Media Training Question #14 – How Do You Media Train Hate Messages?

Sept. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- Today’s post will inflame some of you just by the point of view I take on a very sensitive subject.  Some people have blinders on as it related to a controversial building of a Mosque near ground zero in New York City.  I first want to point out, and it’s just a necessity of my media training background, to dispel some mistruths about this story.  

One, the proposed Mosque is not to be or ever was to be built at the ground zero site as most people believe.  

Second, the Muslim faith does not teach hatred and destruction of the American way of life, albeit I would be hard pressed to convince many people of that simple fact.  

As a media trainer I have assisted many people with controversial messages and how to deliver their message in a way that teaches and empowers, not to just go for the sensational easy “sound bite” that will get the most attention.  We’ve all heard the axiom that all press is good press, and I couldn’t disagree more.  This story lends itself to a great teaching moment, and I want to seize that opportunity.

First a disclaimer:  I live in metropolitan Detroit, and I also happen to live in the most concentrated population of Arab Americans in the United States.  I have many friends that are Muslim, and I have enjoyed the relationships I have made over the years with these fine people.  My children play football and baseball with their children.  We are a community and we all live in that community without labels, I’m happy to say.  I have learned from them and they have learned from me.  Like any other neighborhood in this great country of ours, we have agreements and disagreements, but mostly about who will win football championships and how well we are doing in our jobs.  We are a normal, caring group of people who are not judged by where we worship.  Yes, it’s all true.

Back to our teaching moment.  As the story this morning on the Today Show demonstrates, there is a great deal of upheaval over the stated proposed Mosque.  I understand the fear and the misinformation, because it’s always easier to believe what we hear, or think we hear, than to actually educate ourselves, but for now we’ll set that to the side.  The issue at hand is the utter and enormous outrage over this proposed building.

President Obama, who said he had no problem with where it would be built, was chastised relentlessly for that opinion.  Some on the other side of the argument have had a hate filled field day over this topic.  A supposedly mild mannered young man stabbed a cab driver last week because when asked if he were Muslim he said yes.  That’s all it took.  That’s scary stuff no matter how you feel on this topic, and if it’s not scary for you, then we have a lot of work to do.

Now, again with my media training hat securely on, I understand the anger and resentment the American people have as we approach the 9th anniversary of that horrific day in 2001.  As a direct result of the events that took place in that moment in time, there isn’t a life in this country that wasn’t forever changed, and we continue to feel it to this day.  

As a people, we are driven by a deep-seeded inner need to correct injustice and to demand accountability.  These are all great traits and I am no different than any of you in that regard.  My perspective from that day forwarded has been a steely resolve to see justice done, which we have not seen yet.  But, with all that said, it is clear that we have not loosened our single focus, as a country, that the Muslim faith and the teachings of the Koran are the reasons September 11, 2001 happened, and it is not whether you believe that or not, but it is a simple truth for many people.

We are in another season of hate in this country, and at the center of that hatred is religion.  We still have deep pockets of intolerance of hatred in this country for religious intolerance and that has been true for hundreds of years.  Wars of all sizes have been fought and lost based on religious belief.  Killings and torture have been carried out in the name of religion, and it’s hard for me to think of a more backward way of thinking than that, but it will take someone much more powerful and visionary to solve that unsolvable problem than I.  It is destructive to our society, our children, and our personal faith to believe that hatred will solve these misunderstandings and uneducated beliefs.  And, as a media trainer, I have always said there isn’t a topic that I can’t tame, but on this one I think I have met my match.

The question of how to media train hate is you can’t unless you are only looking to inflame more of it, as many seem so willing to do in this example.  

In my opinion, we are threatened by that which we don’t understand at its core.  I get that and that has been a universal truth since the beginning of time.  The core problem here is that we seem to not want to understand the philosophy of the Muslim faith, and I fear I know why and the answer will further inflame many of you.  The reason, quite simply, is that once we truly understand the Muslim faith we can no longer hate it, and when we no longer hate it then whom will have to blame?  

How about the PEOPLE who did this not the religion they hijacked as well as the airplanes that caused great destruction to our nation and out people?  It worth consideration, don’t you think?

If you watch the video I have posted, just pay attention to what is being said and honestly tell me that is the kind of behavior you as an American can be proud of.  And sadly, part of the message that is being sent is that as Americans we are allowed to hate your religion and your people but please, oh please, respect us and OUR God.  There is something terribly disingenuous in that alone.

There is a small church that plans to burn a pile of Koran’s in a show of love for America, and as Lt. General David Petraeus, the commander in Afghanistan said yesterday, by sending that message, we are begging the insurgents in Afghanistan to attack out troops there.  How much more hate do we need to see to understand that we solve nothing with hate.

Even politicians are getting in on the act and have drawn a line in the sand sending a wrong and uninformed message to Americans.

It’s a vicious cycle with no end in sight.

I don’t claim to understand everything that is the Muslim religion.  I am Catholic and I don’t claim to understand all of that religion.  And, I would bet that you don’t understand the religion you practice that well either.  The truth is we can all do a better job of reaching out for tolerance and understanding, but until we do, we can expect people to continue to spew out hate messages that appeal to some sort of primal lower common dominator that does nothing but perpetuate lies and more hatred.

How wrong it is for us to use a hurt and wounded American sentiment for such destruction because it is the antithesis of what we all hold dear.  But because we are mired in this patriotic-clad wrapping of US vs. Them, not even knowing who them is, we may never change.  How American is that?

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Tony has spent the better part of the past two decades in and around the media. As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. Tony’s list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He often works under confidentially agreements and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.
Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message.