Do Media Represent Realistic Images of Arabs?

The media now-a-days has the tendency to over exaggerate stereotypes and the views of other cultures. One culture in particular that the media tends to stereotype is the Arab race. In my opinion the media does not even come close to providing a balanced view of Arabs, especially since 9/11. For example, shows such as 24 portray Arabs as terrorists planning to attack the U.S.. In other shows such as The Gaurdian and The Practice they have had episodes that portray Arab looking characters as terrorists. It's not only TV shows that show negative images of Arabs, but also news coverages of Muslims center mainly on events, groups and individuals from the Middle East, in response to crises, war and conflict, making it seem that there is nothing good from these people. In the chapter issue we read that Beckerman argues the point that through blogs many Arabs show that there are humane voices in a sea of confusion. The only problem with his argument is that blogs have a limited reach compared to the easy access of the evening news or the headlines from online accounts. Also the media always tend to look and focus on the negative issues that are going on in the Middle East. For example, a  recent headline stated, 'Saudi security forces kill Islamic militants' but Saudi Arabia is a self-described Islamic country whose security forces are 'Islamic'. Perhaps a better headline might have eliminated Islamic. That is another issue with the media. They are so uninformed about the Middle East that they usually will fail to differentiate and just assume that everyone is the same and is a potential terrorist. Being an American it is ingrained into our minds that any one looking like they are from the Middle East is considered a terrorist. For example, we will walk on a plane and see a man wearing a turban we will automatically think that he could be a potential terrorist. It is wrong to do this, but with the media continuing to spew out negative images and headlines about the Middle East it is hard for us to think otherwise because of the trust we put in our news reporters. Hopefully, one day we can see past the media and really see that Arabs are no different then anyone else and that just because they look like the terrorists we see on TV doesn't mean they are one.