« Police subdue woman arguing about language at Starbucks | Main | Did PR save Blago from the slammer? »

Is the media to blame for the 'Ground Zero mosque' fury?

What did you think when you first heard a newscaster say, "Ground Zero mosque"?

Were you shocked? I was.

I'm all about the First Amendment, but any religious edifice--be it mega church, synagogue, mosque, Scientology lair, whatever--on the site of the World Trade seems odd. There were Christians, Jews, agnostics, atheists, and Muslims killed inside the World Trade Center. Why not a non-denominational worship center? I thought.

And then I stayed tuned.

When the cable news channel returned from break I learned that a group didn't plan to build a mosque ("community center," actually) on Ground Zero, but near Ground Zero, two blocks away. Big difference. Calling it the "Ground Zero mosque" is a misnomer. But dropping "Ground Zero mosque" in a headline or teaser--just as I did--sure grabs the eyes, doesn't it?

Problem is people rarely read below the headline or listen to the full report, especially when it's not about Mel Gibson's ex or Heidi Montag's plastic surgeon. As PR professionals, you know that all too well. How often does your boss or a client call to complain about a possibly misleading headline, even though the actual story is clear and positive? You're left calling the reporter or editor to complain. And guess what they're saying about you in that newsroom? "What an asshole."

I digress.

Would this debate have happened if the media continually referred to it as the "mosque near Ground zero"? Hard to say--but we'll never know.

Comments (14)

No matterin what time,I love cheap beats by dre always.You can not image how good the beats by dre sale works. Every of the monster beats they offer are with high quality and comfortable wearing.

If you try the cheap beats by dre,you will find that you make a good decision.You will also know that wholesale beats by dre is so sweety,Low price but good monster beats is always what they do.Like it so much.

You will fall in love with beats by dre outlet I think.All the items with reasonable prices but nice wearing.cheap beats by dre always out of your image.monster beats is so charming for my ears,I will love it all the time.

Enquire about IDS Enquire about Incodes. Ford IDS OEM Level Diagnostics. 100Z

A very worthwhile collection of articles,thank you share!

Your articles always have insights, very good, continue to work hard!

Very good, looking forward to the latest article!

They will have the money to remove any moral conscience, to meet their money be insatiably avaricious desire. A great post. Keep update! I really like your article content

I agree with your Blog and I will be back to check it more in the future so please keep up your work. I love your content & the way that you write. It looks like you have been doing this for a while now, how long have you been blogging for?

I’ve just seen this movie and I am suprised how good is this. Actually, it is the best snowboard movie I’ve ever seen. I’m devastated that you don’t want to make new one…It was great wathing you having fun and i can only dream to be as good as you guys. I believie that you will change your mind and let us see you in another project.

Samantha Glover:

Although I agree that this headline was misleading, I feel like this was a subject that attention needed to be drawn to. Dishonesty is never a good policy, but any kind of religious center that close to the ground zero cite is inappropriate. Journalists often spin a headline to draw media attention, and it usually works. I feel like other, more ethical methods could have been used. Because of the emotion attached to 9/11, people are especially sensitive about the issue. It is sad that people would stoop to that level to gain ratings.

Anonymous:

I've been through the negative headline/fair news story many times. This is not that. Ground Zero is such a huge site and its symbolic meaning is so global that two "blocks" from the World Trade Center is nothing. I was there many times prior to the attacks, meeting with two people who died on 9/11. The mosque site is uninhabitable today because of the direct damages it sustained from the attacks. The headline is not inaccurate factually or symbolically.

Distance-wise, those are a couple of extremely short blocks, if you want to call them “blocks.” I couldn’t call them “city blocks.” As for the semantics of mosque or “center,” it’s a place of worship and a center for its community. Using their vernacular, they call that a “mosque” everywhere else with the exception of at Ground Zero.

In PR we have to look at both facts and meaning. On the surface, this is a local issue, a zoning issue, and only marginally a freedom-to-worship issue because it has been well-documented that New York is home to hundreds of mosques which are peaceful places to worship.

But the meaning is another thing altogether and transcendent when looking at this situation. Americans who welcome the mosque on this site have no understanding of how this mosque will play around the globe. Believe it or not, many people with no love for America are the ones providing funding from all around the globe to build this mosque (Local issue? Hardly.) Proponents of the mosque want the building there because of its symbolic value and the power it lends them. If we can’t face that, we’re lying to ourselves.

I am taking a Public Relations Writing class at Georgia Southern University, and I have to say, after reading some of textbook and hearing what other Public Relations students have to say, it is crucial to have appropriate headlines. I guess a better word, in place of appropriate, could be the desired headline. Magazines, movies, billboards, and more definitely try to catch the audiences’ attention with their headlines, and since that is the first thing people read, I feel like more effort should go into it. If the overall message can be summed up into a simple headline, PR may be even more effective.

This is so true, Mark. And it's happening in all sorts of stories, like the egg recall because of salmonella. None of the news stories are pointing out the importance of cooking all eggs thoroughly to kill salmonella. They are just focusing on the fact that the eggs have it.

Post a comment

Important:
to protect against spam you must enter the letter "h" in the box.
(The comment will be posted ONLY when the safety letter is entered.)

About

This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 17, 2010 6:02 PM .

The previous post in this blog was Police subdue woman arguing about language at Starbucks .

The next post in this blog is Did PR save Blago from the slammer? .

Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.


Comment Feed Subscribe to this blog's feed
[What is this?]

Recent Responses

buy salvia divinorum
How often do you forget a password?
I’m pretty pleased to uncover this great site. I need to to thank you for ones time for this wonderful read!! I definite...
read all | post a response

digiprog III
New Web site aggregates top stories—with a twist
The web site seems a lttle bit unusual once i use my portable internet browser on my small blackberry mobile phones. You...
read all | post a response

FEATURED

Blogger Bios

About

Tell us how you manage unrealistic expectations, meet reporter needs, churn out news when there is none, deal with a client you can't stand, and what you say to people that slam PR. Or anything else that's on your mind.

Ragan Blogs

Coaching Success
BRODY Professional Development
Officiency
K.J. McCorry
The Spark
Denise Ryan
PR Junkie
Michael Sebastian

Other Blogs

- Blog written by team members of Affect Strategies, a strategic public relations, marketing and social media agency located in New York City.
- Shines a brighter light on the subtle roles played by public relations
- Blogging at the intersection of communication and technology
- PRNewser is a blog about Public Relations

- Business communications for the real world

- Les Potter blogs about Strategic Communication and Public Relations

- An award-winning public relations resource

- What would the LEAN Communicator do?

- A gathering place for professional communicators
- Ranting and raving about news, techniques, and development in the world of PR research and evaluation.

- The latest and most effective strategies to market your business.

- The place at the intersection of business, communication and technology.
- Social Network for PR Students, Faculty, and Practitioners

- Conversations about Social Media and Marketing

- educational resource for public relations with hundreds of articles to browse on various PR topics

Home | Internal Communication | Public Relations | Speechwriting | Web Content | Government Communication | Tips & Tactics | Hot Topics | Back to Top
MyRagan | MyManageresNetwork | MyRaganTV | Blogs | Podcasts | Jobs | Forums | eNewsletters
About Us | Copyright 2007 Ragan Communications, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Search | FAQ | Contact Us | Store | RSS RSS | Widgets | Site Map