University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Arabs and the Free Press after September 11th

Yuri Dudinski
Jan-Martin Wiarda
JOMC 201
Professor Meyer

2001

1
1. Introduction

After the terror attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, once again

assaults and harassment occurred against Arab-Americans, Muslims and other people

who looked Middle Eastern -- including non-Muslim Sikhs wearing turbans.

With blame for September 11 events falling increasingly on Islamic extremist

Osama bin Laden and his accomplices in the Muslim world, and the U.S. military going

to war against the terrorist network, anti-Arab tensions kept rising. Dozens of individual

attacks were reported across the United States -- cab drivers were pulled from their

vehicles and beaten up, office workers threatened, women in Muslim garb verbally

harassed. All across the country, mosques, Arab and Muslim organizations received

bomb threats; many required police protection. The American Civil Liberties Union,

concerned about racial profiling, has set up a phone line for Arab-Americans to report

any violations of the civil liberties.

As the attacks escalated, government officials tried to curb anti-Arab American

passions. President Bush urged Americans not to resort to violence and threats because

such kind of behavior is in direct opposition to the very principles and laws of the United

States and will not be tolerated.

Knowing that many journalists in the United States and abroad might find it

difficult to adequately describe Arab Americans in their stories, Knight Ridder, and the

Detroit Free Press, a newspaper published in the city with the United States' most

concentrated Arab-American population, published "100 Questions and Answers About

Arab Americans," a guide to greater understanding of this thread of the national structure.

Although this guide has been published before the attacks took place (2000), it is still

2
considered by many as the most broad and extensive reference on accurate journalistic

portrayal of this ethnic group.1

According to this guide, there are more distinctions between various Arab

American groups, an average American could imagine. There was a high risk of the US

journalists being misguided by their personal emotions after the tragic September events.

As a result, Arab Americans could be further abused by word of the press, which could

afterwards put a dark stain on the policy of tolerance to other culture, religion, race and

ethnicity, which the United States is so proud of.

Because the history lessons show that the press always acted unfairly towards

Arab Americans at the time of social crises, we have the right to assume a hypothesis that

after September 11th the press portrayed this ethnic group in an inadequate and aggressive

way. According to our hypothesis, it extensively covered the terrorist acts, portraying

Arab Americans in a negative light, restricted information about assaults and backlash

against the group, and made mistakes in adequately describing Arab Americans as

people.

In order to prove or refute this hypothesis, we are going to establish the guidelines

for portrayal of Arab Americans in the U.S. press and, on the basis of these guidelines,

analyze portrayal of the ethnic group in a sample of chosen newspapers. After collecting

the data, we are going to build a careful analysis and interpretation of the obtained data.

The results of our analysis should prove or refute our initial hypothesis of unfair portrayal

of Arab Americans in the U.S. press stated in Chapter I below.

1
Detroit Free Press (2001): 100 Questions and Answers about Arab Americans: A Journalist’s Guide. On
the internet: http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/

3
 Freedom of the press for the coming period can only

continue as an accountable freedom. Its moral right will be

conditioned on its acceptance of this accountability. Its legal right

will stand unaltered as its moral duty is performed.

The Hutchins Commission "Free and Responsible Press", 1947

2. Theoretical Prerequisites

2.1. What Press Is and What It Should Be

2.1.1. The Hutchins Commission

Because only several months have passed since the events took place, this topic has not

been studied previously. However, the theoretical opinions of how press should cover

these events existed long before September 11th.

In 1947, Commission on Freedom of the Press issued its report, entitled "A Free

and Responsible Press", often nicknamed a "Hutchins Commission" after its chairman,

University of Chicago President, Robert Hutchins. The report concluded that freedom of

the press was in danger unless steps were taken to ensure accountability. The

Commission's report was highly critical of the way in which the press exercised its

freedom and urged, among other things, that government create media to act as models

for the private press and that public rights prevail over private rights in construing

freedom of the press.2

4
2.1.2.Social Responsibility Theory

The Commission report later created grounds for Fred Siebert's social responsibility

theory, which was outlined in his book "Four Theories of the Press". According to this

theory, the commercialization of the American media led to the fact control over it fell

into the hands of the powerful owners, who had the power to determine "which persons,

which facts, which versions of these facts, shall reach the public."3 In order to maintain

the values of democracy and the freedom of speech, the power of the media impose on

them an obligation to be socially responsible, to see that all sides are fairly presented and

the public has enough information to decide.4

Siebert writes that the goal of the social responsibility system is that media as a

whole is pluralized, indicating "a reflection of the diversity of society as well as access to

various points of view" with the government actively promoting it. As opposed to the

libertarian theory, the social responsibility principle is to provide an entrance to different

mass media to minority groups. The journalist is accountable to his audience as well as to

the government. The theory has been later acclaimed as one of the pillars of the Freedom

of Press in the United States and over the world.

2.1.3. Relevance to This Research

According to our hypothesis, the press was not socially responsible in covering issues

dealing with Arab Americans after the attacks of September 11th.

In order to explain our doubts in the ability of the press to comply with the theory,

we will briefly describe the relationship of media and Arab Americans in the past.

2
Bates, Stephen (1995): Realigning Journalism with Democracy: the Hutchins Commission, Its Times and
Ours. Washington, D.C.: Annenberg Washington Program, Communication Policy Studies, Northwestern
University

5
2.2. Arab Americans and the U.S. Press: History of Conflict

2.2.1. Origins of Hatred

The conflict between Arab Americans and the rest of the U.S. society emerged in early

seventies, when on Sept. 5, 1972 five Arab terrorists from a Palestinian fundamentalist

organization "Black September" massacred 11 Israeli athletes during the Munich

Olympics after refusal of the Government of Israel to release 200 Palestinian hostages

held after Arab-Israeli war. After the incident, the traditionally warm attitude to the

American citizens of Arab origin changed, as many people tended to associate them with

the terrorists.

Arab Americans continued to live in an increasing state of fear as the Reagan

administration waged its war on international terrorism in the 80s. The fear reached its

peak after the hijacking on June 14, 1985 of TWA Flight 847 to Beirut by two Lebanese

Shiite gunmen with 104 American and 49 other passengers on board the plane.

The situation worsened when President George Bush initiated Operation Desert

Shield against Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. At that time, a wave of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab

racism swept over the United States and Canada. An Arab-American Anti-Discrimination

Committee (ADC) reported that more than 119 attacks were committed against America's

Muslims and Arabs since Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Reporter Zuhair

Kashmeri in his book, The Gulf Within, reports that when the U.S. government went to

war against Iraq, many Americans of Arab or Muslim background found that they were

being identified with the enemy. On the street, in work places and in schools, they

3
Siebert, Fred S. et al.(1956): Four Theories of the Press. University of Illinois, Urbana, p. 5
4
Siebert, Fred S. et al.(1956): Four Theories of the Press. University of Illinois, Urbana, p. 74

6
suffered from intolerance, racial harassment, and violence.5 Assaults increased following

first bombing of the World Trade Center on February 23, 1993. A handful of Arab

nationals and Muslims were perpetrators of this act that killed seven and injured many

more.

2.2.2. Media Coverage

The press reacted very promptly, but not intelligently to this terrorist act -- some reports

on the bombing linked all Muslims with domestic terrorism in the minds of many

Americans. Immediately after the explosion, instead of focusing on criminal proceedings

against individual suspects, some journalists reported that Islam was responsible. Writing

in the New York Times, Leslie Gelb declared, "Islam doesn't recognize coexistence as a

basic doctrine. Coexistence goes against Islam's sense of world order."6 In numerous

reports, the suspects were identified by their national and religious affiliation. For

example, the headline of the March 5, 1993, Washington Post reads: "Militant Islam

Battles Against Western Values: Violence on Fringe of Fundamentalist Renewal." A May

7, 1993, Washington Times story by Martin Sieff warns citizens to be on the lookout for

"Islamic terrorists." "Radical Islam, West, Face Off Again in NYC," was the title of a

USA Today story on January 9, 1994. The story concerned the selection of jury members

for the World Trade Center bombing. Reporter Steven Emerson is quoted in the story as

saying, "This is going to be one of the most important trials . . . in the whole war between

radical Islam and the West." 7

One more case of unfair depiction of Arab Americans is the bombing of Alfred P.

Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 resulting in the deaths of

5
Kashmeri, Zuhair (1991): The Gulf Within: Canadian Arabs, Racism and the Gulf War. Toronto: James
Lorimer & Company, p. 36
6
Shaheen, Jack G. (1997): Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture. On the internet:
http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/shj01/

7
169 men, women and children and the injury of 500 more. Though no Arab or Muslim

was involved, they were instantly suspect. Only hours after the terrorists destroyed the

Murrah building, journalists, law enforcement and government officials, and terrorism

experts reported that "Arabic-looking men in jogging suits [were] running from the

scene." Without documentation or credible witnesses, journalists accepted the assumption

that the suspects were "Middle-Eastern-looking men." Some reporters began questioning

the loyalty and integrity of Arabs and Muslims in America.

An April 20, 1995, USA Today headline stated: "Bomb Consistent With Mid-east

Terror Tactics." On April 20, the New York Times speculated that Arab-Muslim terrorists

struck Oklahoma City because "some Middle Eastern groups have held meetings there,

and the city is home to at least three mosques."

The April 20 front page of the Cedar Rapids Gazette displayed a photograph of an

emergency worker passing an injured child to a fire fighter. Alongside the photo is the

headline: "Experts say car bombing points to Islamic militants." The story, compiled

from Gannett wire services, begins with this sentence: "The massive car bomb that

devastated a federal building in Oklahoma City points the finger of suspicion at Islamic

fundamentalist groups set on waging a war of terror within the United States."

The April 20 Des Moines Register headline, "Explosion Terrorizes Oklahoma,"

follows the Gazette report in stating that there was a "Middle East connection," that

"several facts suggested such a link, such as the bomb as well as information that there

are several militant groups based in Oklahoma."8 Talk-show host Tom Snyder cautioned

viewers about the large number of "Islamic students in Oklahoma."

77
USA Today (1994): “Radical Islam, West, Face of again. Issue of January 9, 1994, p. 4. Quoted after
8
Des Moines Register, April 20, 1995, p. 2A

8
 This all meant that the media was, and still is, a very powerful tool for creating

untrue labels for ethnic groups and minorities. "Stereotyping is dangerous," writes Nancy

Nielsen, Vice President of Corporate Communications at the New York Times Company,

"because it can lead the public to create social scapegoats and focus on the wrong issues

and wrong priorities." Nielsen adds that "the global news media . . . affect how people

understand different ethnic and religious groups." They "can profoundly affect the way

people understand--or misunderstand--their world, their safety, their options, and their

future.” 9

Even when no terrorist act is involved, the press still tended to maintain unfair

bias towards Americans of Arab and Muslim origin. Michael Suleiman in his book

"Arabs in America,” says that "although many Arabs in America have achieved the

highest level of attainment in almost all professions, the American media primarily

highlight the negative achievements of Arabs or Muslims.

Quite often the media announce the Arab or Islamic origin of anyone accused of a

terrorist act – even before they know whether perpetrator is Arab or Muslim. In the case

of the positive role models, such as Michael DeBakey or Ralph Nader, the media often

never mention their Arab background."10

According to our hypothesis, this tendency still occurs today. Therefore we want

to find answers for the following questions: Have the U.S. print journalists responded to

the need for truthful and unbiased information? Have they paid enough attention to

Americans of Arab descent in their stories? Have they managed to separate the terrorists

from the rest of Arab population in the United States? Was their insight adequate and

intelligent? How did the events of September 11th influence the depiction of Arab

9
Nielsen, Nancy (1996): Religion and the Global Media: Improving a Strained Relationship. City,
publisher, p.68
10
Suleiman, Michael W. (1999): Arabs in America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, p.64

9
Americans in the U.S. press? According to our hypothesis, we will find a lack of fairness

and journalism quality.

2.3. Practical Significance

This research has been done to the best of our knowledge using contemporary methods of

analysis and computer software. It has also been tested for statistical reliability and

significance.

The results of our research could help the managers of newspapers to better

analyze their future strategy in portraying an ethnic group within a conflict. The

conclusions made out of this scrupulous analysis could help journalists better understand

their flaws and mistakes in covering the events of September 11th; they could help them

achieve their goals in the in-depth coverage; they can help establish understanding

between the Arab Americans and the rest of American population through the US mass

media and, finally, promote freedom and competence in such issues as portrayal of ethnic

groups in the newspapers across the United States.

10
3. Methodology

3.1. Choice of the Sample

To confirm the described hypothesis, we decided to analyze a sample of six newspapers

of different location and circulation and their coverage of Arab American issues before

and after the September 11 attacks. Because of the relatively small number of issues that

we would be able to search and because of the impossibility to get access to all existing

newspapers nationwide, we decided to choose a convenient sample according to our own,

subjective reasoning and to the availability in the School of Journalism and Mass

Communication.

The newspapers we chose, differing in location and circulation, were:

- Akron (OH) Beacon Journal

- Detroit (MI) Free Press

- Gary (IN) Post-Tribune

- Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram

- Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer

- Tallahassee (FL) Democrat

We decided to analyze ten issues of each newspaper, five of them before the

terrorist attacks of September 11 and five of them after September 11. We chose the

issues of September 6 until September 10 and September 12 until September 16. We left

out the issue of September 11 in order to make sure that we are able to make a clear

distinction between before and after the attacks. This is important because some

newspapers published an extra edition on September 11 covering the attacks while others

did not.

11
 At a further point in our research we had to drop the Long Beach (CA) Press

Telegram because we could not get access to the issues of September 13 trough

September 16 of this newspaper. So instead of 60 newspapers issues, as previously

planned, only 50 became part of our sample.

3.2. Identifying Articles

The first and most important problem we had to find a solution for was how to identify

articles that are dealing with Arab American issues. We reasoned that we had to develop

a clear and satisfactory definition of the term “Arab American”.

So we decided that all those articles should become objects of our observation in

which either the terms “Arab Americans” or “Arabs in America” are used, the description

“of Middle Eastern descent” is given, or in which American citizens or residents are

mentioned whose country of origin is one of the following11: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti,

Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine,

Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates or Yemen.

Finally, we decided to include those articles in which persons with Arab names

are mentioned in a clearly American context. Those names were checked by two native

speakers and became part of the sample when they were identified as clearly or

potentially Arab names.

3.3. The Problem of Including Articles With Names

We are aware that there a qualitative problem might appear if we include articles with

names in our analysis because even if the name is Arab, it is not absolutely sure that the

11
This list is an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press (2001): 100 Questions and Answers about Arab
Americans: A Journalist’s Guide. On the internet: http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/

12
bearer is in fact of Arab origin. So we ran a couple of tests after collecting our data and

compared the results of both groups of articles.

In order to measure the reliability of our results for articles where Arab

Americans only were identified by there names, we ran cross tabs for both this group and

the majority of articles where the reference to Arab Americans is out of question. We

tested all relevant variables except ARTNO, NEWSP and the continuous variable

WORDNO. For DATE we used the variable DATENEW with only one distinction

between before and after the attacks.

Out of 127/128 articles in our sample, 23 were articles only with names and

104/105 with direct references to Arab Americans. Seven variables (including

WORDNO) did not show a significant difference between both groups of articles.

However, seven did. Those variables were: KIND, DESCR, CONMUS, SECTION,

LINENO, DATENEW, GROUP.12

What is causing these differences between both groups – did we really choose

articles with Arab names of non-Arab bearers, or does the usage of names itself

determinate different results?

For example, the variable KIND shows that non-name articles are more often

features and less often editorials. This is obviously due to the fact that features are

focused on individuals while editorials try to promote opinions on general topics. The

same is true for the length of the articles, expressed by LINENO: Features tend to be

longer than editorials, so stories about individuals are longer than stories about general

groups in society.

That the general description of Arab Americans is better than the description of

individuals only identified by their names is not really unexpected either. Especially after

13
the September 11 attacks newspapers tried to stress the positive role of Arab Americans

in general while they reported on the terrorist attacks committed by individuals (see

DESCR). Vice versa, before the attacks there were relatively much more articles on

individuals because the only reason for Arab Americans to be in newspapers were

personal achievement or failure (see DATENEW).

Those examples are only to make clear that the significant differences we could

observe are probably due to the usage of names itself and are not a proof or even a reason

to believe that articles where only Arab names are given are not about Arabs. They only

offer a different, more personal way to cover Arab Americans.

Those variables that do not have a relevant Chi-square value support this

conclusion. That is why we decided that for the rest of our project it is appropriate to

analyze only one sample including both groups of articles because otherwise we might

lose important data for our analysis.

However, what we could not include in our sample are articles about Arab

Americans who are only identified by their names and whose names are not of Arab

origin. So this might be another source of possibly lurking influence.

3.4. Description of Variables

3.4.1. Group One: Overview Variables

We chose 16 variables for our analysis to measure the quality of coverage. Some of them

are just of technical nature in order to present a first overview over the data and don’t

need further explanation, such as article number (ARTNO), the name of the newspaper

where an article was found in (NEWSP), or the date of this newspaper (DATE).

However, the majority of the variables dealt with qualitative issues and needed very

12
For the exact results, see appendix 7.2.

14
precise definitions in order to avoid coding mistakes. Those definitions can be found in

the codebook.

3.4.2. Group Two: Features of Articles

We considered two groups of variables to be most important. The first group is supposed

to describe general traits of the article like the journalistic genre, length and position as

well as the tendency of the article because all of those points might have implication for

the overall affect on the reader. The second group of variables is focused on more

particular quality issues that are supposed to be indications of journalism quality.

First, we developed the variable KIND to describe the genre of the article: Is it a

feature, is it news, an editorial, an interview or something else? This variable measures if

newspapers try to promote a certain opinion, or if they just give the basic information.

In addition to this variable, we developed the variable SECTION to learn about

the general topic the article is about and in which sections opinion is being given. In this

context we considered it also important to know if the general topic of an article

(CONTG) is positive, negative or neutral and how Arab Americans are described in this

particular article (DESCR). Both variables have an important impact on the perception of

Arab Americans by the American public, but are hardly measurable without the influence

of subjectivity.13

The length of an article in lines (LINENO) and words (WORDNO) are good

instruments to measure the importance of an article compared with the rest of the

newspaper while the position of an article within the paper (POSIT) also determines the

significance of an article. The variable MAINSI should measure if Arab Americans are

main or side topic of an article, and the variable FIRREF was supposed to show at what

15
point Arab Americans are mentioned for the first time in an article. Both variables are

good indications for the reader’s perception how important the role is Arab Americans

play within the society.

3.4.3. Group Three: Quality Issues

In our opinion, it is a sign of low quality journalism if an author wrongly uses the terms

“Arabs” and “Muslims/Islam” as synonyms (variable CONMUS), or if an author calls

someone an Arab who actually is not part of this specific ethnic group14 (FALSETE).

Mixing up religion and ethnicity or mixing up different ethnicities with each other are

expressions of a careless and inexperienced attitude towards the Arab American

community.

On the other hand, it is supposed to be a sign of high quality journalism if after

September 11 articles focus on the assaults that took place against Arab Americans. This

variable is called ASSAULT.

Finally, we considered it to be important to find out if newspapers focus on

individuals, Arab organizations or Arab Americans in general and if there is a change in

coverage after September 11. Even though it is not easy to interpret this data, newspapers

should at least be careful with generalizations as long as they don’t go along with

warnings not to use violence against Arab Americans. This is something we are going to

analyze during this paper.

3.5. Reliability Tests

As already mentioned, two of the variables we developed were supposed to measure if an

article generally focuses on a positive, negative or neutral event or topic (CONTG) and if

13
See reliability tests in 3.4.
14
According to the Detroit Free Press (2001): 100 Questions and Answers about Arab Americans: A
Journalist’s Guide. On the internet: http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/

16
an article gives a generally positive, negative or neutral description of Arab Americans

(DESCR). In our opinion, these variables have an important impact on the general

perception of Arab Americans and their contribution to society.

However, since they are supposed to reflect the content of an article, those

variables can hardly be measured without facing the danger of subjectivity. That’s why

the codebook gives the most accurate instructions how to collect information using

CONTG and DESCR. But still it is important to find out if those variables really measure

what they are designed for.

The two examples of CONTG and DESCR show the importance of reliability

testing before the actual coding procedure can start. In order to measure the reliability of

our variables, both coders tested the coding instructions using to newspaper issues that

are not part of the sample. These issues were: American News of September 19 and

Pioneer Press of September 15.

Both coders identified five articles dealing with Arab American issues what

implies 100 per cent constituency. However, some of the 14 relevant variables (without

ARTNO, NEWSP, DATE) showed less agreement. The results reached from a Scott’s Pi

of 1 (KIND, POSIT, FALSETE, NAME, LINES) down to a value of –0.25 (DESCR.),

and we got a mean of 0.73.

The latter value confirmed our fear that measuring CONTG and DESCR could

become problematic. CONTG reached the second-worst value of 0.44. Out of five cases,

the coders got twice different results (40 %!) for both CONTG and DESCR. In order to

make sure that we can use DESCR at all for our analysis, we re-ran the reliability test for

this variable, and this time we chose ten articles we had identified before. These articles

were from the Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram issues of September 9, 10 and 12. Out

17
of these ten cases, we got seven times the same results while three values were still

different. This brought the Scott’s Pi up to 0.55.

Finally, we decided to take both variables in account for our analysis, but we

stress once more the problem of measuring highly perception-depending features of

articles.

After the second test, the mean of all 14 Scott’s Pi rose to 0.78, which is over the

mass communication research minimum value of 0.75. The complete results of all

reliability tests can be found in the annex. As the following analysis will show, all those

variables that we found most interesting reached a Scott’s Pi of 0.62 or higher.

18
4. Data Documentation and Interpretation

4.1. Group One: Overview Variables

4.1.1. Documentation

According to the description of the variables in this research project, our collection of

data started with overall facts on the newspaper coverage of Arab Americans before and

after September 11. The variables relevant in this group were NEWSP and DATE.

As already mentioned, 128 articles became part of this sample.15 Out of these 128

articles, the most (32) were published by the Philadelphia Inquirer, while the Akron

Beacon Journal only had 21 articles on this topic, which is the smallest number of all five

newspapers. The second highest number of articles was found in the Detroit Free Press

(28), while Gary Post-Tribune features 24 and Tallahassee Democrat features 23 (see

figure 19.1.).

40

30

20

10
Frequency

0
Beacon Journal Post-Tribune Democrat
Free Press Inquirer

Name of sampled newspaper

Figure 19.1.

19
 We found it the best way to describe the quality of the coverage by comparing the

situation before and after the terrorist acts in order to find out if newspapers changed their

publication policy. Out of 128 articles, 25 were published before and 103 after September

11 (numbers of articles per day see figure 20.1.)16. This equals an increase of 312 per

cent. The daily average of published articles per newspaper before September 11 was 1

article, the daily average after September 11 4.12 articles.

40

September 6, 2001

September 7, 2001
30
September 8, 2001

September 9, 2001

20 September 10, 2001

September 12, 2001

September 13, 2001

10
September 14, 2001

September 15, 2001

Count

0 September 16, 2001

All newspapers

Articles per day

4.1.2. Interpretation

The Philadelphia Inquirer emerges as the newspaper with the most frequent depiction of

Arab Americans in its issues. This is probably due to the high proportion of Arab

American population in this area. The same is true for Detroit that is supposed to have

one of the highest concentrations of Arab Americans in the United States.

The total increase of coverage after September 11 is highly significant with a Chi-

square value of 9.149 (three cells – 30 % - have expected count less than 5).

15
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 1
16
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 2 and table 3

20
4.2. Group Two: Features of Articles

4.2.1.Documentation

The variable KIND shows a high proportional increase in feature and editorial articles.

While features before the attacks had a percentage of 32 %, they reach 42.7 % after the

attacks. Editorials increase from 12.0 % to 19 %. At the same time, the proportion of

news articles decreases from 52 % to 29 % (See figure 20.1.).17

These changes are significant, expressed by a Chi-square value of 4.967 (four cells – 40

% - have expected count of less than 5).

Kind of article Kind of article

60 50

50
40

40
30

30

20
20

10
10
Percent
Percent

0 0
Feature News Editorial Other Feature News Editorial Interview Other

Kind of article Kind of article

Figure 20.1 and figure 20.2..

The variables DESCR shows a strong proportional increase in articles that

promote an explicit expression of opinion. While the proportion of articles with a neutral

description of Arab Americans reached 76.0 % before the attacks, this number dropped

down to 11.7 % after the attacks (see figure 21.1).18 At the same time, the positive

evaluation increases from 20.0 % to 61.2 % while the negative evaluation rises from 4.0

% to 27.2 %. The ratio between negative and positive evaluation basically stays the same

17
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 4
18
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 5 and 6

21
(For every negative article, there were 5 positive before the attacks and 5.2 after the

attacks).

Description Before the Attacks Description After the Attacks

100 70

60
80

50

60
40

30
40

20
20

Percent
Percent

10

0 0
Positive Negative Neutral Positive Negative Neutral

Description of Arab Americans in the article Description of Arab Americans in the article

Figure 21.1. and figure 21.2.

It seems also important to mention that, according to the results of the SECTION

variable, before the attacks a remarkable proportion of articles appeared in the sports

section (32.0 %), whereas after the attacks this number dropped to 5.8 % (see figure 21.3

and 21.4.). However, the absolute number stayed almost the same (8 vs. 6 articles). The

proportion of articles about Arab Americans increases both in absolute number and in

percents. Before the attacks, only 5 (20 % of all articles within this time frame) articles

were published in the politics section, after the attacks the number reached 74 articles

(71.8 % of all articles within this time frame).19

Sections Before the Attacks Sections After the Attacks

40 80

30 60

20 40

10 20
Percent
Percent

0 0
Politics Sports Arts Local Other Politics Business Sports Local Other

In which section of the newspaper does the article appear? In which section of the newspaper does the article appear?

Figure 21.3 and figure 21.4.

22
 Neither before nor after the attacks there is hardly any reference in the business

section (only one article after the attacks, which totals 1 %), also in the arts section there

are only a few references and only before the attacks (4 articles, 16 %). Remarkable is the

proportion of articles in the local section, especially after the attacks. It rose from 8.0 %

before the attacks to 13.6 % after the attacks (absolute numbers 2 and 14, respectively).

The section "other" declines from 24.0 % to 7.8 %, while the absolute numbers increases

from 6 to 8 articles).

The variables WORDNO and LINENO also show that the length of articles

increases both in lines and in words. The mean number of words per article before

September 11 was 553.04 and after the attacks 728.51, which equals an increase of

175.47. This result is highly significant, as the t-test shows: A confidence level of 96.9 %

is reached (see figure 22.1. and 22.2.).20

3000

Average Word Number

800
Approximate number of words per article

2000

600

1000

400

200
Frequency

ARTICLE
-1000
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
0
Before the Attacks After the Attacks Date article was published

Figure 22.1. and 22.2

The length of articles in lines also increases. This variable, LINENO, was

measured by a variable with 8 different categories. For this analysis, we recoded the

variable in order to make a distinction between long articles of more than 160 lines and

19
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 7

23
the rest of the sampled articles. Before the attacks, only 24.0 % (6 articles) fell into this

category, after the attacks 33.0 % (35 articles). However, the Chi-square value is not

significant (0.760) in this case.21

Finally, as the number of articles increased, they also moved farther toward the

front page (according to the POSIT variable). Before the attacks, no article about Arab

Americans could be found there, after the attacks the number jumped to 10, which equals

9.7 %. The proportion of articles found in the first half of the newspapers also increased

from 40.0% to 62.1% (absolute numbers: 10 and 64, respectively). The number of articles

in the second half dropped from 60.0 % to 28.2 % (absolute numbers: 15 and 29,

respectively). In this case, the Chi-square value reaches 10.067 and implies a highly

significant development.

4.2.2. Interpretation

While the newspapers tried to promote a neutral picture of Arab Americans before the

attacks, they stress the positive impact the majority of Arab Americans has on the

American society after the September 11th. This is obviously a effect of the growing

hatred observed toward this ethnic group in the wake of the events as the coverage of the

assaults against Arab Americans themselves.

At the same time, the newspapers do not leave out the relevant coverage of the

events and those responsible and therefore promote a negative image of Arabs and Arab

Americans. That is obviously the reason why not only the number of articles featuring a

positive, but also of articles giving a negative description of Arab Americans increases

20
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 8, 9 and 10
21
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 11

24
after September 11th. Both are signs of a rather balanced view and coverage of Arab

Americans in the American print media.

Another example of balanced journalism is the fact that the number of articles

published in the sports section and of articles in those sections labeled "other" is steady

during the whole period of coverage. This means that the newspaper publishers do not

forget that despite the terrorist attacks, the common role of Arab Americans within the

society stays the same, and transport this impression to their readers. The number of

articles in the local section even increases, pointing out that newspapers aim to show their

readers the local impact of the events.

The increase of the article length is probably due to the increase of feature

articles, even though this increase was not of statistical significance. It also generally

points to the enlarged attention the publishers pay to the role of Arab Americans in their

society after September 11th. This conclusion can be enforced by the fact that articles

about Arab Americans moved to the front pages or at least the first half of the newspaper

issues. However, this interpretation is not really surprising, considering the magnitude of

the terrorist attacks and their consequences.

Because after the attacks the emphasize is laid on articles that promote a distinct

opinion, the conclusion can be made that the newspapers in this sample tend to face their

social responsibility according to the model "Four Theories of the Press" as specified in

the theory chapter. They obviously see the necessity of leading their readers in times of

political instability and want to do their part to stop unjustified violence against a whole

ethnic group. Therefore, their behavior can be described as a good example of the

aspirations to be socially responsible and make sure that all sides are equally presented in

the media; it is based on facts; it enlightens a public about this ethnic group and

safeguards the liberties of these individuals despite the obvious trends in the society to

25
"scapegoat" Arab Americans for the deeds of the extremist fundamentalist groups. The

social responsibility of these newspapers is especially important at the time when the

Arab Americans particularly feel the need for help in influencing public opinion about

them.

4.3. Group Three: Quality Issues

4.3.1. Documentation

The third group of variables was focused on more specific quality issues. One of them

was the question if the newspapers report on assaults against Arab Americans in the wake

of the terrorist attacks (ASSAULT). While it is self-explanatory why there are no reports

before September 11th, 29.4 % (30 articles) of the 102 articles published and counted (one

case is missing due to impossibility of a decision) after the attacks focused on the assaults

(see figure 25.1.).22

After the Attacks: Reports of Assaults

80

60

40

20
Frequency

0
Yes No

Figure 25.1.

26
 The variable FALSETE shows that there are only a few false references over the

whole coverage period, i.e. only in 6 cases (4.8 %) is the term Arab Americans used

inappropriately for a person not belonging to this ethnic group. In addition to that, there is

hardly any increase in the number of errors after September 11 (4.0 % before vs. 5.0%

after the attacks). 23

The Chi-square value of 0.40 (2 cells – 50 % have expected values less than 5)

supports this result and show that there is no significant difference in the number of

errors before and after September 11.

According to the results of the variable CONMUS, the connection between Arabs

mentioned in an article and the Muslim faith is made in only 12.0 % (absolute number:

3) of the 25 articles before September 11, but in 49.5 % (absolute number: 51) of the 103

articles after the attacks. The proportion of articles with no reference to the Muslim faith

declines from 88.0 % to 50.5 %, but increases in absolute numbers (from 22 to 52).24 The

Chi-square value in this case is 11.608 and indicates a highly significant probability that

these changes are not coincidence.

4.3.2. Interpretation

The results of those variables focused on quality issues show that the newspapers in this

sample did not only pay attention to their social responsibility, but also followed high

standards of journalistic quality. This conclusion is due to the extreme frequent and

complete coverage of the assaults against Arab Americans as well as to the fact that the

newspapers hardly made any mistakes in mixing up different ethnicities.

However, the proportion of articles where a connection between Arab Americans

and the Muslim faith is made augmented after September 11. This could be a sign of

22
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 12

27
emerging prejudices of newspaper journalists against Arabs in general. On the other

hand, the increase is obviously a consequence of the actions that individuals of Arab

ethnicity committed as part of a self-proclaimed Muslim terrorist group. Therefore these

results are not clear indications of an insufficient journalism quality.

4.4. Final Conclusion

The results of this analysis clearly contradict the hypothesis that was stated in the

introduction of this paper. Even though the media extensively covered the terrorist acts,

they did not portray Arab Americans in an extremely negative light, they did not restrict

information about assaults and backlash against the group, and they hardly made any

mistakes in adequately describing Arab Americans as people. The guidelines as stated in

the Detroit Free Press Journalist’s Guide were hardly ever harmed.

On the contrary, the media acted in a remarkably responsible way, and the

newspapers in our sample even warned their readers not to behave irresponsibly toward

Arab Americans. Therefore, the big shift after the September 11 attacks was the

strengthened tendency of newspapers to provide their readers with opinion and balancing

facts about Arab Americans instead of giving just the bare news.

As mentioned before, their behavior can best be described according to the model

of a socially responsible press as developed in Siebert’s “Four Theories of the Press”. For

that reason there is no doubt anymore that our hypothesis has to be rejected and that the

standards of journalism quality we found are unexpectedly high, both before and after the

September 11 attacks.

23
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 13

28
5. Call for Further Research

In order to be representative, an analysis of the media coverage of Arab Americans

before and after September 11 would have to include a much bigger sample according to

the prerequisite that every newspaper in this country has the same chance to become part

of this sample. It is obvious that we were not able to reach this aim.

However, the results of this analysis should be encouraging enough to continue

and complete the research based on more sufficient resources.

At the same time, a consecutive research might find a solution for what we called

the name problem: how to include articles with Arab names if there is no absolute

method to verify that the bearers of these names are really Arab Americans?

The question also remains how articles about Arab Americans with non-Arab

names could be identified. Probably this could only be possible in cooperation with the

newspapers themselves. Despite the methodological problems, we still consider it very

important to include articles where only names are given into a sample because they

provide – as we showed – more personal approach toward Arab Americans.

Finally, further research could compare the coverage of Arab Americans with the

coverage of other minorities in the U.S. media in order to find out if there are any

significant differences – and if yes, determine the reasons for those differences.

24
For complete data see appendix, part D, table 14

29
6. References

6.1. Literature

- Abu-Laban, Baha/ Suleiman, Michael M. (1989): Arab Americans: Continuity and

Change. Belmont: Association of University Graduates, Inc.

- The Arab American Almanac, Third Edition (1984). News Circle Publishing Co.

- Bates, Stephen (1995): Realigning Journalism with Democracy: the Hutchins

Commission, Its Times and Ours. Washington, D.C: Annenberg Washington Program,

Communications Policy Studies, Northwestern University

-Center for Migration Studies of New York (1974): Arabic Speaking Communities in

American Cities. New York

- Collins, Keith S. (1982): Responsibility and Freedom in the Press: Are They in

Conflict? Citizen's Choice Inc., New York

- Commission of Freedom of the Press (1947): A Free and Responsible Press. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press

- Kashmeri, Zuhair (1991): The Gulf Within: Canadian Arabs, Racism and the Gulf War.

Toronto: James Lorimer & Company

- McNarus, Ernest M. (1994): The Development of Arab American Identity. University of

Michigan

- Nielsen, Nancy (1996): Religion and the Global Media: Improving a Strained

Relationship. Winter Spring: Fletcher Forum

- Shaheen, Jack G. (1997): Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture.

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, January

- Siebert, Fred S. et al. (1956): Four Theories of the Press. Urbana: University of Illinois

Press

30
- Suleiman, Michael M. (1999): Arabs In America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press

6.2. World Wide Web Resources:

1. "100 Questions and Answers about Arab Americans: A Journalist’s Guide", 2001

Detroit Free Press. (http://www.freep.com/jobspage/arabs/)

2. "Arab Americans: Making a Difference" by Casey Kasem, 1999 (http://www-

ec.njit.edu/~dae8808/MAG/ISSUE2/FamousArabAmericans/MakingADifference.html

3. Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee. Official Web Site at

http://www.adc.org/

4. Columbia International affairs Online: Working Papers. Web Site is at

http://www.ciaonet.org/wps/shj01/

5. USA Today: Q&A on Islam and Arab-Americans

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/islam.htm

31
Appendix

A. Codebook

A.1. Identification of Articles

An article, if published in one of the following newspapers between September 11 and
September 20, 2001, is relevant for our sample if the terms „Arab Americans“ or „Arabs
in America“ are used, or if the article mentions American citizens or residents whose
country of origin is one of the following (according to the Detroit Free Press Guide):
Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United
Arab Emirates and Yemen. If there is a name of a person that looks Arab and it is
mentioned in a clearly American context, it has to be checked by two persons who are
Arab of origin before it becomes part of this sample.
If there are articles with names that cannot be clearly identified as Arab names, the
articles are put into a different category (unidentified) and don't belong to the sample.

A.2. Variables
1 ARTNO
Number of article in this sample
Coding instructions:
Reference number of the article examined.
This may range from 01 up to 99.
01-99

2 NEWSP

What is the name of the sampled newspaper?

Coding instructions:
Select the name of the newspaper that contains the article being analyzed. The range of
the newspapers selected includes representatives from various states of the US.
1 Akron (OH) Beacon Journal

32
2 Detroit (MI) Free Press
3 Gary (IN) Post-Tribune
4 Long Beach (CA) Press Telegram
5 Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer
6 Tallahassee (FL) Democrat

3 DATE
What is the date this article is issued?
Coding instructions:
The date period is determined to be before and after the attacks on the World Trade
Center and The Pentagon, i.e. between September 6 and September 10 as well as between
September 12 and September 16. September 11 is not part of this sample in order to make
the data comparable. Select the date when the newspapers was issued - without months
and year.
6
7
8
9
10

12
13
14
15
16

4 KIND
What kind of article is this?
Coding instructions:
The articles may be presented in the form of a news update, an analysis of the events, a
feature article on the problem, or it may be an interview with a specialist or a
representative directly related to our main category of people.

33
 The news article is based on pure statement of facts and figures; it does not
contain any personal reflections of the author’s point of view or any subjective approach
to interpreting the facts.
The feature article may contain, either explicitly or implicitly, the point of view of
the author or be biased by any form of subjective information. The editorial contains the
explicitly stated point of view of the editor on the given problem.
The interview article is based on the responses of a certain persons or person to
the questions posed by the interviewer.
The category other implies that there is a combination of several types.
Analyze the manner the article is written in and decide which of the categories best
describes this article and label it accordingly.
1 Feature
2 News
3 Editorial
4 Interview
8 Other

5 POSIT
What is the position of the article?
Coding instructions:
The significance of the article is usually determined by its position in the newspaper. The
closer it is to the front page, the higher the importance of it is. This variable is set to
determine the importance of the article by analyzing its position in the newspaper.
1 Front page
2 First half exc. Fp
Second half

6 CONTG
What is the general content of the article?
Coding instructions:
Because the perception of every article is individual, the definitions of what is positive
and negative should be set out.

34
The article may be considered positive if it centers on a positive event (such as
contribution to the country -- its people, culture or economy have a positive impact on the
society such as sports, politics, achievements),
and negative if the general topic centers on any negative impact, e.g. crimes or other
wrongdoings or terrorist groups or activities.
The article may be considered neutral if there is no clear bias of description or personal
reflections of the author cannot be determined.
The Arab Americans do not necessarily need to be the center point of the article – this
variable only measures whether it focuses on the negative or positive event or
development.
1 Positive
2 Negative
3 Neutral
9 Can’t Decide

7 DESCR
In the article, are Arab Americans described in a positive, neutral or negative manner?
Coding instructions:
A negative description of Arab Americans is given when they are described in a manner
not according to the Detroit Free Press Guide. That includes following aspects:
- no distinction between Arabs and Muslims
- the ethnicity is not relevant for the story
- Arab connection to terror is stressed
- Muslim connection to terror is stressed
- stereotypes (like all Arab American women are subservient to men or Arab
Americans generally dress differently)
- The story is about Arab Americans who are involved in terrorist or criminal
actions.
A neutral description is given when there are no aspects that lead to a positive or
negative image of Arab Americans.

A positive description of Arab Americans is given when they are described in a manner
according to the Detroit Free Press Guide. That includes following aspects:

35
 - clear distinction between Arabs and Muslims
- clear distinction between Arabs/Muslims and terror
- description avoids stereotypes explicitly or even gives positive examples
If there are any doubts whether the description is positive, negative or neutral, label
„Can’t Decide“
1 Positive
2 Negative
3 Neutral
9 Can’t Decide

8
ASSAULT
In the article, are any assaults against Arab Americans reported?
Coding instructions:
If there is any reference to assaults against Arab Americans, even if it is only a side
remark, label Yes. If there are any doubts if there is an implied reference, label Can’t
Decide.
1 Yes
2 No
9 Can’t Decide

9 MAINSI
In the article, are Arab Americans and their situation/actions main object or side topic of
the article?
Coding instructions:
Arab Americans are supposed to be the main topic if there is a direct reference in at least
one half of the paragraphs of the article. If Arab Americans are referred to in more than
one-third of the paragraphs, but not in more than half of the paragraphs, label In
between. Arab Americans are supposed to be a side topic if there is any direct reference
at all within the article. If there are any doubts if Arab Americans are main topic or side
topic or in between, according to this instructions, label Can’t Decide.
1 Main Topic
2 Side Topic

36
3 In between
9 Can’t Decide

10 CONMUS
Are there any direct references to the Islam faith?
Coding instruction:
If the words „Muslim“, „Islam“ are used in the article, or if any religious institution or
symbol (e.g. Imam, Mosque) of the Islam faith is mentioned, label Yes. If there are any
doubts about implied references, label Can’t Decide.
1 Yes
2 No
9 Can’t Decide

11 FALSETE
In the article, are terms Arab American/Arabs used for ethnic/cultural groups that don’t
belong to the Arab culture?
Coding instructions:
If there is a reference to any other ethnic or cultural group implying that it is part of the
Arab American culture, even though it is not (according to the definition of the Free
Press Guide), label Yes. Only label No, if no doubts at all. In all other cases label Can’t
Decide.
1 Yes
2 No
9 Can’t Decide

12 FIRREF
In the article, when does the first reference to Arabs Americans appear?
Coding instructions:
Choose the line/part of the article, in which the terms Arab Americans or Arabs or an
Arab country of origin are used for the first time.
1 Line 1-10
2 Line 11-first half
3 Second half

37
4 Only mentioned in context with a photo belonging to the article

13 LINENO
How many lines is the article long?
Coding instructions:
Count the lines, excluding headlines and author names.
1 01-19
2 20-49
3 50-79
4 80-119
5 120-159
6 160-199
7 200-249
8 250 and more

14 WORDNO
Number of words per article
Coding instructions:
Calculate lines times average words per line. Words per line are calculated by counting
words per two inch and dividing this number by number of lines.

15 SECTION
In which of the newspaper does the article appear?
Coding instructions:
In this sample, a distinction is being made only between major sections such as politics,
business, sports, arts, local and other. It is not necessary that the section of the
newspaper in which an article appears has a name exactly matching to these categories
(e.g. „Metro“ for Local) as long as there is no doubt that both names mean the same. In
case of politics, every article in this section is defined as politics no matter if it has a
local reference or a different connotation. In case of arts, sections called Movies or Life
Style are part of the sample as well.
If a section doesn’t fit into one of the categories mentioned, it is labeled as Other.
1 Politics

38
2 Business
3 Sports
4 Arts
5 Local
6 Other

16 GROUP
In the article, is the reference to Arab Americans made to an individual or to a
group/organization, or is there a reference to Arab Americans in general?
Coding instructions:
If there is more than one reference, always choose the one referring to the largest group.
If a decision is not possible due to implied references, label Can’t Decide.
1 Individual
2 Group/Organization
3 Arab Americans in general
9 Can’t Decide

17 PERSNAME
Are Arab Americans only identified by their names?
Coding Instructions:
This variable is to make a distinction between articles where only an Arab name is
mentioned and the rest of the sample where a direct reference to Arab Americans could
be found. If only a name is mentioned, label Yes, otherwise label No.
1 Yes
2 No

39
B. Chi-Square for PERSNAME combined with other variables

B.1. Confidence Level of 95 % and more (Chi-Square higher than 3.841):

PERSNAME and

- KIND 4.575

- DESCR 6.040

- CONMUS 7.068

- SECTION 8.013

- LINENO 8.183

- DATENEW 10.230

- GROUP 25.685

B.2. Confidence Level under 95 % (Chi-Square lower than 3.841)

PERSNAME and

- FALSETE 0.011

- POSIT 0.367

- ASSAULT 0.604

- CONTG 1.373

- MAINSI 1.769

- FIRREF 3.305

The variables NEWSP, DATE were not tested due to missing relevance. WORDNO is a

variable with continuous data.

40
 C. Scott’s Pi: Results for each Variable
NEWSP DATE KIND POSIT CONTG DESCR ASSAULT
Y9 19 3 2 1 1 2
J9 19 3 2 1 1 1
X
Y10 19 1 2 2 2 2
J10 19 1 2 2 1 2
X
Y10 19 2 2 1 1 2
J10 19 2 2 1 1 2

Y10 19 2 2 1 1 2
J10 19 2 2 2 2 2
X X
Y10 19 3 3 1 1 2
J10 19 3 3 1 1 1

(continued)

MAINSI CONMUS FALSETE SEC FIRREF NAME WORDS LINES GROUP

1 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 3
1 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 3

2 1 2 1 3 1 5 5 1
2 1 2 1 3 1 5 5 1

2 2 2 5 1 1 3 3 1
1 2 2 5 1 1 4 3 1
X X
3 2 2 1 1 2 5 6 9
3 1 2 6 2 2 5 6 3
X X X X
1 1 2 1 1 2 4 4 2
1 1 2 1 1 2 4 4 2

Revised reliability test for variable DESCR, 10 articles.

1 2 3 2 1 2 2 3 1 1
1 3 3 2 1 2 1 3 1 2
X X X
X stands for disagreement of the two coders

Scott’s Pi for each variable:

NEWSP DATE KIND POSIT CONTG DESCR ASSAULT

1 1 1 1 0.44 -0.25 1

MAINSI CONMUS FALSETE SEC FIRREF NAME WORDS LINES GROUP

0.69 0.55 1 0.62 0.69 1 0.71 1 0.72

(Mean without variables 1 and 2): 0.73 Maximum: 1 Minimum: -0.25

Revised Scott’s Pi for DESCR: 0.55

Mean (new): 0.78 Maximum: 1 Minimum: 0.44

41