The problem with this is that Islamic jihadists themselves call themselves jihadists. They may even consider what they do to be terrorism, in line with the Qur’an’s command to “strike terror in the enemies of Allah” (8:60). To call Islamic jihadists “Islamic jihadists” is not to demonize all Muslims, no matter how often this is repeated, any more than to refer to “California surfers” characterizes all Californians as surfers. What Peter Mwaura is actually advocating here is willful ignorance and self-imposed censorship regarding the jihad threat, which will allow the jihad to advance unopposed and unimpeded.
“Don’t use ‘jihadist’ in news stories; that is capable of promoting hate,” by Peter Mwaura, Nation Media Group, October 2, 2020 (thanks to Henry):
The first article I wrote upon becoming the public editor of NMG was titled “Media misrepresentation of Muslims and Islam: Who takes the blame?” (Daily Nation, February 19, 2015).
It was a plea to NMG journalists to avoid demonising Muslims and Islam in their news stories by using such terms as Islamic terrorists and jihadists. The indiscriminate use of the terms promotes Islamophobia. But I was up against a newsroom culture that was insensitive to the use of words or terms that were misleading and offensive to Muslims.
The perpetuation of Islamophobia and prejudice by demonising Muslims as immoral and dangerous people through media stories lingers on.
On September 21, the Daily Nation published on page 12 a news story with a headline that suggested jihadists are child rapists: “Jihad and rape: Beware the stranger stalking your child.” With justification, Abu Ayman Abusufian, of Jamia Mosque, Nairobi, and his fellow Muslims took umbrage against the headline.
“The article was centred on cybercrime and had nothing to do with Jihad. In the 924-word article, only one paragraph, of 17 words, had a reference about ‘jihadist’ and it begs the question why the term Jihad was used in the headline,” said Mr Abusufian.
The Daily Nation has no excuses, I must say. There is no nexus between Jihad and rape, as Mr Abusufian rightly points out. The Nation should stop using the loaded words, Jihad and jihadists, in news stories…