In an interview with Religioscope, Michael Hastings Black discusses how new media can help the image of Islam in the United States:
Religioscope – New media seem to be more dialogic in terms of depicting minorities in the US. At the same time, the global image of the Muslim identity group seems to be quite negative. How would you balance the respective effects of the 9/11 aftermath and the democratization effect of new media?
Michael Hastings Black – What’s most important about new media is the fact that they are a space dialogue and self-depiction. Regardless of what the mass media do with monologue, online is a space in which Muslims can author their own stories, ones that can be consumed by other Muslims and non-Muslims. Here we see an ever-increasing diversity of voices who speak as Muslims, from a strict imam to a spunky lesbian; just as with every other religion, there is a wealth of diversity within. It is this panoply of voices that help to counter negative and simple-minded thinking about Islam.
Read the full interview here.
