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More Questions on the Media

The last question from the audience was another question about the media:

Why does the media focus so much attention on wrong Muslims?

"Media is not ideologically biased. We're biased toward conflict. The culture of the media is that conflict is the most inherently dramatic story," Meacham said.

"People who draw attention to themselves are going to get more attention than people who don't," Quinn explained.

"Good Muslims do speak out but we just don't know about it... They do it in a gracious way rather than screaming and yelling."

Hendi said he's disappointed that the media doesn't pay more attention to Muslims who are speaking out about terrorism. For example, in 2005 hundreds of American Imams endorsed a fatwa against terrorism.

"I know many Muslims have been speaking very loudly... But no one shows up, no one comes out. Hundreds of good Imams meeting in Chicago speaking out against terrorism don't get covered."

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On Faith is an interactive conversation on religion moderated by Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham and Sally Quinn of The Washington Post. It is produced jointly by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com, as is PostGlobal, a conversation on international affairs. Please send your comments, questions and suggestions for On Faith to editor and producer David Waters.
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