Media is a way to get ones point across however some may use it in the wrong way. It is a way to create peace however it may also cause a lot ruckus among a group of people. Social media plays a big role in our lives and we don’t realize how much it effects our view points on many topics. Not only does the media take advantage of its power to control people it also utilizes its role in today’s world by giving us juicy stories that often cause misunderstanding between groups and other cultures.

The media or news channels should give us all types of news to keep us open minded and it would better the relationship between others of different races ethnicities and even religion.

The tradition of knowing only one side of the story lives on. Many of us hear something an immediately believe it and sometimes make it more of a big deal than it really is. Similarly the media tells of a terrorist attack there are many people who automatically think of Muslims. They will just assume that it is a Muslim who did it right away without looking into the matter. Little did we know only 6% of the terrorist attacks were caused by Muslims. According to the article “FBI Says 94% of Terrorist Attacks in the US Since 1980 Are by Non-Muslims” 94% of the terrorist attacks after 1980 has been caused by non-Muslims, so why is it that terrorism is automatically associated with Islam. Ever since 9/11 in the U.S Muslims have been targeted all around the world if anything happens it’s a Muslim who is responsible.
In “wrong channel” By Roberto Fernandez the character Barbarita needs a translator to communicate with the doctors. Her translator makes a mistake and translates TB for T.V to her. That affects her in a negative way as it jeopardizes her chance for a green card. It makes sense because if she doesn’t know English how would she survive in the U.S. This misunderstanding may ruin her life just as the misunderstanding that Muslims are all terrorist may ruin their lives.

Muslims have been put into positions that make them targets of hate crimes. The community does not think for once how the people who are Muslim, but are innocent might feel about all of these accusations. No one thinks about that there are many accounts of Muslims in danger because of the media not clarifying the matter. Similarly Barbarita may suffer because of the mistake her translator made. The mere confusion between the letter B and V could endanger her chances of getting a green card. In a justified way the misunderstandings that people have about Muslims may endanger their lies and open them to many accounts of hate crimes. This is why the media should clarify the matters before giving anything out to the people.

Many people may think what does the media have to do with any of this? The media tells us one thing and makes us believe but never tell us not to blame all the people of that religion race or ethnicity. The stereotypes have been spread to an extent were people rely on that as the truth. It’s time to open our eyes and be less judgmental. There are stereotypes such as black people all being part of gangs however they have people who are ready to stand up for them and communities have been helping them lately however no one is ready to help the innocent Muslim American’s also suffering.

As a Muslim myself, by seeing all the racial comment faced towards me and other Muslims I realized it’s time to take a stand. The hate crimes have increased incredibly over the past 15 years. According to The New York Times in the article Hate Crimes Against American Muslims Most since Post-9/11 Era, “Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest levels since the aftermath of the Sept.11, 2001 attacks…” This is not a surprising fact considering that many people’s viewpoints have changed about Muslims over the past few years.
It is understandable that some people are not exposed to both sides of the story and have been taught to believe whatever comes their way. However it is also our duty as responsible community members to know all sides of the story because we all should remember it does take to hands to clap. I agree we have been habituated as part of society to believe anything people will tell us however that will only become more of a habit just like our habits of judging others without knowing the other truth.

Misunderstandings only lead to hate and as individuals and members of communities it is important to know each one of us has a role. That role is to support each other and to find out the truth no matter how much we wish to take the easy way out and just believe whatever comes our way. These news channels may tell us one thing and it is another thing for us to find out the same story from another news channel. This will not only help us become more open minded but it will also help create peace amongst others which should be one of our goals. The media may not tell us everything but as members of communities it becomes an obligation for us to look into it and support out fellow community members.