Rafael Ramirez Flores: Media must be careful in language it uses to portray ethnic groups

Recently, I have noted a lot of hatred against Muslims. I have noted this issue through trending “hashtags” on social media websites like Twitter. As a concerned college student, I would like to provide some insight on how language used in articles or stories affects people and how social media plays a role. Some articles in newspapers are titled to catch the attention of citizens, but they offend ethnic groups.

Many Americans have misconceptions and negative views toward Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The concept of “Islamaphobia” was based on this and will continue unless the media changes the words they use.

Hrair Dekmejian wrote in his book “Spectrum of Terror”: “Thus terrorists can readily use the media to manipulate target audiences such as editors and reporters who may unwittingly become accessories to murder (19).” This means terrorists and others who want to marginalize certain groups are taking advantage of biased media to demonstrate the state’s impotence in protecting its citizens.

We must be open-minded; not people in various ethnic groups are the same. People in our communities must be correctly informed about what is happening; coverage of terrorism should not have any bias or connotations.

This story was originally published May 6, 2015 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Rafael Ramirez Flores: Media must be careful in language it uses to portray ethnic groups."