily Muslim nations and several African countries.

Notion on Violent Militia Extremists Against White Supremacists

Said’s understating of orientalism includes the unnecessary blanket judgment of the Islam community. Some Media make little effort to protect innocent Muslims, failing to specify the individual interest in terror reporting (Said 1981). For instance, the highlight of the debate is that racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists pose the most significant severe dangers from a generalized perspective (Miller-Idriss, 2022).

The extremes are critical, considering those racist organizations that preach white supremacy are more likely to commit mass-casualty attacks against civilians (Fangen et al., 2022; Miller-Idriss, 2021). There is also the generalization that militia groups often target law enforcement, government officials, and installations (Benner, 2022). Other publications highlight that right-wing extremists pose the most significant danger without mentioning the specific terror units (German & Panduranga, 2022). Emphasis on the notion of the violent militia extremists scheming against white supremacists by most of the publishers justifies orientalism.

Conclusion

Said’s claim that orientalism dominates the Media is valid considering the number of reputable Newspaper publishers who have orientalist representations of the Middle East. Said is justified in cautioning that some Muslims may slowly become hesitant to portray themselves in the media, producing a lack of voices and false depictions of Islam. Such extremism is dangerous as it creates the propensity of people to keep quiet when they believe that their opinions contradict the mainstream view on an issue. Typically, people stay silent because they fear solitude when the community or public finds different perspectives. They fear reprisals, such as the loss of a job or position. There is a connection between orientalism and the perceived influence of media systems in the United States. Said’s claim that orientalism dominates the Media is evident in the select Newspapers and should inform the changes in Media content.

References

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