What misconceptions?

WaPo managing editor: Media to blame for "misconceptions" about Islam You know, the usual: the idea that any teachings of Islam sanction violence against unbelievers, or supremacism, or deception, etc. The media is to blame for anyone thinking that, you see. 10,000+ jihad terror attacks since 9/11? No, of course they have had nothing to do with anyone coming to believe that any teachings of Islam condone violence. What are you, some kind of Islamophobe?

"Media to blame for Islamic misconceptions," by Alan Blank for the Daily Pilot (thanks to Kemaste):

The managing editor of one of the country’s biggest newspapers thinks news organizations ought to hire more Muslim reporters.

Philip Bennett, the Washington Post’s managing editor, said reporters often struggle with understanding Islam during a speech Monday at UCI about the difficulties of covering the religion.

Bennett’s speech focused on the media’s need to cover issues concerning Islam in an in-depth, long-term manner.

To illustrate this point he drew mainly from quotes of notable colleagues and statistical polls, rarely giving his own opinion directly.

“Six of 10 Americans, according to a 2007 ABC Poll, don’t understand the basic tenets of Islam,” Bennett said.

He attributed this to the lack of Muslims working in American newsrooms.

“At the Post I want more Muslim readers and I want more Muslim journalists,” he said.

Words poorly translated from Arabic to English are a big source of confusion caused by the lack of Muslim voices in the American media, according to Bennett.

Zeyad Maasarani, 22, a Muslim reporter for California’s most circulated Muslim publication, Southern California in Focus, agrees with Bennett that terms like “jihad,” “madrasa” and “hijab” are a big source of the public’s misunderstanding of Islam.

“Jihad means holy war, which is the definition that most Americans know, but it also means struggle, and valiant attempt,” Maasarani said.

Uh huh. And this refutes Osama bin Laden how exactly?

Thanks Jihad Watch