Soundbites and Suicide Bombs

There exists today a rift between the Americans and the world’s Muslims. Yet, there was in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 widespread sympathy for the US throughout the Muslim world. This book explores what happened next. It examines the divide that leads Americans and Muslims to view the same words and images in fundamentally different ways. Partly a result of the historic ‘us’ against ‘them’ dichotomy, the problem is exacerbated by an increasingly polarised media as well as by leaders on both sides who either do not understand or care what impact their words and policies have in the world at large. Journalist-scholar Lawrence Pintak, a former CBS News Middle East correspondent, headed the Kamal Adham Centre for Journalism Training and Research at the American University in Cairo, argues that the Arab media revolution and the rise of ‘patriot-journalists’ in the US have marginalised voices of moderation, distorting perceptions on both sides of the divide with potentially harmful results. Built on the author’s extensive experience, the book will appeal to students of media studies, Middle East studies and Islamic studies, as well as current affairs readers.