- Assume that the documentary, The Man Behind the Mosque, provided an accurate and research-based perspective on how the “Ground Zero Mosque” became a story. Based on what you saw there, what steps can you remember the cable-news media covering the story taking to investigate who was actually behind the Mosque in terms of mission, goals, and funding?
- The cable-news media investigated by interviewing the real estate agent of where the mosque was going to be, Islamic people, Christians, and families of those lost in 911.
- Who brought the story of the “Ground Zero Mosque” to Fox News, the station that broke the story and led coverage of the story?
- Pamela Gellar, executive director of Stop Islamization of America, brought the story to Fox News.
- It can be argued that much of the cable news coverage of the story was just that – coverage of a “story,” and how people felt about this “story,” rather than actual reporting. Explain how we can see this at work
- There were many parts where the cable news coverage focused on the families of those lost in 911. These families expressed the way they felt rather than the actual facts. The man trying to build the mosque also expressed how hurt he felt that people thought he should move the mosque. He should have looked at the facts of 911 and realized that it really is inconsiderate to place a mosque on ground zero.
- The journalists of Frontline included coverage of and interviews with the staff of Park 51 (the NYU grad and a couple other part-timers). Do these individuals appear ever to have been interviewed on cable-news?
- The real estate-agent, Sharif El-Gamal, declined to be interviewed by Fox News. None of the other staff members were interviewed on cable-news. Sharif El-Gamal and a female staff member was interviewed by Frontine
- What sources did Cable news appear to rely on for knowledge and expertise about Islam? How credible did you find these sources? Why?
- From the Frontline video, Cable news mainly focused on historians who were not Islam. This was not credible because they did not have the proper knowledge and expertise about Islam.
- How relevant is the ownership of a media source for understanding its goals and how its goals may shape bias in its coverage?
- The ownership of a media source is relevant because they want to share and spread their ideas. Its goals may shape bias because they may only promote their viewpoint.
- Who was, at the time of the Ground Zero Mosque story, the second largest shareholder in the News Corp?
- Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal
- If you bring up the topic of the Ground Zero mosque today, many people might say something like, “Oh yeah . . . What ever happened to that?” Think about it: Given the level of urgency that was attached to the story, why did cable news just stop covering the story of the Mosque at Ground Zero?
- Cable news stopped covering the story of the Mosque at Ground Zero because people lost attention and it was too controversial of a topic.
- Read about what polls reveal about Americans and their views on Islam.
http://www.pewforum.org/2009/09/09/publicationpage-aspxid1398-3/
Monday, November 2, 2015
Follow up to Man Behind the Mosque
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