Over at PJ Media I discuss yet another in an endless stream of attempts to rule honest reporting about the jihad threat beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse:
It’s a “Major Study,” declares leftist site AlterNet:
416 Labs report states that there is a “significant bias” against Islam and Muslims in the New York Times that is likely to lead the average reader to “assign collective responsibility to Islam/Muslims for the violent actions of a few.”
Horrors! Could it possibly be true that the New York Times, of all news outlets, has joined the ranks of the “Islamophobes?” The study notes:
While the liberal media has been more nuanced in its portrayal, it has ultimately adhered to the same convention that portrays Muslims as the “other.”…
Islam was portrayed negatively in 57 percent of headlines during the period of analysis, with cancer and cocaine being evaluated at 34 and 47 percent respectively. Islam was portrayed positively in less than half the headlines as cancer.
Christianity and Judaism, meanwhile, were portrayed negatively in 37 and 34 percent of headlines, 20 or more percent less than Islam.
The co-author of the “study,” Usaid Siddiqui, expressed surprise at the results:
When we went into it we didn’t think it would be surprising if Islam was one of the most negatively portrayed topics in the NYT. What did really surprise us was that compared with something as inherently negative as cancer, Islam still tends to be more negative.
The other co-author, Owais Arshad, was less surprised:
Over time it just became too rampant to ignore. Among the Muslim friends I have, there’s been a distinct recognition that the media is a source of information, but a source of biased information.
Siddiqui, Arshad, and their fellow researchers came to this conclusion by analyzing over 2.6 million New York Times headlines dating from 1990 to 2014, classifying each as “positive,” “negative,” or “neutral.”
Here are a few they classified as “negative”:
— Sexual Misery and Islam— Iran’s Zarif Tells European Lawmakers Islamist Militancy Also Their Problem
— Bangladesh Arrests Publisher for Books Said to Hurt Muslims
— Trial Starts in Attack at Exhibit of Anti-Islam Cartoons
Yes, the New York Times is “Islamophobic” and is “normalizing inflammatory rhetoric regarding Islam and Muslims” because it reported on:
— The trial of a jihadi who plotted to attack our Garland free speech event– Censorship of books to which Muslims objected in Bangladesh
— The foreign minister of Iran, who is a Muslim, talking about “Islamist militancy”
— The oppression of women under Islamic law
“Islamist militancy” is obviously a problem by whatever name it may be called. It has an undeniably Islamic character, based on the statements and behavior of jihadis themselves. Thus if Muslims would stop committing jihad attacks, censoring dissent, and oppressing women, New York Times coverage of Islam would substantially improve.
The New York Times is actually quite solicitous of Islam, and routinely downplays and whitewashes the Islamic character of jihad violence and Sharia oppression. But as far as these Leftist “scholars” are concerned, the only thing that would clear the Grey Lady of charges of “Islamophobia” would be for it to ignore jihad news altogether — or to scrupulously make sure its jihad coverage was balanced by a sufficient number of puff pieces showing Muslims doing beautiful things.
Does any other group get such treatment?
We hear so much about supposed “right-wing extremist” violence nowadays. Would 416 Labs or AlterNet demand that the New York Times balance its coverage of that alleged threat with puff pieces about sweet, cuddly white supremacists?…
Read the rest here.

mortimer says
What percentage of the total number of jihad attacks does the NYT cover?
Of course, the NYT’s supposed ‘negativity’ towards Islam may simply be the very high FREQUENCY of BAD NEWS ABOUT ISLAM, jihad attacks, abuse of women, honor killings, war crimes, etc.
There are an average of 3 – 4 jihad attacks every day, and from 30 to 100 people are killed in these attacks every day. Many of these attacks are not even reported by the NYT unless some editor subjectively considers them ‘insignificant’. Jihad Watch reports every jihad attack that the editor can manage to put in.
I doubt that NYT is covering even one-tenth of all the jihad attacks. Now…the ratio of jihad attacks to articles in NYT is the number that will best expose the attitude of the NYT.
Bamaguje says
“Islam was portrayed negatively in 57% of headlines during the period of analysis… Christianity and Judaism, meanwhile, were portrayed negatively in 37% and 34% of headlines, 20% or more less than Islam… The co-author of the ‘study’, Usaid Siddiqui, expressed surprise at the results” – Alternet.
Surprise?? Given that only Muslims are habitually indulge in violent atrocities in the name of their false god, did Usaid Siddiqui really expect equally negative reports about Judeo-Christianity?
If anything the disparity in negative reports should be much larger, but for the fact that Judeo-Christianity is unfairly scandalized in the lamestream media, which bends over backwards to shill for Islam and Muslims.
RonW says
Or perhaps, not necessarily backwards, the ‘lamedia’ just bends over, particularly for the Saudis and their ill-gotten undeserved petrodollars.
Huck Folder says
About cair, so not quite O/T. (Overzealous Security?
Readers add the web intro http://www ):
—-://—.alternet.org/grayzone-project/ny-times-portrays-
islam-more-negatively-cancer-major-study-finds
The last entry of the summary:
—-://416labs.com/nytandislam
is “Volume of mentions as a percentage of
total articles for Islam/Muslims.” which they say
has INCREASED by 700% since 1990,
and OVER 300% since 2012.
WOW! That’s over 1000% increase!
Well, actually no, the second figure is included in the first!
So there has been an increase of 700% in 25 years.
But look at the ACTUAL figures, they go from 0.1% in 1990,
(or JUST ONE IN ONE THOUSAND!),
to seven in 1,000 in 2014.
Look again. there is a gentle rise in AVERAGE level,
from about 0.1% in 1990 to about 0.2% in 2013,
hardly dramatic, and maybe less than the rise in
mohammedan population over the same period.
So, only the last year of that study shows the
300-350% jump. It would be interesting to plot
major ‘LESSER JIHAD’ atrocities on the same graph,
or rate of ‘LESSER JIHAD’ attacks
(by day/week/month whatever)
to see what correlation there is.
Lastly, for now, look at the full verbose
(30 page) pseudo-intellectual study here:
[add http prefix]
….://static1.squarespace.com/static/558067a3e4b0cb2f81614c38/t/564d7b91e4b082df3a4e291e/1447918481058/nytandislam_study.pdf
[Intro]
“For the Muslim community 2015 was a year marked by unusually VITRIOLIC acts of ‘islamophobia’. [Like the ‘vitriolic’ attacks of 9/ll, Beslan, Bali, Paris…?] Whether it was the detention of a ‘TALENTED’ 14 year old student, Ahmed [clockboy] Mohamed, on suspicion of inventing a bomb (it was a [repackaged] clock), or the anti-Muslim rhetoric espoused by Republican presidential candidates in the recent debates, Muslims were repeatedly portrayed, collectively, as being worthy of suspicion, distrust, and at best as reservoirs of latent violence ‘ever ready to unleash havoc’. [Citation? Guess what? Googling that last phrase brings you back to this taqiyya report!]
“This ‘portrayal’ peaked with the horrific attacks in Paris on November 13th 2015, where over a 150 people were ‘killed’. [MURDERED BY ‘LESSER JIHADISTS’] The INSTANT * reaction from many was to blame Muslims, within just a few hours of the attacks. [Citation?] Two CNN anchors discussing the horrific attacks asserted to their Muslim guest that “accept that responsibility to prevent the bigger backlash”. According to them the “finger of blame is pointing at the Muslim community.”
Huck Folder says
‘O/T’ continued…
Well, they certainly weren’t Jews, Hindus, Christians…
* There were quotes of witnesses hearing the ‘Shinto war cry’
allahu akbar fairly early on, and mohammedanism
seems to have a monopoly on suicide bombers.
“The Mirror” timeline doesn’t even mention islam or moslems!
They say that “ISIS” claimed responsibility
at 9:40 am, the next day.
“Acknowledgments [The guilty parties]
We would like to thank Karine Walther,
Professor at Georgetown University
at the Doha campus in Qatar, [GU again!]
whose feedback was exceptionally helpful
in CRAFTING [he, he!] this paper.
We are also grateful to Imraan Siddiqi
of the Council of American Islamic Relations
(CAIR) – Arizona, Corey Saylor of CAIR Washington D.C
and Hassan Shibly’s [sic, are there more than one of them?]
of CAIR Florida for their generous advice and friendship
throughout this process.
Naheed Mustafa, a ‘renowned’ [?] Canadian journalist,
provided us with comments and criticism that were crucial
in helping us strengthen our paper further.
So there it is, a cair fabrication, funded by sods and s0r0s.
the vilest of creatures says
Calling the NY Times anti-Islam is like calling Der Sturmer ‘Anti-Nazi’! It’s like calling Pravda ‘anti-Communist’. It’s like calling La Raza ‘anti-Hispanic’.
gravenimage says
But it’s always the same with Islam–after all, under Shari’ah law *nothing* negative can be said about Islam at all. Not even the NYT can be Islamophilic enough by these lights.
Angemon says
Whose fault is it that muslims aren’t on the news for good reasons? The NYT?
Laurence says
So are they saying Islam is more cancerous than cancer itself ? Who knew.
DFD says
Actually it’s a good comparison, but it is inappropriate. Consider: Many Cancers can be treated with only minute quantities of radioactive energy, whilst Islam requires mega tons….
Kathy Brown Esq. says
Islam isn’t only more ‘negative’ than cancer. It’s more ‘negative’ than anything else in this world. Period.
Cat lady says
The men who did the study are Muslim. This is just another part of their work to advance Islam. They don’t want people to know the truth about what Islam is.
gravenimage says
I’m not sure how many of these “refugees” are really fleeing for their lives, Mickey.
A lot of them have turned out not to be fleeing from Syria, in any case, but to be from places like Pakistan, Turkey, or North Africa.
gravenimage says
Robert Spencer in PJ Media: New York Times Portrays Islam More Negatively Than Cancer, Study Claims
……………………
Uh huh. And notice the headlines in question–most of them are straightforward reports on Jihad terror–not opinion pieces.
What Muslims and the hard Left really want is for the press to stop reporting on Islam at all–except for puff pieces touting “interfaith” harmony, the wonders of “Islamic science”, and the supposed existence of “La Convivencia” in Muslim conquered Spain.
Larry A. Singleton says
New York Times
letters@nytimes.com
Indicting Israel: An in-depth study of New York Times’ coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by Ricki Hollander and Gilead Ini (Aish)
http://www.aish.com/jw/mo/Indicting-Israel.html
Indicting Israel: New York Times Coverage of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict (CAMERA pdf)
http://www.camera.org/images_user/pdf/NYT%20study%20exec%20summary_ind.pdf
The Blatant Anti-Israel Bias at The New York Times
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/10/04/the-blatant-anti-israel-bias-at-the-new-york-times/
How The New York Times Deflects Attention From Jewish Victims by Jerold S. Auerbach July 11, 2014 (Algemeiner)
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/07/11/how-the-new-york-times-deflects-attention-from-jewish-victims/#comment-4428128
The New York Times Defends Al-Qaeda by Raymond Ibrahim (Gatestone Institute)
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4353/ny-times-al-qaeda
REJECTED! What the NY Times WON’T Run: Counter-Jihad Facts What the NY Times Will Run: Anti-Catholic Smear Ads by Pamella Geller (Atlas Shrugs)
http://pamelageller.com/2012/03/counter-jihad-offense-afdisioa-counters-new-york-times-anti-catholic-ad-with-same-only-accurate.html/
New York Times Shills for Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood by Raymond Ibrahim (Frontpage Magazine)
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2012/raymond-ibrahim/new-york-times-shills-for-egypt%E2%80%99s-muslim-brotherhood/
Frontpage Magazine Articles Re NY Times
http://www.frontpagemag.com/tag/new-york-times/
Doesn’t Israel Fund Hamas? by Francisco Gil-White (Historical and Investigative Research)
http://www.hirhome.com/israel/cia.htm
The Big Lie and the Media War Against Israel: From Inversion of the Truth to Inversion of Reality by Joel S. Fishman (Daniel Pipes)
http://www.danielpipes.org/rr/4465.php
Larry A. Singleton says
40 questions for the international media in Gaza
Saul O, July 31st 2014
http://hurryupharry.org/2014/07/31/40-questions-for-the-international-media-in-gaza/
1. Have you or any of your colleagues been intimidated by Hamas?
2. Do you feel restricted in your ability to ‘say what you see’ in Gaza?
3. How do you feel about the Spanish journalist who said Hamas would kill any journalist if they filmed rocket fire?
4. Has Hamas pressured you to delete anything you have published?
5. Has Hamas ever threatened to take your phone, laptop or camera?
6. Has Hamas ever taken the phone, laptop or camera of a colleague in Gaza?
7. Have you seen Hamas fighters in Gaza?
8. If yes, why have you not directly reported Hamas fighting activity when you are eye-witnesses in Gaza, but rather indirectly reported about what the IDF says Hamas has done?
9. Are you scared to publish photos of Hamas operatives on your Twitter page, or broadcast images of Hamas fighting and aggression on your news channel?
10. Have you published any photos of terrorists launching rockets in Gaza? If so, are these images being turned down by your newspaper or broadcaster?
11. Have you thought of interviewing the traumatised residents of southern Israel?
12. When Israeli authorities say that most of the dead in Gaza are terrorists, and Hamas says most of the dead in Gaza are civilians, how do you differentiate?
13. When Hamas Health Ministry statistics contradict Hamas’ own propaganda and reveal that mostly men of fighting age have died so far in Gaza, does it give you pause for thought?
14. Is an underage armed terrorist still counted as a terrorist or a child when killed? Or both? Do you explain to your readers how this is possible?
15. Have you put to Hamas spokespersons that firing rockets from civilian areas in a war situation will draw return fire and lead to the death of civilians?
16. Nick Casey of the Wall Street Journal tweeted: “you have to wonder with the shelling, how patients at Shifa hospital feel as Hamas uses it as a safe place to see media.” Never mind wondering; did you ask any patients how they feel?
17. And how do you feel about the fact that Casey subsequently deleted his tweet?
18. Russia Today journalist Harry Fear mentioned rocket-launching sites near his hotel. Have you noticed any terrorists or terror bases near your hotel?
19. How do you feel about Fear’s expulsion from Gaza, for tweeting about the rocket launches from civilian areas? Are you worried that you might also be expelled from Gaza?
20. Did you see any Hamas terror personnel inside Al-Shifa hospital?
21. Have you interviewed a Hamas spokesperson inside Al-Shifa?
22. Have you seen any rocket-launching sites in or around the vicinity of a hospital?
23. Have you interviewed hospital staff or patients as to how they feel about their buildings being used for terror activity?
24. Hamas’ command and control bunker is underneath Al Shifa hospital. Is this worth reporting? Have you asked to gain access to it, so you can interview Hamas commanders?
Part III
25. French newspaper Liberation reported that Hamas’ Al Qassam offices are next to the emergency room at Shifa hospital, before deleting the article. Was the reporter right to delete the article, and will the information appear in the media at some point still?
26. When the missile hit Al-Shati hospital where children were killed, did you see Hamas operatives collecting the debris of the fallen Palestinian rocket, as Gabriel Barbati reported? Did Barbati pick up on something you missed?
27. Barbati prefaced his tweet by writing “Out of Gaza, far from Hamas retaliation.” Will you also report differently about Gaza when you are out of Gaza, far from Hamas retaliation?
28. Can live journalism by reporters who are scared of retaliation from the authorities they are reporting about really count as pure journalism, or is journalism in that context fundamentally compromised?
29. Have you seen or heard evidence of Hamas using civilians as human shields, by forcing or “encouraging” them to stay inside or enter into a building that has received a knock on the roof?
30. Have you seen or heard evidence of Hamas storing weapons inside schools, houses, flats, mosques or hospitals?
31. Have you interviewed Gazan residents to find out if they have – or know someone who has – a tunnel dug underneath their house? How do they feel about this?
32. Have you tried to interview any of the parents of the 160 Palestinian children who died building the terror tunnels?
33. Have you asked Hamas spokespersons why they are setting out to murder children by firing rockets towards civilian populations?
34. Have you interviewed any UNRWA officials about why Hamas are storing weapons in their schools, and how the weapons got there?
35. Are you currently investigating how Hamas rockets ended up in UNRWA schools?
36. Are you currently investigating why UNRWA returned rockets to Hamas and their police force?
37. When Hamas breaks a ceasefire with Israel – as it has done 6 times – how easy is it to report on this from Gaza?
38. Is there any anti-Hamas sentiment in Gaza, and how is it expressed?
39. Were you aware that Hamas chose to execute dozens of anti-war protesters in Gaza, and did you not consider this to be worth
reporting?
40. Is international media reporting from Gaza free from pressure and intimidation, or is there a real problem – and if so, how will you address it?
Raja says
MIckey,
Islam has never had anything to do with God. That system cheats just about everyone including its own subjects. We hear so much about disparities within the gulf nations and they are busy fooling the world with the “virtues” of Islam with more and more violence. They don’t have something called charity. These scum think tanks and sheikhs must be tamed before Islam is controlled..
Shame on useless leaders who claim -Islam is a great religion.
Heather says
As I see it you have your ‘good and decent, law-abiding folk’ and you have ‘i-slams’. Anyone who doesn’t fall under the first group could be regarded as ‘i-slams’, meaning rotten or ignorant people. Cancer and i-slam are both curses on the planet, but they will find a cure for cancer hopefully.