Islamophobia in the media

Islamophobia is defined as "Intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims" The study of how and to what extent the media furthers Islamophobia has been the subject of much academic and political discussion. Some researchers point to the Iranian Revolution in 1979 as a starting point for Islamophobia in the United States. Others believe that the phenomenon of Islamophobia is a psychological defense mechanism, which is spreading through mass media like a virus. A 2014 study has shown that over three-quarters of people in Western societies rely on the mass media, mainly television, as their primary source of information about Islam. The study first established a baseline for neutrality by analyzing newspapers’ coverage of Muslims, Jews, and Hindus. In 2018, The Washington Post completed a study to examine coverage of Islam and Jews, compared to Catholics, Hindus and other religions. This study found that 78% of all the articles mentioned “Muslim or “Islam” were negative in comparison to 40 percent about Jews, 49 percent about Catholics, 46 percent about Hindus and 49 percent by comparison to those about Jews.