Meacham picked up the thread of Quinn's question and said it's important for people of faith to honor each other as Americans.

"I think there is a long and noble tradition in this country .. about people of divergent faiths coming together and finding a way to live together and worship as they please . . .It is the duty of the religious person to defend that liberty," he said.

Esposito began taking questions from the audience.

Q: Why is it when Muslims in America are presented in the media, indigenous Muslims are seldom represented?

Miller said the focus in Muslim Americans has changed since 9/11 and shifted from indigenous Muslims to immigrants. "The African-American Muslims were the only Muslims we knew until 9/11," she said.

Meacham said the media is often slow to see and understand the diversity within faith traditions.

"It took a long long time for most newsrooms to understand that Christianity might have a denomination or two within it," he said.

"The coverage of Christianity is better than it was 10 years ago... It's going to take a long time (for the coverage of Islam to improve), but people's hearts are in the right place in those newsrooms."

Mattson said she thinks the media's focus on immigrants and Muslims overseas is a reflection of the culture's focus.

"Most Americans when they think of Muslim they think of foreigner," Mattson said.

Quinn said the media's focus changes and follows the news: "You cover what the story is and since 9/11 the story has been about Muslims not in this country."