Democracy Now discusses the media's coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing with Nihad Awad, National Executive Director of the Council on American Islamic Relations.
< >
Transcript of the Video
0:00
alicia near the finish line at the Boston marathon conservative
columnist
0:03
erica rushed weed and then delete it when he claimed was a joke about
0:06
rounding up saudis and killing them
0:09
he treated quote everybody do the national security and go grab let's
0:13
bring more Saudis and without screening them come on to which someone
replied
0:17
quote sweet garter you're already blaming Muslims ever crash then
sweetie
0:21
back yes their evil let's kill them all by let's go to any out of wind
in
0:26
Washington D_C_
0:28
uh...
0:28
is the nationally second director of counts on and uh... on American Islamic
0:33
relations your response
0:36
what Israel fortunate that uh... fox news with a low uh... a common to
have
0:41
to have to still being dazed with them
0:44
so we should in action and you have to ask the public to contact fox
news and
0:48
and dot misconduct it though
0:50
have basically
0:51
is calling for religious the genocide against Muslims without uh...
knowing
0:57
the evidence ad against the uh... the mostly community or members of the
1:02
Muslim community
1:03
so fortunately politically dividend commentator's
1:07
and self-styled experts uh... on terrorism like Steven Emerson
1:12
or has a carryover I’ve just done in gaming American Muslims and a
targeting
1:17
them
1:18
continued to have uh... attention and where continued to be hosted by
1:24
major networks uh... with
1:26
total disregard to the sensitivities and to the facts themselves so
uh... idled
1:32
out thousands of people contacted on fox news to aspin to adopt this
commentator
1:37
what i wonder how many more
1:39
of needed on the foxnews pays attention to exclude immediately which is
the on
1:44
the line
1:46
al all it's pretty hard like ashu that you have that
1:49
two things here you have the existing biases that all already exists
1:53
consciously or self-consciously in the media but then you have now
because all
1:57
of the on the internet now this it's enormous pressure on news
organizations
2:03
to be the first to report something alright any break on a major story
in
2:07
the combination of these things one is going to have to reporting that
the
2:11
public has received well i think there's this tendency in broadcast
becoming
2:14
television to be the first outlet report something that
2:17
is going to be public in a matter of minutes hours anyway um... television
2:22
outlets take great pride in declaring a winner of an election five
seconds
2:26
before their competitors so i think this is built in kind of absurd
competition i
2:30
think more uh... important in this case is the history that we draw on
we read
2:36
that uh... headline jim block letters across the front page of u_s_a_
today
2:39
uh... the day afterwards terror has returned this idea that the united
2:44
states has not seen a terrorist attacks since nine eleven this is a
unique
2:48
and then right now
2:49
and were forgiving a series of attacks committed by domestic rightwing
2:54
extremists
2:55
uh... the sikh temple massacre were talking about
2:58
uh... the guy who went to a unitarian church in tennessee killed two
people
3:02
was inspired by a right wing author several acts that seemed to be
connected
3:07
to the rhetoric of glenn beck these things are flushed down the memory
whole
3:11
we don't even recall
3:13
are clearly enough
3:15
grew the actual culprit was in atlanta and the atlanta bombing people
remember
3:18
richard jewel
3:19
remember the rush to
3:21
to consider him a suspect they forget that eric rudolph a right wing
domestic
3:26
terrorist antiabortion extremist was the person responsible for this we
forget
3:30
all of these things in our mind
3:32
in the in the media carmine turns to moslems to islamic terrorism
3:37
to the times square attempted bombing last night county central's jon
stewart
3:42
blasted c_n_n_'s mis reporting
3:47
hopefully of information arrest has been made
3:50
than investors zero misidentified has now been arrested i was told by a
boston
3:54
law enforcement sources
3:58
i can't
4:02
activity of so many people this is is so important
4:05
so many people in the region nine did he give you the details is
effective law
4:09
enforcement sources arrested today
4:11
based on two different video showing images of the suspect video
enhancement
4:15
showed great dark-skinned male placing the package but the second
exposure side
4:20
backing away west after skin a little way that's
4:25
narrow that down and i did anybody terminal former chicago both ford and
4:29
current diplomat dennis rodman's hair
4:33
dons dot georgetown dot edu
4:39
brooklyn assemblyman dov hikind if it will pour out
4:43
ghar
4:44
for actor and said that the while
4:47
but you know what they had a tremendous amount information and and more
4:50
importantly
4:51
we're getting some exclusive information
4:54
from c_n_n_'s john king you're working your sources you getting more
4:57
information exclusive report and you heard this dramatic
5:00
explosive reporting this job is done now you-know-what
5:07
which is why you turn to c_n_n_
5:10
in a correctional
5:13
when a financial times we do
5:16
hotel joseph first class
5:18
but i said it is a that the boots on the ground and and making dinner
for ten you
5:22
know i as one of the competitors i guess we just get the little jeff
5:31
of these kinds of exclusives
5:35
although we we we soon learned there was a very good read
5:38
and why
5:39
uh...
5:40
this was exclusive
5:43
thursday nala rest
5:45
and in fact a suspect has not been identified by name yet
5:50
although its exclusive
5:52
because it was completely the
5:54
we're all
6:02
that fit me in john stay word on uh... on the c_n_n_
6:06
explicit ones
6:08
what uh... i want to ask the they had a lot of my another school said
that he
6:12
would just or didn't catch the the yard the flight that was landed on
this week
6:18
because i want to
6:19
are two men on the flight warmer speaking of carpet
6:27
it's it's a little unfortunate that uh... it to some people speaking at
a
6:30
big girl ice-t_ terribly terrible speaking and the foreign languages in
6:35
addition to engage
6:36
is not a sign of crying and uh...
6:38
at this uh... hiked and uh... enough time people should be
6:42
sensitive should be aware
6:43
that unit doing this calamity and attacks on america
6:48
uh...
6:49
we should all be united there
6:51
and and this is what's what's with the world is going to read it uh...
6:54
to one another we don't get at each other and uh... you know being
defending
6:59
that this is what's beautiful of all of this country with there being
ghetto
7:02
having uh... differently is different in the different ethnicities
speaking more
7:06
than one language it is not a sign of suspicion or crime so yeah we we
see
7:11
some panic as sometimes it during this crisis but uh... it's also up to
the
7:16
media how how the report this and i would like
7:19
to see uh... reporters like uh...
7:21
wolf blitzer and uh... john storage on uh... king holding themselves to
ohio
7:27
and released to qa standards are not going to win the race and prejudice
7:31
india commentary and just to check the facts n
7:35
not do enough to do do you believe the war covault for investigators in
the
7:39
damndest to get those famous in
7:41
their work
7:42
and i also have to say that the i have been uh... you know impressed by
the
7:46
investigators where the government spokespeople double restrained then
7:50
didn't they had been sitting that go on for the information to wait and
see if
7:54
you come to judge the facts not to judge race or assigned being to
people uh...
8:01
entire communities
8:02
or or ethnicities or religion
8:05
and uh... i mean this is a wrong and which would have been so many
lessons
8:08
from the past
8:09
i think the concerns on the focus should be
8:13
the uh... the victims and their families counseling them uh... macon
didn't know
8:18
that we all are around him
8:21
we we did on our faults they are in our prayer
8:24
and that also the investigators do their job and we can see and i'm just
to have
8:29
the be this sense of competition just to fill the air time dissident
shooting
8:35
uh... off all miles just to fuzhou you know some desires and and
8:40
competitiveness it it is a home for length it is to be on a very well
the
8:43
f_b_i_ release a scathing statement caution journalists not to jump to
8:47
conclusions saying quote over the past and
8:49
half there'd been a number press reports based information from
unofficial
8:52
sources and it's been an accurate since the stories often have
unintended
8:56
consequences
8:57
we asked the media particularly at this early stage investigation to
exercise
9:00
caution attempt to verify information through appropriate official
channels
9:03
before reporting they said
9:06
and that as this segment of course will continue to cover the news act
For
the full video, go to:
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/4/18...
CONTACT FOX: (As always, be POLITE and respectful.)
http://www.capwiz.com/cair/issues/ale...
URL: https://newageislam.com/multimedia/video-cair-nihad-awad-democracy/d/11203