A distorted media image of the Arab people is becoming ingrained in American culture and continues to inhibit a resolution of the Middle East conflict. Seemingly innocuous vehicles of entertainment, such as television programs, motion pictures, novels, and comics, help promote the image to unsuspecting audiences, and these audiences relay the image to subsequent audiences. News correspondents' misperceptions of Arabs permeate their reports, policymakers' crucial decisions may be influenced by those unrealistic perceptions, and the public's stereotypical images may affect the formation and acceptance of policy. In order to show the extent of the harm caused by distorted images, examples from entertainment media and from news coverage will be offered. Pertinent to the image problem are illustrations of how misperceptions from the past have helped and continue to help influence policymakers' actions and decisions. Fair portrayals and accurate information are essential to foreign policy decisions; false images and incorrect information may corrupt the policymaking process.
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2.
2. Joseph Boskin, “Denials: The Media View of Dark Skins and the City,” in Small Voices and Great Trumpets, ed. Bernard Rubin (New York: Praeger, 1980), p. 141.
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3. Ibid.
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6. Laurence Pope, “Flickers of Our Anti-Islam Bigotry,”Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 1985.
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7. Ibid.
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13. Lamb, “Bad Rap for the Arabs.”
14.
14. This information is based on my experiences in the Middle East as a Fulbright scholar. I taught mass communications at the American University of Beirut in 1974 and 1975 and at the University of Jordan in 1981 and 1982. Also, under the auspices of the United States Information Service, I traveled extensively throughout the region.
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16. Ibid.
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30. Ibid.
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32. Ibid., p. 27.
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35. George Christian, in his appearance on CBS Morning News, 26 Apr. 1985.
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36. Ibid.
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