Reinforced Stereotypes

The following sources that we have analyzed are sources that have portrayed this story in a way that fits with their stance that the 9/11 Memorial Museum film is accurate and any alteration is a misrepresentation of facts and history. These sources have a bias towards Muslim stereotypes that portray Islam as a violent religion. Whether or not it is their intention, these sources are reinforcing the stereotypes. First we looked at Fox News. Fox News is a conservative media source whose audience primarily consists of middle age to upper age conservatives. Each video below has been portrayed by Fox News to their audience to take the side of the museum.

In the Fox News film on the left Kelly is interviewing two experts on the controversy of the 9/11 film, "The Rise of Al Qaeda". The first person Kelly interviews is a priest and an interfaith senior director. During the interview, the biggest issue that is brought up is the use of the word "jihad" and defining the word "jihad". The interfaith director claims that the majority of muslims define jihad as "the struggle to do good." Kelly takes a much different stance by saying that the majority of muslims believe jihad to be a violent act that is defined by many people. Kelly then interviews a human rights attorney who is in agreement with Kelly and Fox News. They both take the stance of backing the museum by claiming the events of 9/11 will be properly portrayed by the film that will be showed at the museum. Taking out the video would be altering history in Kelly and the human rights attorney's eyes.

In the Fox News film on the right Kelly takes a neutral stance when interviewing the education director of the 9/11 Memorial Museum by proposing questions asked by several interfaith groups. This lets the museum explain their stance and views about why they stand by the film. In the second half of the film, the interview takes a different direction when Kelly interviews Jonathon Tobin, a senior editor for an online magazine. This interview goes from understanding the stance of the 9/11 Memorial Museum to Fox News expressing their opinion on the story. That opinion being that Islam was apart of the 9/11 attacks and that the film is accurately displaying the events of 9/11.

In the blog Legal Insurrection, Bryan Jacoutot a third year law student at Georgia State University, writes about the 9/11 Memorial Museum film controversy. His stance is clearly visible by the title of the article, "Will sensitivities trump historical facts in teaching about September 11 attacks?" He is saying that the opposition to the museum are being too sensitive to Islam being referenced in the film. At the same time he is stating that the museum's portrayal of the film is a historical fact. He also states later in the article that the events of 9/11 are a historical fact because the attackers cannot be separated from their faith. He states that not only is it impossible to separate Islam from the terrorists, but also it would be a disservice to the people who were killed during the attack.

In the news source Algemeiner, the article we looked at states that the interfaith groups are trying to censure the 9/11 Memorial Museum, which in turn is a violation of free speech. This article portrays the interfaith groups as being angry with the entirety of the film stating that the interfaith group "slammed" it in letters written to the director of the museum. The article then tries to discredit the interfaith groups by stating that the groups have defended terrorist groups in the past, like the Hamas and Hezbollah.

In the news source Jihad Watch, the article portrays muslims as enraged over the film created by the 9/11 Memorial Museum. As a result of this anger, the article claims that the museum has caved in its stance because it removed the phrase "islamic terrorism" from its website. The articles view is that these interfaith groups are trying to rewrite history and remove islam from the 9/11 attacks. The article tries to discredit some of the opposition to the museum by portraying them as sinister and moderate.