Selective Perception- How people see the world based on individual differences. People have different views on regarding the Park 51 mosque. The differing views can be based on upbringing, race and gender, or life experiences. Some people were more closely affected by 9-11 than others due to deaths of friends and relatives. This group have people may have constructed a different reality about Muslim people in general. People were exposed to the tragedy in different degrees. Therefore, the feelings and emotions that they retain, affect their perception on whether or not building a Mosque near Ground Zero is a good idea.
Gate keeping- Gatekeepers are elements that make constant decisions about what information is or isn’t important enough to pass along. Gatekeepers play a large role in determining what information will be conveyed through the media. In the case of the Park 51 Mosque, it became apparent through our research that some information regarding the mosque was left out of news stories after construction was announced. Gate keeping was involved when reporters decided only to report that a Mosque was to be built on Ground Zero and leave out that, in reality, plans were for a multicultural center.
Agenda-Setting- Mass media serve to create an agenda for social disclosure. Studies have shown that media can’t tell us what to think, but they do help tell us what to think about. Every side of an argument has their own agenda that they are trying to argue. With respect to the Muslim community, the agenda they would like to set using public relations would convey the proposed Park 51 mosque in a positive light. They set the agenda that the building will be a great benefit to the people in that area. People opposed to the building would set their agenda against it. Arguments have been made that building a Muslim building so close to Ground Zero would be disrespectful. If gate keeping took place equally on both sides, media would be objective. Unfortunately, complete objectivity is not attainable.
Framing- A media “frame” is the central organizing idea for a news story that supplies a context and emphasizes certain aspects of a story while minimizing or ignoring others. The “frame” of a story is what is left after it passes through the public agenda and the news “gate.” As a group, we believe that there is nothing wrong with building a religious center near Ground Zero. We hope people do look past the “frame” of some of the news stories out there and research for themselves what the building will become and how it will benefit the community. In many cases, the Park 51 Mosque is framed to be a monument to the destruction of 9-11. The truth is, many Muslims living in New York we just as affected by the destruction and people from other faiths.
Cultivation- The images and impressions and topics that appear in the mass media serve to “cultivate” in all of us certain impressions of the world. These messages and the way they are framed may serve to change our own individual perceptual frame of the world around us. It is hard to say behaviors and attitudes have been cultivated due to the controversy over the Park 51 Mosque. However, suppose that over a long period of time, Muslims were portrayed to be anti-American and that attempts to build near Ground Zero were an insult. Eventually it would influence the behavior of at least a few people that might seek oppression, regulation, or possibly violence. Media organizations have a big responsibility to report the truth, or the consequences could be catastrophic.
Third Person Effect- Third Person Effect theory examines our beliefs about how media effects us and others. Rather than taking the approach that media affect our perceptions, it considers how our perceptions shape our ideas about media effects. We feel like most people tend to fall into this category. They sit at home and wonder what other people will do to promote or oppose the Mosque.
Relevant Ideologies & Concepts
Christianity: Religion based on the Bible and teachings of Jesus Christ. (FYI: Approximately 33% of the world’s population practices Christianity). Christianity and conservatism seem to go hand in hand. Conservatives are the people that most oppose the Mosque.
Ethnocentrism: “Our people are better than your people.” In other words,
belief that one’s own culture, nation, or ethnicity is superior to all others. Some people don’t want a Mosque to be built just because they don’t like Muslims.
White Privilege: The “everyday, invisible, subtle cultural and social practices, ideas and codes that discursively secure the power and privilege of white people” the “discursive processes through which whiteness secures its normalized cultural dominance.” (Gorham, 1999; Shome, 1996) Most people that will be deciding on policy regarding the Park 51 Mosque will be white.
