A recent article by The Washington Post claims that of all terror attacks, 89 in total, from 2011 through 2015, Muslims were only responsible for 12.4 percent. Despite this, terror attacks by Muslims are said to receive a disproportionate amount of media coverage, by the outlets examined by the Post. John Iadarola, with The Young Turks, summed up the findings of the research as "the media's coverage of terror attacks is consistently slanted." However, the slant is said lean in the direction opposite of the one perceived by President Donald Trump, with Islamic perpetrators receiving more coverage, not less, as the president appears to believe.
Mr. Iadarola stated that the fact that Muslims are behind only 12.4 percent of terror attacks "should be the story by itself." He cited a belief that most Americans, and "certainly no Republican voter," would believe the number of terror attacks committed by Muslims to so low. Cenk Uygur, TYT host and founder, asked how Americans might respond if asked what the percentage was, and imagined that it would be an "astoundingly high number."
Non-Muslims responsible for 88 percent of terror attacks
Of all the attacks that occurred in the United States from 2011 to 2015, 24 were said to have not received any coverage, at all. Attacks perpetrated by non-Muslims and those of unknown religious affiliations only received 56 percent of media coverage, though they accounted for 87.6 percent of terrorist attacks, while Muslims, who commit only 12.4 percent of attacks, received 44 percent of coverage.
Further, Muslims born in other countries received additional scrutiny, attracting 32 percent of media attention, when they account for only about one-third of the U.S. Muslim population, showing that, as a group, they appear to receive more focus by the media when they, on the rare occasion, do perpetrate terrorist attacks.
For those wondering who non-Muslim terrorists are, Cenk Ugyur listed former Klansman Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., who "attacked a synagogue;" Robert Dear, who attacked a Colorado Planned Parenthood; and Wade Michael Page, who attacked a Sikh temple. Mr. Uygur defined a terrorist attack as being committed by a "non-state actor for a political, religious, or other cause." He noted some who might hold the view that a white man attacking Planned Parenthood doesn't qualify as a terrorist attack.
"It is the definition of a terrorist attack," the TYT founder stated.
Cenk Uygur: United States expends resources on 'five percent of the problem'
Cenk Uygur cited polling of evangelical Christians that showed a bias about whether or not Christians and Muslims who commit terrorist acts really represent their respective faiths. The study found that evangelicals consistently held that those committing violence in the name of Christianity held flawed beliefs, while believing that Muslims who committed violent acts truly did so in the name of Islam. It was noted that school shootings are classified differently than terrorist attacks, and were therefore not considered in the study examined by The Washington Post.
The TYT founder described the United States as focusing all of its energy on "five percent of the problem," which leaves the problem of the other 95 percent who commit terrorist attacks, and who would be seem to be permitted to fly under the radar. John Iadarola cited statistics showing that Muslim terror perpetrators generate almost 100 news articles per attack, while foreign-born Muslim perpetrators attract close to 200 articles. By contrast, only "nine or 10" articles are written when non-Muslims commit terror attacks, even though the group, on its own, is responsible for 88 percent of them.
