Excerpt:
Rome, 12 May(AKI) - An international conference on multicultural relations has heard how Muslims suffer from discrimination and poor media perceptions about Islam.
The US state department's senior advisor to European and Eurasian Affairs, Farah Pandith, said Muslims suffered from a "victimisation mentality" and the media needed to play a more positive role.
She said there were "rants, and too many opinions, telling us what is wrong."
She was speaking at a conference on ethnic communication at the Center of American Studies in Rome.
Amanullah Shahed, director of the US-based news site AltMuslim.com and founder of a web media network called Halalfire Media, told the audience about the demonisation and misinterpretation of Muslims and Islam in American media.