Muslims in the Central Florida Imagination: A Study of the Depictions of Muslims/Islam in Local News Media Before and After Pulse

Joshua Roman Class of 2018 Muslims in the Central Florida Imagination: A Study of the Depictions of Muslims/Islam in Local News Media Before and After Pulse Religious Studies November 2017 Approved: Phillip Lucas, Faculty Adviser Mitchell Reddish, Chair, Religious Studies Page 2 Introduction This paper seeks to answer the following question: has there been a drastic rise in Islamophobic/negative depictions of Muslims and Islam by the local news media in Central Florida after the Pulse Night Club Shooting? The question is asked because of the current attitudes within the United States regarding Muslims and Islam, and the attempted policies of president Donald Trump. Furthermore, this paper seeks to examine whether after the Pulse Night Club Shooting local news media in Central Florida are more islamophobic or hostile in their depictions of Muslims and Islam. The paper will look at how local news media discussed Muslims and Islam 1 year before (June 12, 2015) the Pulse Night Club Shooting, and 1 year after (June 12, 2017) this event. The paper looks to give a broad overview of how Central Florida media chooses to address Islam and Muslims with specific examples discussed to give anecdotal evidence for the conclusions reached. Most of the news articles this paper looks at were found through searching for any paper news articles published in Central Florida with these key terms: Islam, Muslims, terrorism, and Pulse Night Club, within the already specified dates. The initial search using the above specified criteria returned a result of over 200 news articles within the Central Florida area. After adjusting for repeated results, the final number of news articles this paper studies is around 186. Of these results, around 89 were written before the Pulse Night Club Shooting took place, and around 97 were written after the shooting. Furthermore, the articles come from 63 different publication from all over Central Florida. This paper hopes to add to the existing discussion on how the United States, and the West in general, views Muslims, and the importance of media in shaping our views on important Page 3 topics such as religious extremism, and how media outlets shape dialogue following a terror attack. There is a need to do further research on this topic, as there is a dearth of research on this subject, with even more research required that looks outside of the West. This will be discussed in further detail later in the paper, but to give a quick overview of the lack of research, a meta-analysis of published studies from 2000 to 2015 that focus on media representation of Muslims and Islam found only 345 studies.1 Furthermore, this same study discussed how terrorist attacks affect how we perceive the groups the perpetrators of these attacks came from. The example given is of the Dutch press, which focused on Islam in general until the assassination of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh; after the murder, negative views about Muslims became more evident in the reporting.2 As this paper will show, the West misrepresents and misunderstands Islam and Muslims, and through studies such as this paper we can hope to correct these misconceptions, leading to a more constructive and successful dialogue on this subject. Why This Matters Despite what we may think, the news media we consume has a large impact on our perceptions of what is right and what is wrong; what is occurring around the world and whether certain groups of, in this case Muslims, are acceptable or not. For example, a large majority of Americans, based on a 2016 Pew research poll, had at least some trust in professional news outlets and friends and family.3 From the same report, 57% of all U.S. adults get their news from television, with 46% saying they get news from local TV news.4 Americans are also extremely loyal with nearly half (46%) describing themselves as both loyal to a news source and likely to 1 Ahmed Saifuddin and Jörg Matthes, “Media Representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis,” The International Communication Gazette 79 (2016): 219. 2 Ibid, 231. 3Amy Mitchell et al., “The Modern News Consumer,” (Pew Research Center, 2016), 9. 4 Ibid, 5. Page 4 go to the same sources repeatedly. Only 18% of Americans describe themselves as neither attitudinally nor behaviorally loyal. Even when Americans describe themselves as non-loyal, behaviorally 76% of Americans say they tend to turn to the same sources for news.5 It is worth noting now that while online news may be one of the least trusted news sources reported, and is where only a small percentage of Americans receive their news, it is the fastest growing news media. It will be important to review and update research such as this in the future to maintain accurate information about modern news media consumption. Continuing with news trends in the U.S., the Americans who are very loyal to news sources also have a lot of trust in national and local news, with 87% thinking they do at least a fairly good job, and 73% of the somewhat loyal also thinking they do at least a fairly good job, and 61% of non-loyal consumers holding the same opinion.6 This is also a partisan issue, as American attitudes about news media, whether they view news in a watchdog role or if it keeps political leaders in line, depend on political affiliation and the political affiliation of the current president.7 89% of Democrats during the early days of the Trump presidency supported the watchdog’s role, while only 42% of Republicans said the same. During the 2016 presidential primaries, roughly 75% of both parties supported the watchdog role. Furthermore, 27% of Democrats were found to have “a lot” of trust in national news organizations; more than Republicans (15%) or Independents (13%).8 This same study noted we are living in an extremely divisive time, because the gap between the Republican and Democratic parties has never been as significant as it has been 5 Ibid, 12. 6 Ibid, 13. 7Michael Barthel and Amy Mitchell, "Americans' Attitudes About the News Media Deeply Divided Along Partisan Lines," (Pew Research Center, 2017). 8Mitchell, “The Modern News Consumer,” 9. Page 5 during the Trump presidency, which is a 47-percentage-point gap.9 This means that Americans rely heavily on news, especially local news, to understand what is going on in the world around them. The news we accept is also heavily reliant on what politics we accept as right, and the news we read and watch affects whether we trust the politicians in power or think they need to be replaced. It also strongly affects how involved we are within our communities. Local news is so trusted because it is typically members from our own communities who report this news, and we can easily trust them as we can relate to them and see them as one of us. This research also matters because of how easily it is to pass off a political agenda as legitimate news, as is seen with the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The Sinclair Broadcast Group is a far right-leaning telecommunications company and is also one of the largest television station operators in the United States.10 They are notorious for passing off political pieces as legitimate news and forcing news stations to run these programs as “must runs,” which include a daily segment called the “Terrorism Alert Desk” that is supposed to track “terrorism” around the world.11 These reports have included topics as minor as Muslims wearing the Burkini, or Paris lawmakers refusing to follow court decisions about said Burkini, to an ISIS flag being flown in a neighborhood within America, to a sketchy report of ISIS using a chainsaw to decapitate two of their prisoners.12 This kind of language and political bias matters, as Americans are shown to be more likely to be engaged within their community (voting, volunteering, connect with those around them, etc.) based on how much they rely on and value local news.13 9 Ibid 10 "Welcome to SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP." Sinclair Broadcast Group. http://www.sbgi.net/. 11 Bernard Schoenburg, "SEN. DURBIN URGES FCC TO REJECT SINCLAIR-TRIBUNE DEAL,” The State Journal-Register, Oct. 31, 2017. 12 The program discusses how the report wasn’t reliable due to the lack of any major news sources reporting on it, and even Breitbart distancing itself from saying the report is credible, such as saying “it has been reported”. 13Michael Barthel et al., "Civic Engagement Strongly Tied to Local News Habits," (Pew Research Center, 2016). Page 6 This can soon become a serious issue for Central Florida, as Sinclair already owns stations in Gainesville and High Springs: WGFL, WNBW-DT, WMYG-LP, and WYME-CD. However, Sinclair is looking to expand through acquiring the Tribune Media, the second-largest owner of local television stations.14 Sinclair is and has been extremely active in politics. They gave, in just the 2016 presidential election cycle alone, tens of thousands of dollars to then presidential candidate Donald Trump. This appears to have paid off as Jared Kushner, president Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor within the White House, agreed to give Sinclair more access to Trump, “under the condition that the interviews be broadcast without commentary on the company’s affiliates.”15 Essentially, Sinclair gets access to the president if they do not criticize him. Along with the issues of politically biased news, most people will only see or meet other groups of people, outside of their communities, through the medium of news. Media can be used to successfully craft a specific narrative, to further both political agendas and understandings of key issues related to cultural groupings, and ethnic or racial territories, as seen with Sinclair. What this means is media can develop moral geographies, which are cultural and political practices that work together to mark not only states but also regions, cultural groupings, and ethnic or racial territories.16 An example of a moral geography could be how the West understands the Middle East as an ethnic grouping (Arabic) and religious grouping (Muslim) to explain the entire region. These moral geographies are human constructs and play into biases inherent within our societies. For Americans, our understanding of the Middle East has been 14 Michael J. De La Merced And Nicholas Fandos, "FOX’S UNFAMILIAR BUT POWERFUL TELEVISION RIVAL: SINCLAIR,” New York Times, May 03, 2017. 15 Ibid. 16 Melani McAlister, “Introduction,” in Epic encounters: culture, media, and U.S. interests in the Middle East, 1945- 2000 (Berkley: University of California Press, 2003), 4. Page 7 extremely complex and arguably we have never truly understood the Middle East, or Muslims, in a comprehensive way. America’s inability to accurately portray Muslims is best represented in the field of Orientalism, which was an accepted science until the early 1980s with the release of the book Orientalism by Edward Said. According to Said, the West has always been obsessed with Islam and what it truly means.17 As Said argues, the West uses scholarly/scientific resources to make Islam clearer in times of political tension between “Occident and its Orient”.18 There is research to support this claim, as most scholarly research on Muslims looks at the themes of migration, terrorism, and war.19 This shows why it is important to look at how local media perceives these issues, as it can push a narrative, which may be biased, and this can become policy. This is seen clearly in the Trump presidency. Donald Trump has been an extremely polarizing figure. It is president Trump’s ascension to the presidency that shows why it matters to understand the biases within local media, and provides proof of how media and “fake news” can cause real world consequences. Trump won the presidency due to many hours of free air time, with news channels covering him, sometimes almost exclusively, because of his controversial statements regarding Muslims, Mexicans, border security, the state of the U.S., etc. He championed the idea of “fake news” being whatever news we disagree with, and it worked effectively to help his supporters dismiss criticisms against him. The controversial subject of how he won also shows the level of power media has in our lives, as the possible attempts by foreign agents to influence the 2016 presidential election allegedly 17 Edward Said, "Islam through Western Eyes," The Nation, October 20, 2003. 18 Ibid. 19 Saifuddin Ahmed and Jörg Matthes, "Media Representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis", International Communication Gazette 79(3) (2016): 219-244. Page 8 included paying people to write intentionally biased and false news articles to discredit Hillary Clinton.20 Donald Trump’s borderline racist views of Muslims as essentially terrorists became real life policy with his attempts to institute a travel ban, originally called the “Muslim Ban”, and show how important it is to see how media influences us. It can encourage us to see people like Donald Trump as acceptable purveyors of political discourse, and encourages us to stay inside of our politically biased spheres rather than accept information that may challenge what we may accept as fact. This study matters because we live in an age where facts are no longer constants we can comfortably rely on to help us frame and understand issues. Politicians, most notably president Trump, call sources they disagree with “fake news,” and this trend is becoming more and more popular. Access to credible information is becoming a valuable commodity, and to make informed decisions we need to be able to trust our news sources to give us credible, nonpartisan, and unbiased information. If the trend of “fake news” continues, declining trust in news sources will most likely just further polarize an already deeply divided country, and arguably cause us to further rely on our prejudices and biases to dictate what we accept as truth, and how we understand minority communities and issues this country will face in the future. Although televised local news media is influential, this paper will focus on local print media. This is largely due to the lack of any database containing broadcast transcripts for Central Florida local news for the specified time. It is worth noting that this problem is not encountered when focusing on national or international news broadcasts, and mainstream media. This may be because these news organizations have more resources and can devote more time to archiving 20 Scott Shane, “The Fake American Russia Created to Influence the Election,” The New York Times, September 07, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html. Page 9 their broadcasts and producing transcripts for their shows. This is further supported by the meta-analysis study discussed earlier. The study found most of the published studies (48.41%) focused on newspapers, and only a small percentage (13%) focused on television content, with a focus on western mainstream media.21 Because of this lack of scholarly research on local television content, and the plethora of research done on newspapers, this paper will focus on local news articles. Furthermore, print media remains to be important as it is still the most common way of reading the news, with 51% of Americans reading exclusively in print in 2015.22 However, it is important to also note digital media is increasingly becoming an important area to study because of the decline of subscriptions for print news in recent years. A Pew research report from 2016 found that digital traffic of online news articles is drastically increasing and is surpassing the number of print subscribers for print newspapers.23 What this means is online news is expected to be viewed more heavily than print news in the future. Future research will also have to look heavily at digital news media and its impact on U.S. perceptions. Local print media is also chosen because it can provide a closer and more limited study of local regions. Further limiting it to only the years 2015-2017 and focusing on a sole event, allows this paper to give an intimate review of news in the Central Florida region. Central Florida is also chosen because this is where the Pulse Night Club Shooting took place, and so it can be argued Central Florida will be the place most affected by the Pulse attack. Furthermore, this localized 21 Ahmed, 230-231, 236. 22 Amy Mitchell, Jesse Holcomb, and Rachel Weisel, State of the News Media 2016, (Pew Research Center, 2016), 11. 23 Ibid. Page 10 focus will arguably allow for a better view of how media within certain areas perceive an issue as opposed to how mainstream media perceives an issue. Orientalism The impact of Orientalism on how the West perceives the East, and more specifically Muslims, is hard to overstate. Arguably, the West has never truly understood Muslims, and this failure to understand Muslims is still seen today within our media. For the U.S., our understanding of Muslims and the Middle East is heavily impacted by Orientalism as this country was founded when Orientalism began to be commonplace within scientific thought and literature. Within Orientalism, anti-Islamic representation was common with Islamic experts often presenting Islam as an “imposter” religion breeding fanaticism and corruption. Islam was the “bad” alternative to Christianity, and Muslims were both backward and decadent. 24 Some of these themes can clearly still be seen in criticisms of Islam and the Middle East in general, with Islam caricaturized as a corrupting and violent religion that is backwards and oppressive. These criticisms have their roots in Orientalism, although it is worth noting that does not mean some of these criticisms are not valid. As Edward Said argues, “…whole swatches of Islamic history, culture and society simply do not exist except in the truncated, tightly packaged forms made current by the media… That does not mean that the picture is an inaccurate one; rather, it is a picture; it has the consistency of something made up, not of life; it portrays certain aspects of what Marshall Hodges has called the Islamicate world, but deforms them into a pattern that expresses certain things about a mass-media society, very little about what is referred to as Islam.”25 Essentially, U.S. media uses facts about the Islamic world that fit a certain perception and combines them with other parts of the Islamic world until they fit the existing model and no 24 McAlister, 10. 25 Said, The Nation. Page 11 longer resemble actual Islam. Again, this can be seen with the Global War on Terror, as now any enemies of the United States, especially Muslims, are considered terrorists. Again, as Edward Said points out: “So far as the United States seems to be concerned, it is only a slight overstatement to say that Moslems and Arabs are essentially seen as either oil suppliers or potential terrorists.”26 Orientalism provided a new way of looking at the U.S. as well. As the Orient became seen as a threat, it provided the framework for viewing the West and the U.S. as the civilizing force to bring order to the East.27 Even during the 19th century, Americans’ primary interest in the Middle East was mostly religious, as it was the Holy Land. Americans viewed Muslims as a disappointment because they failed to live up to the biblically inspired romantic hopes they fostered for people who lived in the Holy Land. This was even used as proof of the superiority of Americans, because the common belief was that Muslims were suffering from “regression and decrepitude.”28 These Orientalist depictions of Muslims have arguably transformed into the idea of Muslims as religious extremists, guided by ill-conceived religious beliefs. What a brief study of Orientalism shows is that media allows these stereotypes into the narrative it sells. It fits the preconceived notions we have about Muslims and doesn’t require a more nuanced look at Muslims. However, it is a badly flawed narrative that, while it can raise legitimate concerns, typically focuses on the image of Muslims and Islam we have created. This generalized, stereotyped, and mythologized form of Muslim becomes something to fear in this framework; Muslim extremists, in the eyes of the West, are now nothing more than terrorists. Some have earned that reputation, but to consider all Muslims as terrorists, as some within the 26 Ibid. 27 McAlister, 10. 28 Ibid, 18 Page 12 United States attempt to do, is part of the legacy of Orientalism, which continues to influence us to this day. Local News Articles Pre-Pulse Night Club Shooting Looking at the 89 local news articles written before the Pulse shooting, there appears to be no clear consensus on the way news outlets looked at Muslims, Islam, and/or terrorism. What typically determined whether a news article would be negative towards Muslims and Islam is if there was a right-leaning bias by the reporter. Bias was determined by seeing if the article attempted to generalize all Muslims with the word “terrorists” and generally had a more favorable opinion of the Republican candidates running for the 2016 presidential nomination, often agreeing with the stances of these candidates. A right-leaning bias was also determined if the article explicitly stated its discontent with left-leaning or liberal viewpoints and argued these viewpoints were unrealistic. Articles with a right-leaning bias also tended to favor bans on immigration and were anti-gun control whenever the issue came up. The language used in most of the articles researched tended to have an American-centric worldview, with the articles tending to discuss Muslims and Islam as it pertained to the U.S. or American politics. This is best seen when the articles reported on the presidential candidates, typically Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and their proposed policies or ideas. The largest dividing issue between articles that viewed Muslims and Islam in a positive light, and articles which viewed Muslims and Islam in a negative light, aside from political leanings, was semantics and the author’s opinions on how to best label and discuss Islamic terrorism. The articles with a negative viewpoint emphasized describing Islamic terrorism as “radical Islam” because that is who they view as causing the most amount of violence and terrorism around the world. Positive articles, on the other hand, emphasized how Islamic Page 13 extremists do not speak for the entire religion or criticized attempts to conflate Islam with terrorism to cater to people’s fears. It is also important to discuss how the language used by these articles tended to be biased against Muslims, even if they were positive towards Muslims, because of the inherent misrepresentation and misunderstandings surrounding Muslims and Islam that are so ingrained within our society.29 So while there were inherent biases found within all articles, this did not necessarily determine if an article was negative or positive towards Muslims. As stated, what determined a negative or positive article was how the article portrayed Muslims and if the article viewed Muslims as a threat to the West or attempted to distance Muslims from Muslim extremists. The 89 articles researched before the Pulse Nightclub Shooting were divided into two categories: positive and negative. Articles that did not fit comfortably into either positive or negative articles were labeled neutral, but these articles are not considered as positive or negative classifications because most of them focused on fact-checking political statements, tended to not offer an opinion on Muslims, and discuss statistics. While some of these articles are cited, they are cited for the statistics they offer and the lack of an observable opinion on Muslims. There were 33 positive articles, 29 negative articles, and 27 neutral articles. An article was determined to be negative towards Muslims if, as stated, there was a right-leaning bias noted in the writing as this tended to correlate with depicting Muslims as terrorists or untrustworthy and holding all of Islam responsible for the acts of Muslim extremists. An article was also determined to be negative if it questioned the ability of Muslims to integrate into U.S. society. A negative designation was also determined if the article argued the West was at 29 Said, The Nation. Page 14 war with all of Islam and if it supported the Muslim ban being proposed at the time. Negative articles also tended to lack Muslim voices and used Orientalist views of Muslims more heavily than positive articles. It is important to acknowledge that Orientalist views of Muslims could be found in both positive and negative depictions of Muslims, but this did not explicitly determine if an article was positive or negative. As stated previously, American society is still heavily reliant on Orientalist depictions of Muslims and Islamophobic. Positive articles tended to give more favorable depictions of Muslims, but still generalized or stereotyped Muslims and Islam, and used some Orientalist depictions within the news article, although to a lesser extent than found in negative news articles. An article was determined to be positive if it included Muslim perspectives on the issue and attempted to distance Muslims and Islam from the acts of Muslim extremists. Positive articles also tended to have a left-leaning bias, which was determined if the article criticized Republican presidential candidates. Left-leaning bias was also determined if the article gave praise to Obama or had a favorable opinion of the democratic candidates for president, most notably Hillary Clinton. An article was also determined to be positive if it emphasized the diversity of the Muslim community and attempted to bring attention to the fact that Muslims are the main victim of Muslim extremists. Positive articles were also determined if they favored inclusion of Muslims into local communities and pointed out how America misunderstands Muslims. Positive articles also were critical of Donald Trump’s attacks on Muslims and emphasized that ISIS does not represent Islam. An article was also determined to be positive if it attempted to leave a U.S. – centric focus of these issues and branched out to the Middle East and to look at their perspectives. Page 15 An article was determined to be neutral when it did not fit comfortably into either category. These articles tended to only report data and facts without interjecting their interpretations of the data or how the local community should interpret it. Neutral articles also fact-checked statements from both political parties, but tended to fact-check Donald Trump’s statements more. This may be due to the myriad of inaccurate claims he made during his presidential run. Neutral articles also tended to show opposing views of the arguments surrounding Muslims and Islam in equal measure without favoring one side. Despite some articles falling into this category, they are not the focus of the paper. They are not discussed further as these articles, as stated, tended to be articles from the website Snopes and were not found to offer any relevant data to the issue of whether there was a drastic rise in Islamophobic/negative depictions of Muslims and Islam following the Pulse shooting. Negative Articles Pre-Pulse Night Club Shooting The common focus of the 33 negative news articles from before the Pulse shooting was on supporting the model of the West, more specifically the United States, as involved in a war against Islam. These articles also raised questions about how successfully Muslims could integrate into American society. For instance, a news article in 2015 from the Tampa Tribune makes it clear it views the U.S. being attacked not by terrorists, but by enemies committing acts of war by irregular means.30 The article further argues Islamic terrorists should be called “Jihadi” or “Jihadist” to describe “al-Qaida, Islamic State, and other Islamic groups, based on bin Laden’s own words and objectives and those of Islamic State and others.”31 It is making a connection between Islam and the actions of groups such as al-Qaida and the Islamic State, and instead of 30 Howard Altman, “TERRORISM ISN’T SO EASY TO DEFINE,” The Tampa Tribune (FL), Aug. 10, 2015. 31 Ibid. Page 16 seeing terror attacks as the work of extremist groups, the article argues we should view it as part of a larger context where the United States is at war with Islam.32 Another example of this framework is seen in an article from The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida. The article was produced right after the 2015 Paris Attacks took place, and it begins by questioning the status of Syrian refugees, asking if they are even refugees at all.33 The article also makes it clear it views the ISIS soldiers as only motivated by a religious purpose. As the article states, “There is no way to be certain that any or all of them are not jihadists,” which aligns with the framework right-leaning groups appear to have made. The framework does not take into consideration the possibility of any other motivating forces for Islamic terrorists, and arguably views terrorists as only made up of Islamic extremists. This idea is further expanded upon with the notion that all Muslims, especially from the Middle East, are suspects as the article questions all Middle Eastern countries and their allegiances. It argues anyone who travels to Middle Eastern countries with terrorist training camps located within shouldn’t be allowed entry into the U.S., even if they have a U.S. passport.34 It is clear this is an extremely anti-Islamic view, which the results appear to suggest was a common view before the Pulse Shooting, and became louder after the Paris attacks and San Bernardino Shootings. This could affect the data collected, but this framework could be found before these attacks. In a “Letters to the Editor” section of the Riverland News (Dunnellon, FL), there is one letter extremely critical of Muslims and Islam, and fits the negative framework discussed 32 Ibid. 33 Cal Thomas, “THOMAS: THE MASSACRE IN FRANCE,” The Ledger (Lakeland, FL), Nov. 17, 2015. 34 Ibid. Page 17 previously. This letter, written by a local Dunnellon citizen, makes the bold claim that “recent polls indicate that upward of 80 percent of mosques in this country teach that constitutional law should be replaced by Sharia law.”35 This letter goes on to make further claims of Islam being against freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Furthermore, the letter claims Muslims refuse to integrate into Western societies, and argues the U.S. should not be taking in Muslim immigrants because of their religion.36 This ties into the negative framework as it argues Muslims are unable to integrate into U.S. society, supporting this with a statistic that 80 percent of mosques in the U.S. teach Sharia law should replace constitutional law. The author of the letter also appears to hold a right-leaning bias as he supports the Muslim travel ban proposed by Donald Trump after the Paris attacks.37 This letter gives a glimpse of the strong views held by some Central Florida residents. Another “Letters to the Editor” article contained a similar argument. The letter draws heavily from the book Slavery, Terrorism, and Islam: The Historical Roots of and Contemporary Threat by Dr. Peter Hammond, and argued Muslims don’t integrate into a society but start “Islamization” when there are an adequate number of Muslims within the country.38 This letter fits the negative framework as it argues Muslims will not integrate into western society, and will eventually take over the society, instituting Islam as the main political, social, and religious force. Furthermore, it is clear from the quotes the letter quotes, the book cited is extremely negative towards Muslims, claiming “From 5 percent on, [Muslims] will use violence and work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law.”39 35 "12/17/2015 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR," Riverland News (Dunnellon, FL), Dec. 17, 2015. 36 Ibid. 37 Ibid. 38 "SHIA EXPANDING – INTO GEORGIA?,” North Port Sun (FL), Jan. 06, 2016: 14. 39 Ibid. Page 18 This letter arguably claims there is no difference between Muslim extremists and moderate Muslims, and none should be allowed in the U.S. as all Muslims will hurt western society. The negative framework discussed previously is also seen in an article from The Daily Commercial in Leesburg, Florida. The article implies heavily the U.S. has become weak within the eyes of Muslim extremists and that there is no possibility of changing the views of these Muslim extremists.40 This article includes the perspectives of Osama Bin Laden and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to further justify its views of Islam and sees no difference between Muslim extremists and moderate Muslims.41 The article also insinuates there is a “jihadist pincer movement on the nation’s capital” based on then President Obama and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan planning to open “the largest American mosque in the world”, and the alleged ties between Hamas and a large Virginian mosque that Anwar al-Awlaki used to preach at.42 The article suggests the West is at war with Islamic extremism and that Europe may have already run out of time to fight back, leaving the U.S. alone in this war. The negative framework fits this article because it argues the West is at war with Islam in some way and argues people are right to be worried about the threat of Muslim extremists. Furthermore, this framework applies as the article implies we cannot trust Muslims within the U.S., with its reference to mosques in Maryland and Virginia as a “Jihadist pincer movement” and using Erdogan’s statements about Islam to suggest Muslim extremists are the same as moderate Muslims.43 This use of Erdogan’s statements, and Osama bin Laden’s opinions about Jihad, are unique in the negative framework as most tend to lack outside perspectives on these issues. However, the article uses them to 40 "ANOTHER OPINION – DOES TERRORISM HAVE TO BE THE NEW NORMAL?,” The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL), Mar. 30, 2016, 9. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid. Page 19 further justify this negative depiction it has developed of Muslims as extremists, therefore this is still a negative article. The argument Muslims are incompatible with the U.S. is a common theme of the negative framework before the Pulse Night Club Shooting. This is further exemplified with an opinion piece by George L. Barnett published in The Gainesville Sun titled “Sharia Law is inconsistent with Constitution.” Barnett argues most Muslims want to live under Sharia law, and Sharia law is incompatible with Western democratic values, based on the examples he lists from Sharia law.44 Right away, Barnett’s claim that most Muslims, even those coming to the U.S., want to live under Sharia law fits the negative framework as it not only assumes all Muslims are the same, but Islamic/Muslim values are also barbaric and do not fit well with western society. It also fits because it suggests Muslims cannot successfully integrate into U.S. society without giving up something about being a Muslim. As Barnett asks, So, how can we admit Muslims into our country if they are not prepared to give up Sharia law in favor of our Constitution and our laws? Free speech is not permitted under Sharia law. Free exercise of religion is not permitted under Sharia law and equality of women and men is not permitted under Sharia law.45 While Barnett claims he wishes not to exclude any Muslims from entering the U.S. or becoming citizens, he also argues Muslims specifically need to make a pledge to uphold the U.S. laws above anything else. Furthermore, the negative framework is Barnett argues it does not matter whether a Muslim is radical or peace-loving, because “that does not determine if a Muslim entering the U.S. will become integrated into our modern, free-speaking, equality-providing way of life.”46 The negative framework applies because this article considers Muslims, 44 George Barnett, “SHARIA LAW IS INCONSISTENT WITH CONSTITUTION,” The Gainesville Sun, (FL), Apr. 01, 2016. 45 Ibid. 46 Ibid. Page 20 at best, difficult to integrate into U.S. society, and depicts all Muslims as following Sharia law which Barnett describes as barbaric, and completely incompatible with the West. This negative framework appears to also be supported by a good portion of Central Floridians, as before the Pulse Shooting most articles discussing readers opinions on the recent Paris attack were extremely anti-Muslim, questioned the current administration’s policies, and showed some level of support for Republican presidential candidates, most notably Donald Trump.47 This appeared to still be the case almost a month after the Paris attacks with the focuses still being anti-gun control, anti-immigration, and anti-Muslim.48 There was also a news report giving statistics to this apparent trend. After the Paris Attacks, 53% of Americans were in favor of scrapping the plan to bring any Syrian refugees to the U.S., but this also seems somewhat motivated by fear as the same poll found 64% said Islam is an inherently peaceful religion.49 What this suggests is Americans are still holding negative views based on fear even when they know these views are unfounded or proven incorrect. Positive Articles Pre-Pulse Night Club Shooting The 29 positive news articles further suggest local news in Central Florida before the Pulse Shooting was mixed in its views of Muslims and Islam. The main framework for positive articles tended to emphasize Muslim perspectives and distance Muslim extremists from Muslims and Islam. This framework also argued over how to best label Muslim extremists, arguing against the attempts to generalize all terrorists as Muslims. It instead argues using terms such as 47 “READERS RESPOND TO PARIS ATTACKS,” Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL), Nov. 18, 2015. 48 “VIEWS,” The Tampa Tribune (FL), Dec. 08, 2015: 8. 49 Margaret Talev, “POLL: 53% FAVOR JUNKING PLAN TO BRING SYRIAN REFUGEES TO U.S.,” The Orlando Sentinel (FL), Nov. 19, 2015. Page 21 “radical Islam” or “jihadists” will only further the ambitions of groups such as ISIS and doesn’t accurately represent the situation with Muslim extremists. This positive framework also involved heavily criticizing Republican rhetoric or right-leaning views. The positive articles also tended to use Muslim voices within their reporting, and the Muslims who spoke tended to give a favorable view of the U.S. An example of this framework can be seen with an article published by The Ledger in Lakeland, Florida on November 18, 2015. This article uses the voices of two Muslim senators to frame the issue at hand within the House of Representatives: the Syrian refugee crisis after the Paris attacks.50 The two senators, Reps. Keith Ellison and André Carson, also emphasized calling ISIS Daesh instead of ISIS or ISIL or IS, as they argue this group doesn’t represent what the true Islamic community is, and Daesh is an Arabic acronym that can be roughly translated to mean “bigoted people who impose their views on others.”51 These two senators also point out using the name “Jihadi” isn’t bad in a Muslim context as it literally means “somebody who struggles in a righteous way.”52 The article also stands against trying to ban Muslims from entering the country, especially Syrian refugees. Along with this, it emphasizes how much misunderstanding there is within America about Islam and Muslims, and the need to better educate ourselves on these issues.53 The need to better educate ourselves on these issues is further seen with an article by Cortney Stewart, a columnist for the Citrus County Chronicle in Crystal River, Florida. In her article, “Isis wants the world to burn,” Stewart discusses the lack of media coverage on terrorist attacks outside of the West, such as the Beirut suicide bombing that took place just before the 50 Emma Dumain, “HOUSE’S MUSLIM MEMBERS BRACE FOR CHARGED TERROR DEBATE OVER SYRIAN REFUGEES,” The Ledger (Lakeland, FL), Nov. 18, 2015. 51 Ibid. 52 Ibid. 53 Ibid. Page 22 Paris attacks, or Boko Haram’s group killing 60 Nigerians in 24 hours and taking 170 hostages in Mali after swearing allegiance to ISIS.54 Stewart goes on to explain the frustration and anger Turkish people felt when no one took a moment of silence for the October 10 Ankara bombings they suffered.55 Stewart also cautions against thinking of Islam as a violent, jihadist aggressor, or that Muslim extremists represent all Muslims, which ties into the positive framework discussed previously. This article shows a positive framework because it attempts to distance moderate Muslims from Muslim extremist groups like ISIS and attempts to shift focus away from the West to bring up attacks ISIS and its affiliates have carried out in Africa and the Middle East. Also, Stewart urges for cooperation with a myriad of nations along with Muslims to defeat ISIS, as she feels the best way to defeat them is to unite together and not give into the fear they spread.56 Another example is an article which gives a Lebanese Shia Muslim’s perspective on the problems facing the U.S. and Islamic terrorism. One of the most interesting things said in this article is the response to the Paris attacks: Just one day had passed, and ISIS carried out another attack. This time it was in Paris. 130 lives were lost. I thought to myself, here we go again. Right when I started to feel like Islam was at peace with Western civilization, ISIS took it away. It reminded me of 9/11, when I was afraid to tell my classmates that I was Muslim. To avoid any threats or discrimination, my father didn’t let my mother take us out on her own.57 The phrase “when I started to feel like Islam was at peace with Western civilization, ISIS took it away”58 helps explain how Muslims may feel about ISIS, especially those living within Western countries. It also points out how ISIS is not just a problem for the West, and trying to 54 Stewart, Cortney, “ISIS WANTS THE WORLD TO BURN,” Citrus County Chronicle (Crystal River, FL), Nov. 21, 2015. 55 Ibid. 56 Ibid. 57 Lenay Ruhl, “SEEKING PEACE: A SHIA MUSLIM’S PERSPECTIVE,” The Crow’s Nest: University of South Florida (St. Petersburg, FL), Dec. 07, 2015. 58 Ibid. Page 23 apply policies to all Muslims based on how we view ISIS and Muslim extremists may hurt our efforts to stop ISIS. It arguably lends credibility to the positive framework of trying to see Muslims and Islam as not responsible for the attacks extremist groups like ISIS carry out. The article emphasizes standing with Muslims against anti-Muslim rhetoric and attempts to remind us that Muslims are victims of these attacks as well, with the community typically facing threats and harassment immediately after these attacks.59 The calls for unity with Muslims noted in the positive framework can also be seen in an article by Dr. Robert Paum, a professor emeritus at Florida Southern College. Dr. Paum argues why he needs to speak out against the hatred expressed towards Muslims because of his own personal background dealing with similar hatred as a Jew.60 Furthermore, Dr. Paum declares his solidarity with Muslims by symbolically saying “Je suis Muslim,” taken from the famous “Je suis Charlie” phrase meant to show solidarity with France after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo.61 Dr. Paum also makes clear the West is not at war with Islam, and Muslims are also a majority of the victims of ISIS and other Muslim extremists. The positive framework is seen in Dr. Paum’s calls for unity with Muslims and his criticism of the claim the West is at war with Islam. Dr. Paum also shifts some focus away from the West to remind us of the victims of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. For Dr. Paum, we must destroy ISIS to stop their reign of terror, but that does not mean destroying Islam, because ISIS does not represent all of Islam for him. Another example of the noted positive framework is in an interview with the president of the Islamic society of Central Florida, Muhammad Musri, better known as one of the 59 Eric Lichtblau, “CRIMES AGAINST MUSLIM AMERICANS AND MOSQUES RISE SHARPLY,” The New York Times, Dec. 17, 2015. 60 Robert Paum, “JE SUIS MUSLIM,” The Ledger (Lakeland, FL), Dec. 23, 2015. 61 Ibid. Page 24 commentators from the popular radio station “The Three Wise Guys.” In the interview, Musri dispels a myth that American Muslims are trying to replace the U.S. constitution with Sharia Law and discussed how Muslims could help dispel some of the suspicion and hostility they face through educating people about what Islam truly is, and what it means to be a Muslim.62 This interview fits into the positive framework because it includes a Muslim perspective on these issues, Muhammad Musri, and attempts to discredit the notion that Muslims are trying to destroy or ruin America by instituting Sharia law. Furthermore, this interview fits the positive framework because it discusses how the suspicion and hostility Muslims face come from ignorance and fear, recommending the best way to combat this is through educating people and criticizing media outlets for constantly showing Muslim extremists groups in their coverage without giving Muslim leaders a chance to discuss them.63 This interview allows for Muslims to voice their perspectives, and shows how Muslims are also Americans too who can successfully integrate into western society without an issue. Local News Articles Post-Pulse Night Club Shooting Out of the 186 news article results, around 97 were written after the shooting. There were 34 positive news articles, 28 negative news articles, and 35 neutral news articles. Compared to news articles before the Pulse shooting, there was 1 more positive article than before, 1 less negative news article than before, and 8 more neutral articles than before. These figures show an insignificant change in the number of positive or negative news articles depicting Muslims. There was a dramatic rise in the number of neutral articles, but this is attributed to the presidency of Donald Trump as more neutral news articles focused on explaining and fact-checking his 62 "IMAM: TRUST OBAMA VIEW ON MUSLIMS,” The Orlando (FL), Feb. 17, 2016, A10. 63 Ibid. Page 25 proposed legislation. Local news articles after the Pulse Night Club Shooting appears to show a similar amount of mixed reporting on Muslims, Islam, and terrorism. There was roughly the same split of positive and negative news articles seen before the Pulse shooting, however the frameworks had noticeably shifted. The positive framework, while still suffering from the same issues as the previous positive framework, and arguably debating even more over the semantics of how to address Islamic terrorism, focused heavily on unity with Muslims despite Omar Mateen’s actions. Furthermore, there was a noticeably higher increase in articles either criticizing or fact-checking Donald Trump’s statements, although this could be associated with Donald Trump’s increasingly hostile statements about Islam, and his claim that Muslims could never integrate into American culture and society.64 Negative Articles Post-Pulse Night Club Shooting Starting with the 28 negative articles, the shift in the negative framework noted before the Pulse shooting appears to have strengthened its pre-conceived ideas about Islam, especially the semantics of how to refer to Muslim extremists with the most common argument being to call them either “jihadists” or “radical Islam”. Furthermore, the arguments that the U.S. was at war with all of Islam appear to be more frequent and stronger in negative news articles. An example of this is an article published by the The Daily Commercial in Leesburg, Florida. The article is very critical of Muslims and Isla, viewing Mateen’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 2011 and 2012 as suspicious and questions anything that does not view the issue as religious and a war against “Islamic extremism.”65 64 Louis Jacobson, “DONALD TRUMP WRONG THAT THERE’S NO REAL ASSIMILATION BY U.S. MUSLIMS,” Tampa Bay Times, (FL), Jun. 18, 2016, 0. 65 Cal Thomas, “ANOTHER OPINION – UNITED STATES IS IN NEED OF A DECLARATION OF WAR,” The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL), Jun. 17, 2016: 9. Page 26 This is not the first article by Cal Thomas, as he also argued heavily against Islam and Muslims following the Paris attacks, and his argument appears to have strengthened in his pre-conceived notions. Thomas goes on to argue, “No more mosques should be built in the U.S. until we gain an upper hand against radical Islamists,” which shows how negative articles follow the negative framework of connecting the actions of Muslim extremists with all of Islam.66 It is clear that because of the Pulse shooting, Thomas has only become more critical of Muslims and Islam, and his beliefs about Muslims seem even more anti-Muslim afterwards. Another example of this shift in the negative framework is from The Orlando Sentinel. This news article is a reaction following the Pulse shooting and criticizes then president Obama for not wanting to address, what the author feels, are the specifics of the attack, which is defining it as Islamic terror.67 The article also argues the attack is more proof that “this was another battle in the war on Islamic Terror,”68 which arguably ties into the negative framework’s depiction of the West at war with Islam. However, the article also criticizes the GOP for trying to make all Muslims or Islam the enemy, which appears to go against the negative framework discussed earlier. The article appears to be arguing that while Islam is at the heart of “Islamic terror” or the motivating force behind Muslim extremists, a distinction should be made between Muslim extremists and Muslims who do not condone these attacks. However, the article is ultimately a negative article as it still is attempting to argue Islam is the issue, and the semantics used to discuss attacks like the Pulse shooting need to focus on emphasizing Islam’s role. 66 Ibid. 67 Jonah Goldberg, “REACTION TO MASSACRE AT NIGHTCLUB HAS THE FEEL OF ETERNAL RECURRENCE,” The Orlando Sentinel (FL), Jun. 15, 2016: 17A. 68 Ibid. Page 27 Another example of the negative framework is a “Letters to the Editor” section from the Ocala Star-Banner. This article is feedback from the Central Florida community following the Pulse shooting, and the majority of the voices are negative of Islam and conservative voices that are hostile towards Islam as they also argue against any type of gun control being implemented in the aftermath of this attack while also criticizing Obama and Democrats as a whole.69 Furthermore, the first letter discusses who the best boxer of all time was, and argues it was not Muhammad Ali and uses the fact that he converted to Islam as a negative indictment of him. To this writer, Rocky Marciano was the best boxer.70 These letters are also extremely America-centric and focus only on issues surrounding the U.S. with Pulse, and not how ISIS or Muslim extremists affect the Muslim community as well. Another example of this negative framework that developed is by The Daily Commercial in Leesburg, Florida on September 25, 2016. This article is arguably supportive of the then presidential candidate Donald Trump and his rhetoric about how to defeat ISIS, as it criticizes the Obama administration’s immigration policies, considering them weak and ineffectual after a Homeland Security audit revealed around 858 immigrants facing pending deportation orders were granted U.S. citizenship.71 Furthermore, this article also suggests Syrian refugees are to be considered questionable at best in their motives and states: Many Americans believe their government cares more about the sensitivity of Muslims than it does for them. From releasing detainees from Guantanamo prison, some of whom have gone on to plot terrorists attacks against Americans, to the acceptance of thousands of refugees from Islamic countries where terrorism appears to be a major export, people are rightly concerned.72 69 “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FOR JUNE 20, 2016,” Ocala Star-Banner (FL), Jun. 20, 2016. 70 Ibid. 71 “FROM THE RIGHT – MORE TERROR, MORE DENIALS,” The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL), Sept. 25, 2016: 2. 72 Ibid. Page 28 It could be argued then this article is suggesting Islamic countries mainly support or are the source of terrorism throughout the world. The article further supports the negative framework as it appears to suggest most, if not all, Muslims hold radical or extremist beliefs, when it states, “All Muslims do not buy into these doctrines, but those who don’t are regarded as heretics by those who do.”73 Again, this negative framework appears to be supported after the Pulse Night Club Shooting within Central Florida, as a Mason-Dixon poll found 1 in 5 central Floridians viewed Muslims more negatively after the Pulse shootings.74 This same poll also found 50% of those surveyed said the attack was motivated by Islamic extremists, 19% said the attack was primarily against the LGBT community, and 12% gave both responses. 41% of those surveyed were found more supportive of individual gun rights, although the poll did not see this reaction in 18-34- year-olds and among African-Americans. Only 2% of those surveyed held more positive views after the shooting. This poll arguably shows how this attack helped stoke Islamophobic fears within the Central Florida community, and suggests central Floridians may then seek out news articles or news outlets critical of Islam and Muslims to affirm pre-conceived notions. Positive Articles Post-Pulse Night Club Shooting Despite these negative views of Muslims, the 34 positive news articles suggest these news articles tended to be mixed in how they viewed or discussed Muslims and Islam. Positive news articles shifted their framework to emphasize unity with Muslims despite the fear the Pulse shooting had created. This framework also emphasized distancing Muslims and Islam from the 73 Ibid. 74 Steven Lemongello, “SOME NEGATIVE VIEWS RISE–POLL REVEALS OPINIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS ARE MORE UNFAVORABLE AFTER PULSE MASSACRE,” The Orlando Sentinel (FL), Jul. 03, 2016 Page 29 acts of Muslim extremists, as seen before the Pulse shooting, and there was a larger push on emphasizing the use of neutral or objective wording when attempting to label groups like ISIS or Muslim extremists so as not to suggest all of Islam was responsible for these horrific attacks. An example of this framework is seen with an article discussing the burning of a mosque in Fort Pierce. The Fort Pierce mosque was targeted because it was where Omar Mateen had gone to pray, and before the building was burned the mosque suffered hate-filled phone calls and worshippers were attacked in the parking lot with Islamophobic comments being shouted at them. This culminated on September 11, 2016 when a motorcyclist poured accelerant on the door to the mosque and set the building ablaze. 75 This was considered Florida’s worst-ever mosque attack, and the building suffered extensive structural damage, but thankfully no one was hurt. The neighborhood residents of this mosque, despite the increasing Islamophobic views within central Florida, rallied alongside the mosque and expressed their unity with the Muslim community along with the Fort Pierce mosque, which is considered a historic landmark.76 An online fundraiser was made to help pay for the estimated $100,000 in damage, and within a short while $31,000 was raised for the mosque. This news article then goes on to quote Sarah Zaidi, who grew up visiting the mosque, as loving the community there, and states, “‘We’re going to stand as one,’ she said. ‘The point is that we have freedom of religion, and we will keep rebuilding as much as we have to, because that’s our right.’”77 The article supports the positive framework in multiple ways, as it stresses the unity of the Fort Pierce community during the burning of the mosque, despite the Pulse 75 Bethany Rodgers, “FORTPIERCE MOSQUE WILL PERSEVERE AFTER PULSE, FIRE,” The Orlando Sentinel (FL), September 18, 2016: 1A. 76 Ibid. 77 Ibid. Page 30 shooting. Furthermore, Muslim perspectives are used throughout the article and the article also discusses how if this had been a church, there would be more public outcry especially within the news.78 Another example of this positive framework is found within an article by The Orlando Sentinel on June 16, 2016. The article relies almost exclusively on the Muslim perspective of Haris Anwar, who emphasizes from the beginning of the article that Muslims are American citizens, and spends the entire article distancing Islam and Muslims from the actions of Omar Mateen.79 Anwar goes on to argue that Islam preaches peace and does not justify Mateen’s actions, even quoting the Qur’an and saying his actions further contradict Islam because Mateen committed the Pulse shooting during the month of Ramadan. Throughout the article, Anwar attempts to educate the reader on Islam, Islamic jurisprudence, and Islamic tradition. This further goes with the positive framework noted as this arguably ties into distancing Islam from Muslim extremists through education on what Islam is generally accepted to teach. Finally, Anwar writes, “The Muslim world would do well to quell this tide by following the example of the oldest American Muslim organization, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, and arm their youth with the true message of Islam,”80 which arguably emphasizes again how Muslims are Americans, and have been since the beginning while also holding a Western view of how best to solve this issue by looking to American Muslims for how to solve this issue. This positive framework is also seen in the example of an article immediately after the Pulse shooting. The article discusses how local Muslims were immediately denouncing Omar 78 Ibid. 79 Haris Anwar, “WHOSOEVER KILLS A PERSON… IT SHALL BE AS IF HE HAS KILLED ALL MANKIND,” The Orlando Sentinel (FL), Jun. 16, 2016: 17A. 80 Ibid. Page 31 Mateen’s actions, and focuses heavily on the perspectives of two Muslim leaders.81 The article also emphasizes how Mateen’s act “disrupted the holy month, using Islam as the banner under which he unleashed a mass shooting…”82 and challenges the statement that violence represents true Islam. The article does contain some problematic language, as it refers to one of the Muslim leader’s congregation as a “legion of worshippers,”83 however this does not make the article negative. As stated previously, problematic wording within positive articles is expected as U.S. society arguably holds Orientalist views of Muslims which leads to the possibly unconscious use of problematic wording.84 Ultimately, the article supports the positive framework as it uses the perspectives of Muslims while attempting to distance Islam and Muslims from the actions of Muslim extremists, and arguably expresses the unity of Muslims with the American community in condemning these attacks. Again, the positive framework discussed previously is seen in another article by the Tampa Bay Times, which discusses the smearing of Wael Odeh, a Palestinian-American running to be on the Temple Terrace City Council. The article discusses how someone had been putting letters in Temple Terrace mailboxes hinting Odeh had connections to terrorists or terrorist organizations.85 The article goes on to heavily criticize this smear campaign and attack whoever performed this act while defending Wael Odeh from the claims made against him. The article also focuses on Wael Odeh as a productive member of the Temple Terrace community and is setting the positive example that many critics of Islam call for from Muslim communities after 81 Matt Bruce, “LOCAL MUSLIMS DECRY VIOLENT ACTS UNDER THE BANNER OF ISLAM,” The Daytona Beach News- Journal (FL), Jun. 13, 2016. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid. 84 Said, The Nation. 85 Daniel Ruth, “MUSLIM SMEAR IS COWARDLY, IGNORANT,” Tampa Bay Times (FL), Nov. 06, 2016: 1. Page 32 an attack by Muslim extremists: take a more active, positive role in their communities.86 This article shows the positive framework discussed previously as the article is openly siding with Wael Odeh against criticism and emphasizing how he is integrated into his community, being a productive and active member of it. This article clearly supports a Muslim running for political offices and emphasizes “that’s how Democracy works,” as 20-25% of the community in Temple Terrace is Muslim, and having some diversity and inclusivity would better the community.87 This positive framework shows how, despite these tragedies and increasing Islamophobic sentiments, there are communities still supporting Muslims and defending them from attacks. Also, these positive articles are an example of how there is positive news about Muslims even after an attack like Pulse, and not all allow fear to dictate how they view Muslims. It emphasizes the complexity of this issue and why it cannot be summed up concisely. Furthermore, there may be less coverage of positive depictions of Muslims because of the Islamophobic fears and how easily negative depictions can be sensationalized or gain more attention, as it fits the framework America has towards Muslims. Discussion After looking at the news articles before and after Pulse Night Club, it appears the original thesis is incorrect. While anti-Muslim views did increase amongst Central Florida residents, the amount of negative depictions of Muslims stayed roughly the same. What appears to have happened is there was a noticeable shift in the framework of both positive and negative depictions of Muslims and Islam within local news articles. For the positive depictions, there was more of a focus on calls for unity with Muslims, and emphasizing that ISIS and Omar Mateen 86 Ibid. 87 Ibid. Page 33 did not speak for all of Islam. The negative framework appeared to push the semantics of calling Islamic terrorism “radical Islam” and emphasizing the view that Muslims and Islam are incompatible with the West. While this is also seen before the Pulse shooting, it appears more pronounced after it. This is further supported by polls showing Central Florida residents held a more anti-Muslim view after the shooting, and surveying articles that consisted of community feedback or the views of the community.88 What can be concluded from this paper is that while there was not a large increase in anti-Muslim depictions or anti-Muslim articles following the Pulse Shooting, these sentiments did increase amongst Central Florida residents, and arguably these views intensified within local news articles. Within the positive framework of these articles, the main change was a stronger focus on unity with Muslims, and instead of less articles, there was roughly the same amount. Overall, it appears that while the Pulse Nightclub Shooting was horrific and tragic, there was not much of a shift in news articles, and the roughly same number of mixed articles shows how complex U.S. perceptions are on the issue of Muslims and Islam. The correlation between negative news articles and right-leaning biases suggests a possible political connection to these perceptions as well. Limitations This research has limitations. It is difficult to have an objective definition of positive and negative depictions of Muslims and Islam because of the misunderstandings within U.S. society surrounding Muslims and Islam. Also, one could argue a more negative depiction of Muslims and Islam is an objective definition, as many of the articles researched tended to argue their 88 Lemongello, “SOME NEGATIVE VIEWS RISE.” Page 34 viewpoint was correct and objective. There is also no one Islam or one group of Muslims to look at, and objective facts can easily be used to promote one perspective over another. This is further complicated by the insistence on Western values being the way we judge a group of people or society. The paper is also limited by the lack of research into local news in general, with most studies focusing on mainstream media within the U.S. or Europe, which severely limits how it can be applied to other areas, or even to local communities. Furthermore, the focus of research should eventually be on local television news, as that has been found to be what most Americans use to stay informed about the news, and the one most Americans trust. There should also be further research into the effects of digital news because, as stated previously, digital news is rapidly growing in influence and viewer base with it being the platform expected to dominate other forms of news media in the future.89 However, there is a severe lack of data for any such research, making it extremely difficult to perform research. The paper also did not look at how different forms of media may impact Central Florida’s perception of Muslims and Islam. Therefore, it is difficult ascertain with certainty the impact local news articles have in shaping our opinions. Most of the news articles also came from major cities in Central Florida. This indicates there should be follow-up research into how news is perceived, or even what news covers in larger cities vs. smaller cities or even rural communities. This paper is also limited by the difficulty in looking at, and discussing all the articles concisely. Furthermore, this data is hard to quantify, and a larger timeframe may yield more significant results than over the 3-year period this paper looks at. Also, this period began with the 89 Mitchell, “State of the News Media 2016,” 10-12. Page 35 San Bernardino and Paris attacks, so it is possible these events may have already caused an increase in anti-Muslim articles, and the short period of time between these events and the Pulse Night Club Shooting may have skewed the data to reflect Pulse having little to no overall effect on news articles and people’s perceptions of Muslims and Islam. Conclusion This paper’s original thesis argued that due to the Pulse shooting happening within Central Florida, it would cause a drastic rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic news articles. The results suggest the thesis is incorrect, or at best inconclusive, as there was no real change in the quantity of anti-Islamic news articles before and after the Pulse shooting. This may be due to the year prior involving the high-profile Paris attacks and San Bernardino shooting, so future research is necessary to better understand the role of terror attacks on media. However, it is worth noting there was some change in the frameworks used, with positive articles shifting to focus more on unity and working together with Muslims to stop attacks like Pulse and Islamophobic beliefs. The negative articles tended to intensify their pre-established views and argued more strongly for viewing all Muslims and Islam as responsible for Muslim extremists. These negative articles also began arguing more heavily for bans on Muslims and Islam. There was an increase in articles arguing that Muslims and Islam are incompatible with the West. Finally, there was a rise in anti-Muslim views within Central Florida as a direct result of the Pulse shooting. This shows these issues are not as simplistic as politicians would try to make them out to be. The United States suffers from having always misunderstood Muslims and Islam. Our news media plays a significant role in shaping our views on these issues, so it is important to ensure they remain objective and neutral so we may understand the issues Muslims are facing, what Page 36 ISIS means to Muslims and Islam, and how to best deal with Muslim extremists. Furthermore, we need to include more Muslim voices in our news media to combat the ingrained Islamophobic sentiments our society has. Islam is compatible with the West, but there are things which must be addressed, just as there are in all religions. Claiming this is only a problem found within Islam is inaccurate. We hear so much about Islamic terrorism because that is what our news chooses to report on, and because that is what our society chooses to focus on. The narrative of Islam we have chosen is one based on our misunderstanding of Islam, and we can choose to not accept this narrative as fact. We can demand our news be more objective and neutral. Muslims can successfully integrate into American society without having to give up everything about their home culture or give up their religious beliefs. Local news media may heavily influence our perceptions of these issues, so we must view their perspectives with a critical eye. Page 37 Works Cited "12/17/2015 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.” Riverland News (Dunnellon, FL). Dec. 17, 2015. Ahmed Saifuddin and Jörg Matthes. “Media Representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis.” The International Communication Gazette vol. 79(3) (2016): 219-244. Altman, Howard. “TERRORISM ISN’T SO EASY TO DEFINE.” The Tampa Tribune (FL). Aug. 10, 2015. 1. "ANOTHER OPINION – DOES TERRORISM HAVE TO BE THE NEW NORMAL?” The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL). Mar. 30, 2016. 9. Anwar, Haris. “WHOSOEVER KILLS A PERSON… IT SHALL BE AS IF HE HAS KILLED ALL MANKIND.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Jun. 16, 2016. 17A. Barnett, George L.. "SHARIA LAW IS INCONSISTENT WITH CONSTITUTION.” The Gainesville Sun (FL). Apr. 01, 2016. Barthel, Michael, and Amy Mitchell. "Americans' Attitudes About the News Media Deeply Divided Along Partisan Lines." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. May 10, 2017. Accessed October 17, 2017. http://www.journalism.org/2017/05/10/americans-attitudes-about- the-news-media-deeply-divided-along-partisan-lines/. Barthel, Michael, Jesse Holcomb, Jessica Mahone, and Amy Mitchell. "Civic Engagement Strongly Tied to Local News Habits." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. November 03, 2016. Accessed October 17, 2017. http://www.journalism.org/2016/11/03/civic-engagement-strongly-tied-to-local-news-habits/. Baum, Robert. "JE SUIS MUSLIM." The Ledger (Lakeland, FL). Dec. 23, 2015. Bruce, Matt. “LOCAL MUSLIMS DECRY VIOLENT ACTS UNDER THE BANNER OF ISLAM.” The Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL). June 13, 2016. Page 38 Dumain, Emma. “HOUSE’S MUSLIM MEMBERS BRACE FOR CHARGED TERROR DEBATE OVER SYRIAN REFUGEES.” The Ledger (Lakeland, FL). Nov. 18, 2015. "FROM THE RIGHT - More terror, more denials." The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL). September 25, 2016. 2. Goldberg, Jonah. “REACTION TO MASSACRE AT NIGHTCLUB HAS THE FEEL OF ETERNAL RECURRENCE.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Jun. 15, 2016. 17A. "IMAM: TRUST OBAMA VIEW ON MUSLIMS.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Feb. 17, 2016. A10. Jacobson, Louis. “DONALD TRUMP WRONG THAT THERE’S NO REAL ASSIMILATION BY U.S. MUSLIMS.” Tampa Bay Times (FL). Jun. 18, 2016. 0. Lemongello, Steven. “SOME NEGATIVE VIEWS RISE – POLL REVEALS OPINIONS ABOUT MUSLIMS ARE MORE UNFAVORABLE AFTER PULSE MASSACRE.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Jul. 03, 2016. “LETTERS TO THE EDITOR FOR JUNE 20, 2016.” Ocala Star-Banner (FL). Jun. 20, 2016. Lichtblau, Eric. "CRIMES AGAINST MUSLIM AMERICANS AND MOSQUES RISE SHARPLY.” The New York Times. Dec. 17, 2015. McAlister, Melani. "Introduction." In Epic encounters: culture, media, and U.S. interests in the Middle East, 1945-2000. Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 2003. Merced, Michael J. De La and Nicholas Fandos. "Fox’s Unfamiliar but Powerful Television Rival: Sinclair." New York Times. May 03, 2017. Accessed October 19, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/03/business/dealbook/sinclair-media-expansion-fox-conservative- media.html. Mitchell, Amy, Jeffrey Gottfried, Michael Barthel, and Elisa Shearer. "The Modern News Consumer." Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. July 07, 2016. Accessed October 17, 2017. http://www.journalism.org/2016/07/07/the-modern-news-consumer/. Page 39 Mitchell, Amy, Jesse Holcomb, and Rachel Weisel. “State of the News Media 2016.” Pew Research Center. June 15, 2016. Accessed November 25, 2017. http://www.journalism.org/2017/06/01/archived-state-of-the-news-media-reports/. “READERS RESPOND TO PARIS ATTACKS.” Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL). Nov. 18, 2015. Rodgers, Bethany. “FOR PIERCE MOSQUE WILL PERSEVERE AFTER PULSE, FIRE.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Sept. 18, 2016. 1A. Ruhl, Lenay. “SEEKING PEACE: A SHIA MUSLIM’S PERSPECTIVE.” The Crow’s Nest: University of South Florida. (St. Petersburg, FL). Dec. 07, 2015. Ruth, Daniel. “MUSLIM SMEAR IS COWARDLY, IGNORANT.” Tampa Bay Times (FL). Nov. 06, 2016. 1. Said, Edward. "Islam through Western Eyes." The Nation, October 20, 2003. Saifuddin, Ahmed, and Jörg Matthes. “Media Representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A meta-analysis.” The International Communication Gazette vol. 79(3) (2016): 219-244. Schoenburg, Bernard. "SEN. DURBIN URGES FCC TO REJECT SINCLAIR-TRIBUNE DEAL.” The State Journal-Register. Oct. 31, 2017. Shane, Scott. "THE FAKE AMERICANS RUSSIA CREATED TO INFLUENCE THE ELECTION.” The New York Times. Sept. 07, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html. "SHIA EXPANDING – INTO GEORGIA?” North Port Sun (FL), Jan. 06, 2016: 14. Stewart, Cortney. “ISIS WANTS THE WORLD TO BURN.” Citrus County Chronicle (Crystal River, FL). Nov. 21, 2015. Talev, Margaret. “POLL: 53% FAVOR JUNKING PLAN TO BRING SYRIAN REFUGEES TO U.S.” The Orlando Sentinel (FL). Nov. 19, 2015. Page 40 Thomas, Cal. “THOMAS: THE MASSACRE IN FRANCE.” The Ledger (Lakeland, FL), Nov. 17, 2015. Thomas, Cal. “ANOTHER OPINION - UNITED STATES IS IN NEED OF A DECLARATION OF WAR.” The Daily Commercial (Leesburg, FL). Jun. 17, 2016. 9. “VIEWS.” The Tampa Tribune (FL). Dec. 08, 2015. 8. "Welcome to SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP." Sinclair Broadcast Group. http://www.sbgi.net/.