Nets Cover Muslim Fencer 100x More Than Faith of Christian Gymnasts
By Alatheia Nielsen and Katie Yoder | August 12, 2016 | 9:37 AM EDT
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Winning is a matter of faith for some of Team America at the Rio Olympics. Except journalists only seemed to care about Islamic faith and almost nothing about Judeo-Christian beliefs. So much so that the broadcast networks covered the Islamic faith of one Olympian more than 100 times more than the Judeo-Christian beliefs of five gold-medal winners.
When the U.S. women’s gymnastics landed a gold medal Tuesday evening, the broadcast networks spent 22 minutes, 35 seconds celebrating the win and interviewing the girls. Only 0.6 percent of the coverage mentioned the girls’ faith, even though several of them clearly expressed that God was their inspiration for competing.
In contrast, the networks dedicated 13 minutes, 25 seconds to Muslim fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad simply because she was the first American athlete to wear a hijab while competing in the Olympics. The networks began covering her a full three days before the Olympics even began.
“For thirty-year-old Ibtihaj Muhammad, identity is important,” CBS News correspondent Elaine Quijano said on the August 2 This Morning, “She’s a Muslim woman, and an African-American and an Olympic fender.”
Source URL:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/alatheia-nielsen/2016/08/12/nets-cover-muslim-fencer-100x-more-faith-christian
