STUDY: Media Ignores Most Terrorist Attacks

EARLIER THIS YEAR, DONALD TRUMP COMPLAINED THAT THE MEDIA WASN'T
COVERING THE PARTICULAR SORT OF TERROR ATTACKS HE FELT THEY
SHOULD, AND WE HAVE A NEW STUDY THAT SHOWS THAT THE MEDIA'S
COVERAGE OF TERROR ATTACKS IS CONSISTENTLY SLANTED IN A
PARTICULAR DIRECTION, IT JUST HAPPENS TO BE IN THE EXACT
OPPOSITE DIRECTION THAT DONALD TRUMP WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE.
3 ACADEMICS LOOK AT ALMOST 100
TERROR ATTACKS, CULLED FROM THE GLOBAL TERRORISM DATABASE.
THIS IS A WIDELY ACCEPTED DEFINITION OF TERROR ATTACKS.
A LOT OF THE ATTACKS ARE ONES YOU WILL PROBABLY REMEMBER
FROM BEING COVERED IN THE MEDIA.
IN TOTAL, THERE WERE 89
ATTACKS COMMITTED BY DIFFERENT PERPETRATORS IN THE UNITED
STATES DURING THE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD BETWEEN 2011 AND 2015.
OF THOSE ATTACKS, MUSLIMS PERPETRATED 12.4% OF THEM, WHICH
SHOULD BE THE STORY BY ITSELF, BECAUSE WHAT AMERICAN
THINKS, THAT OF THE ATTACKS THAT HAVE BEEN COMMITTED OVER
HALF A DECADE, MUSLIMS COMMITTED 12.4% OF THEM?
NOBODY THINKS THAT, CERTAINLY NO REPUBLICAN VOTER THINKS THAT.
I WISH THEY HAD DONE A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE TERRORIST ACTS ARE DONE BY MUSLIMS IN
AMERICA?
IT WOULD BE A STAGGERINGLY HIGH NUMBER, AND PEOPLE WOULD
SAY ONLINE, YOU GUYS IGNORE THE REAL PROBLEMS, THE REAL
PROBLEM IS ISLAM OBVIOUSLY.
THE REAL 12.4% OF THE PROBLEM.
OF THOSE 89 ATTACKS, 24 DID NOT RECEIVE ANY MEDIA COVERAGE
FROM THE SOURCES THEY EXAMINED.
ADMITTEDLY, THAT IS NOT EVERY SOURCE, BUT THEY ARE
PROBABLY THE MOST REPRESENTED SOURCES, INCLUDING
LEXIS-NEXIS, CNN AND ALL OF THAT.
LET'S BREAK DOWN THE MEDIA COVERAGE BASED ON THE
RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION OF THE PERPETRATOR.
YOU ARE GOING TO SEE ON THIS FIRST CHART, IF IT WAS A
MUSLIM PERPETRATOR,
44% OF THE MEDIA COVERAGE WENT TO THOSE SORTS OF ATTACKS.
YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED AS MUSLIM, BUT ALSO IDENTIFIED AS
FOREIGN-BORN.
THAT IS OF COURSE A SUBSET OF MUSLIM PERPETRATOR, BUT ALSO A
FAR SMALLER PERCENTAGE OF THE ATTACKS.
IF MUSLIM IS ABOUT 12%, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT LESS THAN A THIRD
OF THAT WHICH ARE MUSLIMS THAT ARE FOREIGN-BORN.
YET THEY GET A FULL THIRD OF ALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF TERROR ATTACKS
IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 2011 TO 2015.
AND THEN YOU HAVE NON-MUSLIM OR UNKNOWN.
I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT COULD BE IN THE U.S.,
MAYBE WHITE SUPREMACISTS.
56%
OF THE COVERAGE SOUNDS LIKE A LOT, BUT UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE
LOOKING AT A GROUP THAT COMMITS 88% OF ALL TERROR ATTACKS.
THEY GIVE YOU MORE CONTEXT HERE, IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHO
ARE THESE NON-MUSLIM TERRORISTS?
YOU KNOW THEM, YOU JUST DID NOT HAVE THE PRESS CALL THEM
TERRORISTS ALL THAT OFTEN.
FORMER GRAND WIZARD OF THE KKK ATTACKED A SYNAGOGUE.
THERE WAS AN ATTACK ON PLANNED PARENTHOOD.
AN ATTACK ON SIKH TEMPLE IN WISCONSIN.
THE LIST GOES ON AND ON.
A TERRORIST ATTACK IS ONE THAT IS DONE FOR ñ BY A NONSTATE
ACTOR ñ FOR POLITICAL, RELIGIOUS, OR OTHER CAUSE.
SO IF YOU SAY, COME ON, PLANNED PARENTHOOD, IS THAT A
TERRORIST THING?
IT IS THE DEFINITION OF A TERRORIST ATTACK, HE DID IT
FOR A POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS PURPOSE.
WE DID A STORY LAST WEEK ABOUT HOW, IF YOU ASK EVEN
HELICAL WHITES CHRISTIANS, WHEN A CHRISTIAN DOES A
TERRORIST ATTACK AND SAYS HE IS DOING IT BECAUSE OF
CHRISTIANITY, DO YOU BELIEVE HIM?
ABOUT 87% ARE LIKE, KNOW THAT DOES NOT COUNT.
WHEN YOU ASK THEM, ñ WHEN A MUSLIM DOES A TERRORIST
ATTACK AND SAYS IT'S BECAUSE OF ISLAM, DO YOU BELIEVE IT,
THEY ARE LIKE, IT'S DEFINITELY BECAUSE OF ISLAM.
WHEN I WAS COVERING THE PRIMARY LAST YEAR, I WOULD QUESTION
TRUMP AND CRUZ SUPPORTERS, WHAT ABOUT THE SCHOOL SHOOTERS,
PLANNED PARENTHOOD, MOVIE THEATER SHOOTERS?
I WOULD GET A BLANK STARE.
THAT'S NOT TERRORISM.
I SAID, NO IT'S A WALK AT THE BEACH.
I REMEMBER, I WAS IN MICHIGAN COVERING THE PRIMARY OR
SOMETHING, AND THAT UBER DRIVER WENT ON A SHOOTING SPREE,
HE KILLED SIX PEOPLE IN KALAMAZOO.
CAN YOU IMAGINE IF THAT WAS A MUSLIM UBER DRIVER?
IT WOULD BE A WEEK.
SO THE FOXIFICATION OF SPREADING FEAR TO YOUR VIEWERS IS
SPREADING.
I'M NOT SAYING THEY SHOULD NOT COVER THIS STUFF, BUT HOW MUCH
THEY COVER VERSUS THE UBER DRIVER AND ARRANGE PERSON IN THE
SCHOOL, IS NOT INCOMPARABLE, AND THAT'S HOW YOU HAVE PEOPLE AT
RALLIES THAT I'M INTERVIEWING VERY FEARFUL OF MUSLIMS, BUT THE
SCHOOL SHOOTERS, WHAT CAN YOU DO.
I WANT TO BE CLEAR ON THIS, IT IS TWO DIFFERENT TOPICS.
THE SCHOOL SHOOTERS ARE NOT IN THIS STUDY BECAUSE THEY ARE
NOT CONSIDERED TERRORISM, BUT I AGREE WITH JORDAN ABOUT,
WHAT AM I WORRIED ABOUT?
I'M WORRIED THAT MY KIDS ARE GOING TO GET SHOT AT
SCHOOL, WE ARE GOING TO GET SHOT AT A MOVIE THEATER, BECAUSE
IT IS FAR MORE PREVALENT.
SO EVEN IF YOU DON'T COUNTY NON-MUSLIM SHOOTERS WHO SAY THEY
ARE DOING IT FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS, THE OTHER STUFF IS
BIGGER.
THE RANDOM SHOOTERS ARE MUCH BIGGER.
SO IF WE CARE ABOUT KEEPING OUR FAMILY SAFE, WE WOULD FOCUS
ON THAT PROBLEM MUCH MORE.
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE OF MUSLIM AND NON-MUSLIM, WHAT
ARE WE FOCUSED ON?
THE MUSLIM BAND, THE TRAVEL BAN THAT DONALD TRUMP TALKS ABOUT.
HE'S LIKE, THE FOREIGN-BORN MUSLIMS ARE COMING HERE AND
CREATING THE TERRORISM.
TO GIVE YOU THE EXACT NUMBER OF ALL THESE TERRORIST ATTACKS
IN THE FIVE-YEAR PERIOD THEY STUDIED,
5% WERE FROM FOREIGN-BORN MUSLIMS.
AS JOHN POINTED OUT, THAT GOT 32% OF THE NEWS COVERAGE.
IDENTICALLY DISPROPORTIONATE, OH MY GOD THE FOREIGN-BORN MUSLIMS!
BUT IN REALITY, THEY ARE ONLY 5% OF THE TERRORIST ATTACKS INSIDE
THE U.S.
SO WE IGNORED 95%
OF THE PROBLEM AND FOCUS ALL OF OUR ENERGY ON 5% OF THE PROBLEM.
AND WE REPORTED ON THE DHS MEMO THAT SAID THAT THE MUSLIM BAND
WAS UNLIKELY TO DETER ANY TERRORIST ATTACKS THAT WERE
GOING TO HAPPEN.
AND IN TERMS OF PEOPLE'S FEAR, AND WHAT THEY FOCUS ON, AND I'VE
LONG CRITICIZED PEOPLE'S INSANE LEVEL OF FEAR OF CERTAIN TYPES
OF THINGS, AND NOT CARING AT ALL ABOUT OTHER THINGS THAT ARE
FORMAL LIKELY TO KILL YOU, LIKE POOR DIET AND AIR POLLUTION
AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
BUT LOOK AT CHARLESTON, THE MOST CLEAR TERRORIST ATTACK IN
POSSIBLY OUR LIFETIME, IS A GUY WHO SAID HE WAS MOTIVATED
BY HIS RELIGION AND HIS BOOTABLE IDEOLOGY TO START A RACE
WAR; PEOPLE WERE HESITANT TO LABEL HIM A TERRORIST.
AND THEN YOU HAVE A PRESIDENT WHO TWEETS ABOUT AN ATTEMPTED
STABBING AT THE LOUVRE, WHERE THE ONLY PERSON GETS HURT
IS THE ATTEMPTED TERRORIST, BUT THEN WE HAVE TO TWIST HIS
ARM TO GET HIM TO A COLLEGE THAT A MOSQUE WAS SHOT UP.
IT'S A TWISTED WORLD WE LIVE IN.
GO TO THIS NEXT CHART AND YOU WILL SEE THE BREAKDOWN OF
THE ACTUAL PERCENTAGE OF PERPETRATORS THERE.
AGAIN, THAT 88%
RECEIVING DISPROPORTIONATELY LOW COVERAGE BY THE MEDIA.
BUT ALSO, WE ARE NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT
THESE THINGS ARE MENTIONED, WE ARE TALKING IS ñ WE ARE
TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH THEY ARE FOCUSED ON BY THE MEDIA.
YOU WILL SEE THE NUMBER OF ARTICLES PER ATTACK THAT
ARE WRITTEN.
IF YOU ARE A MUSLIM PERPETRATOR, AND YOU COMMIT AN ATTACK,
THEY WILL WRITE 100 ARTICLES ABOUT YOU.
IF YOU ARE THE RARE FOREIGN-BORN MUSLIM, THEY WILL ñ.
BUT IF YOU ARE A WHITE TERRORIST, WORK NOT SURE,
THEY MIGHT MENTION YOU, BUT THEY ONLY GOT TO WRITE 10
ARTICLES ON IT AND THEN MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE.
THERE'S ALSO THE MEDIA LACKING SELF-AWARENESS, SHOCKER.
THE MEDIA CRITICIZES TRUMP FOR, WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS GOING
TO HELP ISIS RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS.
BUT HOW DO PEOPLE, IN PAKISTAN AND PLACES LIKE THAT, WHEN
THEY TALK ABOUT THE AMERICAN MEDIA, HYPERBOLIC, VERY
LITTLE NUANCE AND CONTEXT INTO THE REPORTING.
THEY PUT NEOCONS AND THE USUAL SUSPECTS ONTO BASICALLY
FEARMONGER ABOUT THE MUSLIMS, SO THAT DOESN'T EXACTLY HELP
OUR MESSAGE ACROSS THE GLOBE EITHER.
YEAH, AND SO TO GIVE YOU ONE MORE NUMBER, AND THIS IS FROM
THE CATO INSTITUTE, IS A DIFFERENT STUDY.
THE CATO INSTITUTE IS A CONSERVATIVE LIBERTARIAN
INSTITUTE.
THEY SAY YOUR CHANCE OF BEING KILLED BY A FOREIGN-BORN
TERRORIST IN AMERICA IS ONE IN 3.6 BILLION.
SO EVERYBODY IS FREAKED OUT OVER THIS INCREDIBLY LOW
PERCENTAGE CHANCE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE GOT A BETTER CHANCE
OF WINNING THE LOTTERY BUT IT'S PROBABLY RIGHT IN THAT BALLPARK,
WHEN IN FACT, TO JORDAN'S EARLIER POINT, WHAT'S ACTUALLY
KILLING US IS GUN HOMICIDES; WHETHER IT'S IN MASS SHOOTINGS,
TERRORIST SHOOTINGS, OR JUST HER HUSBAND SHOOTING, WIFE SHOOTING,
NEIGHBOR SHOOTING, WHICH IS HAPPENING AT AN ENORMOUS
RATE, A RECORD-BREAKING RATE, WAY PAST ANY OTHER COUNTRY.

STUDY: Media Ignores Most Terrorist Attacks

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