News media play on fears after attacks

By Janice Herr, Las Vegas

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016 | 2 a.m.

As an example of incorrect logic, our professor told us, “Italians drink milk, Italians are short; therefore drinking milk makes you short.” This kind of logic is used whenever a politician says that because Muslims were involved in a shooting, then all 2 billion Muslims worldwide are radical terrorists, and we have to keep them out of this country.

These ideas are helped along by the 24/7 coverage after a mass shooting such as the one in San Bernardino, which promoted fear. The news media use this fear to get ratings, which brings on more coverage. The bad guys love this fear because they need an enemy to lift their cause, and the goal is to bring the U.S. into an all-out war. When innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire, they can attract more recruits.

So what should we do? Yes, do tell the public about the shootings, but not to the level where it sounds like the attackers are going to invade! This group of killers isn’t capable of anything on a large scale. Yes, we need to be alert, but not scared of our own shadow. Don’t keep showing the killers’ pictures over and over, or maybe don’t show them at all.

No one should attack innocent Muslims because of this bunch of murderers. When these thugs are called Islamic terrorists, it gives credence to the idea that all Muslims are bad. This small group of terrorists is not representing this religion and should be disregarded as corrupt and fanatic radicals.

It’s illogical to think anyone can determine people’s character by what religion they follow or how they look. Any politician who says differently should never be elected to any public office and certainly not as president of these United States.