Excerpt:
The media plays a strong role in promoting Islamophobia in the world, according to Nathan Lean, editor-in-chief, Aslan Media and a researcher at Georgetown University. Lean made this remark while participating in a panel discussion at Arab Media Forum on "Islamophobia: Is the media doing enough to reverse perceptions?"
The session discussed how to bridge the knowledge gap between the Middle East and the West. It also discussed the role of social media and its impact on the Arab Spring and solutions in Syria and other parts of the region. A person of Middle Eastern origin traveling to the West is perceived to be a 'terrorist,' unless proven otherwise, media experts pointed out. However, a lot of this is due mostly to ignorance in the West and partly due to Muslim involvement in certain incidents.
"There are two aspects of this – Islamophobia and Islamo-ignorance," said Lean.