Yet there is more than anecdotal evidence to indicate a strong double standard when it comes to identifying terrorism. A 2019 University of Alabama study found that terrorist attacks committed by Muslims currently receive 357 percent more media coverage than those committed by white men. In another media study by Georgia State University, researchers analyzed terrorist attacks in the United States from the years 2011 to 2015 and found that there was a 449 percent increase in media coverage when the perpetrator was Muslim compared to when the perpetrator was a white non-Muslim. This same GSU study found that Muslims committed only 12 percent of attacks during the five-year period studied, but received over 40 percent of total news media coverage during that same time (an over-representation of over 340 percent).

XREF: Connects to broader research on implicit bias and how media framing shapes public perception of terrorism and threat. QUESTION: Worth chasing the original studies to verify methodology and control for attack severity/location, which could explain some coverage disparity. SEED: Could write an essay on how media coverage ratios distort perceived threat levels and influence public policy on security.

XREF: Connects to broader literature on media bias, racialized reporting, and framing of terrorism that the reader likely encounters in journalism or media studies contexts.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Gl…, loc. 217