A Reuters report out of the UK today says that ministers from Islamic nations attending the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Saudi Arabia are encouraging Muslim tycoons to purchase large enough stakes in global media companies to buy positive coverage of Islam:
Muslim tycoons should buy stakes in global media outlets to help change anti-Muslim attitudes around the world, ministers from Islamic countries heard at a conference in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Information ministers and officials meeting under the auspices of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world’s largest Islamic body, said Islam faced vilification after the September 11 attacks, when 19 Arabs killed nearly 3,000 people in U.S. cities in 2001.
“Muslim investors must invest in the large media institutions of the world, which generally make considerable profits, so that they have the ability to affect their policies via their administrative boards,” OIC chief Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told the gathering in the Saudi city of Jeddah.
“This would benefit in terms of correcting the image of Islam worldwide,” he said, calling on Muslim countries to set up more channels in widely-spoken foreign languages.
Activities like buying large stakes in media companies in an effort to influence how Islam is portrayed in the media doesn’t “correct the image Islam.” I would argue it does the opposite. Instead of helping Islam’s image, it simply reinforces the belief that many already have that Islam is about forcing itself on others.
If Muslims want to foster more pro-Islamic views throughout the rest of the world, how about beginning with publicly denouncing the Islamofascists who murder and torture non-Muslims and non-conforming Muslims in the name of Allah? For a reference, I would recommend Emilio Karim Dabul‘s editorial from Tuesday.
Update: LGF is much more pointed in his assessment of this scheme:
At a conference in the apartheid theocracy of Saudi Arabia, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference called on rich Muslims to invest large amounts of money in Western media outlets, to skew their coverage and convince the gullible infidels that hating Jews is normal, acceptable behavior…
Update II: Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch:
As if every reporter who fawns over CAIR weren’t enough. As if every mudslinging coward like Ralph Peters weren’t enough. As if every preening TV blowhard on the Left and the Right weren’t enough. As if the Hizballah News Agency itself, aka Reuters, weren’t enough. As if a generally cowed and submissive and frequently complicit media establishment weren’t enough.
And of course it isn’t enough, because Americans have eyes. They can see Islamic terrorists committing violence every day, and justifying their violence by reference to Islamic texts. They can see Western Muslim leaders do nothing in response but obfuscate and try to obstruct anti-terror efforts. If the “Muslim tycoons” really want to improve Islam’s image, let them arrange all jihad violence immediately. And voila, Islam’s image will improve.
They could always try not randomly killing and slaughtering folks if they want good press.
-=Mike
It’s nice to see that they’re atarting to think more like us:
Military Pays For Positive Press
But they should know that no amount of paid news coverage will polish thier image. How much did those stories help us? Not so much.
I find it ironic that you have no clue what your screen name actually means.
-=Mike
…and by ironic, I actually mean funny,,,
Awww, come on nihilistic_disintegration – – It isn’t fascism when we do it, just when others do it.
See, money can buy love!
Lee,
Actually, that’s true Lee. Very astute. There’s something called context.
Lol — please Heralder, no jokes while I’m drinking coffee…. lol!
MikeSC,
Why would you think I have no clue what my screen name means?