MuslimMatters.org » Media

Homeschooling: On NY Times’s Stereotyping

AnonyMouse — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:37:18 +0000

For once, MM is slightly behind on an interesting and relevant news story - you can blame me for that, though!

The notorious Neil MacFarquhar recently wrote an article in the NYT about Muslims turning to homeschooling - with the now-typical negative slant, making it seem as though the only reasons for which Muslim parents choose to homeschool their children is to prepare their daughters for a lifetime of servanthood in their husbands’ households or to protect them from ever reading books about pigs.

As someone who has been homeschooled for years (since grade 6), along with my brothers, MacFarquhar’s article irritated me quite a bit - first there’s the obvious insulting insinuations against Muslims (making us seem isolationist, oppressive against women, etc.); and then there’s the total disregard for how homeschooling is a viable education option for not just Muslims, but many nonMuslims as well, for both moral/ religious and academic reasons. In fact, it’s been recorded and reported that homeschooled students do just as well as, if not better than, those who attend public or private schools. Colleges covet homeschoolers; this report from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education mentions that homeschooled students have parents with higher education, achieve high grades and are more likely to be enrolled in a grade or two above the rest of their public/ privately-schooled peers.

AlHamdulillaah, one of the sisters interviewed in the article has responded strongly and eloquently, pointing out the obvious distortions, manipulations, and outright lies evident in Mr. Farquhar’s piece ~~of trash~~ (as well as answering some questions people may have about homeschooling, like the whole “socialization” issue). (Hijab flutter to UmmZaid.) (more…)

Tips in Dealing with the Media- Part 5: Appearing Confident & Final Tips

Amad — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:19:00 +0000

Intro (Part 1) | Part 2 | Part3 | Part4 | Part5 (Last)

*Note: This series is almost entirely based on a series of short videos (part of Wharton’s Communication class) by Amy Sharp, a media professional.*

PDF Version of Entire Series can be found here (for printing & distribution): Dealing with media.pdf

How you appear may count quite a bit into what people perceive about your believability or credibility. A controversial UCLA study found that what you actually say only counts for about 7% for overall credibility, but how you say it counts for nearly 40%! So, how you come across in the interview counts for nearly half your credibility. A good illustration is to consider the Nixon/Kennedy debate, which was aired on radio and TV. Those who heard it on the radio believed Nixon won, while those who saw it on TV believed that Kennedy won; same debate, different conclusions!

How to look confident

Position yourself to be engaged.
Make eye contact with proper people
- If you are being interviewed one on one for TV, then (more…)

Tips in Dealing with the Media- Part 4: Taking Control

Amad — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:30:36 +0000

Intro (Part 1) | Part 2 | Part3 | Part4 | Part5

*Note: This series is almost entirely based on a series of short videos (part of Wharton’s Communication class) by Amy Sharp, a media professional.*

Even though it’s the reporter’s interview, it is really YOU, the subject, who is the focus of attention. So, how do you control the interview such that you are able to talk about the messages that you want to give, and not to let the reporter veer off subject. Remember you don’t want to have the playing field become unleveled again!

Making bridges to out-of-place questions:

If the reporter does ask you about something that has absolutely nothing to do with subject (like if you are talking about the pilgrimage to Makkah, and he pops up about what you think about the Iranian involvement in Iraq!), then you cannot simply ignore the question. You have to dignify the question, and then create a bridge back to the topic you were prepared for.

So, if someone does ask you about the Iranian involvement, you can reply with, “that is an interesting question that I haven’t much looked into, but it let me tell you how wonderful it was to have people from all those regions in one location at Hajj—Iraqis, Iranians, Europeans, etc.” Another example, what if someone asks you if you were going to run for City Council in 2010, although the topic at hand was your administration’s achievement, then you can say: “2010 is far away but lets talk about what we are doing in 2008”. Here are some other bridges that you can use: (more…)

How Muslims are Treated in the USA - ABC Primetime

Amad — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 02:49:54 +0000

Previously, Ahmad did a post on “Islamophobia in Action: ABC Catches it Live!”

The following is an extended version of the program. I found it very moving. It highlights both deep prejudice as well as a deep sense of justice that everyday Americans possess. The challenge for Muslims is to increase the ratio of informed to the misinformed, by being good Muslims, interacting within our social and work circles, educating non-Muslims about what we believe and what we don’t, and so on and so forth.

YouTube Direktvideo link

Tips in Dealing with the Media- Part 3: Crafting the Right Message

Amad — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 14:42:30 +0000

Intro (Part 1) | Part 2 | Part3

*Note: This series is almost entirely based on a series of short videos (part of Wharton’s Communication class) by Amy Sharp, a media professional.*

Once the interview starts, there are lots of things that you may want to say and remember.

Your key message points are what you think is important and what you want to ensure gets out.

You need to prepare for the interview by breaking your message into 3 sections that can be a combination of any of this: who, what, when, how does it affect you, what you are doing about it, etc. More than 3 message points can get confusing. More likely, you may not have time to relay and do justice to more than 3 key points.

You need to know and understand your audience. The type of language that you will use depends on audience, so you should tailor your message to reach the right people, at the right level. AVOID industry jargon. For Muslims, this means (more…)

Islamophobia in Action: ABC Catches it Live!

Ahmad AlFarsi — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:13:18 +0000

For those who stubbornly insist that Islamophobia is nothing but a figment of the Muslim imagination (read this: Islamophobia Part-1: It Exists), ABC News has pretty much proved you wrong. Islamophobia is very real and does indeed exist in this very country.

On the Tuesday night (2/26/08), ABC aired its primetime series entitled What Would You Do? (video below sleeve), in which a controversial scenario is staged with hidden cameras to see how the public would react to such a situation. Last Tuesday’s episode included a scenario in a popular bakery with one actor playing a female Muslim customer wearing hijab and another playing a bigoted store clerk who refused to serve her based on her being Muslim and insulted her with all kinds of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab discriminatory remarks.

The reaction of the public was disturbing to say the least, but unfortunately, not surprising. According to ABC News, the majority of bystanders witnessed the incident yet chose not to get involved, largely due to approval of the clerk’s actions. A minority did speak up… some in defense of the Muslim customer (expressing their disgust to the clerk and threatening to boycott the bakery). While others, unfortunately, actually spoke up in support of the bigoted clerk’s actions. The ABC News article states: (more…)

My Challenge to the Houston Chronicle’s Editors

ruth nasrullah — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:20:59 +0000

Last Thursday (February 21), the Houston Chronicle, my hometown paper, published an editorial discussing the Archbishop of Canterbury’s recent remarks about integrating sharia-based courts into the British legal system. In their argument they asserted that such an idea would be harmful to the British populace, and especially harmful to women because, they claim, sharia supports domestic violence and other abuses against women. In response, I wrote the following post on my Chronicle blog. I encourage readers to read the post and comment on the Chronicle’s surprisingly biased viewpoint.

It’s taken me a couple days to absorb this editorial in last Thursday’s Chronicle. I get a fair number of bigoted or hateful comments on this blog, and I usually presume that they’re made out of ignorance. Sadly, some people get their understanding of Islam from individuals and organizations who present the religion through a plainly biased filter. I know that. My goal with The Straight Path is to provide a more accurate viewpoint to people who haven’t had access to an informed understanding of Islam. (more…)

Tips in Dealing with the Media- Part 2: First Interactions

Amad — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:01:41 +0000

Intro (Part 1) | Part 2

*Note: This series is almost entirely based on a series of short videos (part of Wharton’s Communication class) by Amy Sharp, a media professional.*

Let’s start with what to do if a reporter calls you out of the blue for a story. Should you start blurting out everything that you can think of? Should you “give it to him” because he was going to write against you? The answer is an emphatic “NO” to both.

If a reporter does calls you, your goal is to make a brief conversation and get off the phone as quickly as possible. You can be assured that the reporter has done his homework, and has done his research on you and the topic (always assume so, even if it turns out differently). You, on the other hand, were caught off-guard by that unanticipated phone call. The last thing you want to do is to shoot off the hip. Unfortunately, shooting off the hip is a Muslim uncle specialty, if you get my drift.

There are some questions that you need to ask in this brief first conversation. You need to ask these questions in order to level the playing field. The reporter has first-mover advantage; he knows why he is calling you and who you are. You on the other hand don’t. So, commit these questions to memory or keep them handy (the way you ask the question is completely up to you; always remain polite and calm and ask the questions in a methodical, composed manner): (more…)

Tips in Dealing with the Media- Part 1: A Mandatory Skill for Muslims Today!

Amad — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:56:28 +0000

Based on how much the media loves us Muslims, there is no telling when you might get the next call to answer “a few questions”. Many times, media professionals rely on people whose message they want to sell. So, if the media wants to sell the progressive message or the radical message (for some reason, they do seem to forget the 99% in the middle, don’t they??), they will have particular people in mind. And then quite often, they will look for a corroborating or contradicting opinion from the local Imam or President of the local Islamic mosque or society. Here is where the problem ensues!

Unfortunately, many of our Muslim leaders are not trained in interacting or dealing with the media. So, sometimes, quite inadvertently, these leaders will say things that come off as either completely ignorant or completely negative. Obviously the leaders didn’t mean to look like fools, but once the sound-byte is out, it is usually too late to control the damage. So, I hope that our communities will realize the need for media training for all our leaders (Imams, Presidents, etc.) and even consider the urgent need for professional PR persons (especially for the larger organizations). It is definitely worth a few bucks, especially because good sound-bytes can also be a form of good dawah!

Until that happens, and I am not holding my breath, I thought it would be good to share few media tips with our readers. (more…)

Romney: Some Beliefs are More Equal than Others / Bye-bye Giuliani

Amad — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:15:49 +0000

Some of the info. on this post is a little dated now. But Romney is still relevant, while alhamdulillah, Giul-911-iani seems to be becoming irrelevant, which is truly where he needs to stay. All Americans should thank God that the monster (Giuliani) that was being concocted by the neocons and Islamophobes, someone who would have likely created havoc in the world, has been tranquilized by Floridans in the must-win primary.

On the Romney front, this article by Juan Cole on Alternet is a must-read. For instance, Cole points to a recent op-ed by Naomi Schaeffer in the Wall Street Journal, where Schaeffer stated: (more…)