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NBC reports arabs blame US for tsunami { January 7 2005 } Friday, January 7, 2005 ADC Action Alert NBC Nightly News Report on Arab Media Reaction to Tsunami Misleading BACKGROUND: The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) regards NBC's Nightly News with Brian Williams as a highly credible news program, and would like to take a moment to thank the producers for thorough coverage of current events. However, the January 4, news story by Kerry Sanders "US Blamed for Tsunami," fell far short of NBC's journalistic standards. The report contained a number of questionable comments, which are presented as reflective of the Arab World and the Arab people. The report implied that Arab World's reaction to the devastating Tsunami disaster was heartless and oriented around conspiracy theories. It also said that contributions from the region were limited due to fears that the money would fall into the hands of "Infidels." The overall representation of the Arab media, and by extension the Arab people, was that they are unfeeling and paranoid. As such, ADC was contacted by a number of concerned viewers regarding the inaccuracies and generalizations contained in the report. For example, "Al Osboa," the Egyptian newspaper quoted in NBC's report claimed that the tragedy was a result of Israeli, American, Indian nuclear weapons tests. This paper, known in English as "The Weekly" is hardly regarded as a credible news source in the Arab World; the US equivalent would be "The National Enquirer." Neither paper is a fair representation of the respective media of each country. To accurately gauge Arab response to the disaster, NBC should have referred to "Al-Hayat" or the leading Egyptian newspaper "Al-Ahram" which described the Tsunamis and what followed as a "catastrophe," a "difficult urgent humane circumstance," and a "tragedy." These newspapers, and others, which have much wider circulation than "Al Osboa" provide a more accurate view of the Arab World reaction to the Tsunami disaster. Additionally, the report quoted a Muslim professor who insisted that the natural disaster was a manifestation of the wrath of God. While this man may represent the views of a marginal faction of Arab society, he does not represent the mainstream. It should also be noted that these same comparison were used by Reverend Franklin Graham who said, on Fox News, "And so I think as a minister of the gospel I look at this, and I just say to myself that maybe this is the beginning of the end, as God has spoken about." House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) recently made the same analogy, using a passage from the Bible, at the Prayer Breakfast at the Convocation of the 109th Congress. In conclusion, NBC's "US Blamed for Tsunami Disaster," contained generalizations based on unreliable sources and questionable reporting about the news media in the Arab World. This type of reporting reinforces stereotypes and further alienates Arabs and Muslims. For good reason the US media has expressed concern over the negative effects of biased rhetoric in some elements of the Arab press. But we must also be keenly aware of the damaging and misleading reports against Arabs and Muslims expressed by US media.

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