Authored by Staff Attorney Madihha Ahussain

[Photo Credit: Pew Research Center, Journalism.org]

After the Paris attacks, we saw a lot of sensationalist and biased coverage of American Muslims by the media.  One Fox News host and program after another falsely suggested that Muslim leaders and organizations have not taken a stand against the violence in Paris. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch tweeted, “Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible.” Reporters suggested that many Muslims supported the massacre, with a CNN anchor even asking a Muslim human rights lawyer if he supported ISIS.

We felt that something needed to be done about this – someone needed to call out the media and ask for more responsible reporting.

Muslim Advocates along with 19 other civil rights and faith groups, including the NAACP, Amnesty International USA, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice jointly signed an open letter to the media asking reporters to seriously consider the role they play in creating stereotypes, keep their coverage factual, and avoid divisive rhetoric.

Click here to read the letter in its entirety.