The New Zealand shooting in Christchurch has once again made some people question whether terrorist acts by Muslims are handled differently in the press to those by non Muslims.
Criticism for example was levelled against the BBC for not referring to the attack as an act of terrorism. The Ariana Grande bombing incident that took place nearly two years ago on the other hand drew headlines that made the link with terrorism quite clear.
The live-streamed footage of the Christchurch shooting was also taken down quickly, whereas the media shared every scrap of Ariana Grande footage that it could get hold of. Some argue that the comparison is unfair because while the Christchurch footage is graphic and will upset the victims’ families, the Grande footage is not.
But I think that what they have in common is more important than what they don’t. They both show the effects of terror, and need to be seen so that people know what terrorism looks like.
Islam has been stereotyped as the religion of terror. But we need to create awareness that terrorism cannot be linked to one ethnicity, colour or religion. As Christchurch showed, acts of racist terrorism can be carried out by anyone.
That’s why the Christchurch headlines should have all referred to terror; and that’s why it was wrong to censor the footage that proved that white Christian men can be terrorists too.