Posted by Nabil Echchaibi on Monday, December 13, 2010
I used to think that it's better not to dignify nonsensical ranting with a comment, but it's become clear that more and more people believe the half-baked truths of populist provocateurs such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. In this media age of fact-free commentaries, It's important to challenge all claims, no matter how fatuous they are, and particularly coming from people whose sole purpose is to stoke more fear and drum up the ratings of their shows. Last week, Beck made an outlandish estimate that 10% of Muslims are terrorists. That would be more than 157 million Muslim terrorists worldwide. Beck's estimate is based on thin air because as CNN's Fareed Zakaria said yesterday, there is no survey or study that can support such a claim. Kudos to Zakaria for responding as emphatically and authoritatively as he did in a fitting segment of his show he calls, "What in the world?"
I was born and raised in Morocco. My research focuses on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. I'm currently an assistant professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Colorado-Boulder.