Exposure to negative
stereotypes increased
support for restrictive
policies
By SAMIHA MATIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Recent
University
studies
suggest individuals who identify
as non-Muslim and are exposed
to negative portrayals of Mus-
lims in the media are more likely
to support restrictive public pol-
icies aimed at Muslims interna-
tionally and domestically.
Communications Prof. Muni-
ba Saleem, a faculty associate at
the Institute for Social Research,
spearheaded the research proj-
ect. The project consisted of
three separate studies that dis-
played
various
mechanisms
through which stereotypes, as
identified by researchers in the
media, can cause individuals to
deem Muslims as aggressive and
consequently support policies
that target them.
The participants in each
study all identified as non-
Muslim but varied in race and
gender. After being exposed to
media clips that featured nega-
tive portrayals of Muslims, the
participants were then polled on
policies deemed by the research-
ers as harmful toward Muslim
Americans.
In an interview, Saleem said
the results of the three studies
emphasize how media portray-
als influence public opinion.
“This work highlights the
importance of media depictions
in influencing support for pub-
lic policies that don’t just harm
Muslims
internationally,
but
even those who are our fellow
American citizens,” she said.
“This is especially important
when we consider that most
Americans have little to no
direct contact with Muslims and
often rely on media to get infor-
mation about Muslims.”
Specifically, after exposure
to news stories where Muslims
were described as terrorists,
participants
correspondingly
showed support for military
actions in Muslim countries to
reduce the influence of Islam.
They also supported actions
such as secretly monitoring
Muslim
Americans
without
their consent, not allowing them
the right to vote and requiring
them to go through separate,
more scrutinized airport secu-
rity lines.
“These perceptions, in turn,
can create hostile expectations
and anger by some non-Mus-
lims, who may exhibit aggres-
sive behaviors,” Saleem said.
However, she noted that the
study also found that support
for such policies is significantly
reduced when participants were
exposed to news that portrayed
Muslims in a neutral or positive
light.
“If media representation of
Muslims was more balanced and
positive, we would not see such
negative attitudes towards Mus-
lims and support for policies
that harm them,” she said.
Although the research was
useful in showing short-term
effects, Saleem said she hopes
to carry out research that exam-
ines the long-term effects of ter-
rorism news on attitudes toward
Muslims.
Law student Omar El-Halwa-
gi, co-president of the Muslim
Law Students Association at
the University, said though the
study shows how the media can
influence the opinions of non-
Muslim
Americans,
encour-
aging non-muslim support of
anti-Muslim policies, he hopes
more research will show how
Muslims, particularly Muslim
students, are impacted.
“When a presidential can-
didate’s poll numbers increase
when he espouses an Islamo-
phobic stance, it makes Muslim
students here have to focus on
more just their contracts read-
ing,” El-Halwagi said. “Feeling
2 — Tuesday, January 12, 2016
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
THREE THINGS YOU
SHOULD KNOW TODAY
The
Michigan
women’s gymnastics
team moved up to No.
1 in the nation in Monday’s
poll
after
Saturday’s
196.925-195.200 win over
Georgia. The Wolverines
take on Ohio State at Crisler
Center on Saturday.
2
CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES
MLK
symposium
WHAT: A discussion of
design in minority groups.
WHO: A. Alfred Taubman
College of Architecture +
Urban Planning
WHEN: Today from 7
p.m. to 10 p.m.
WHERE: Duderstadt
Center, Media Union,
Gallery
Guest recital
WHAT: Faculty members
Timothy McAllister,
Randall Hawes and
Kathryn Goodson will
perform on the saxophone,
bass trombone and
piano respectively.
WHO: School of Music,
Theatre & Dance
WHEN: Today at 8 p.m.
WHERE: Walgreen Drama
Positive links
speaker
WHAT: Michelle Segar
of the University’s
SHARP Center on
health and well-being.
WHO: Ross Center for
Positive Organizations
WHEN: Today from
4 p.m. to 5 p.m.
WHERE: Ross
Colloquium, 6th floor
Renowned artists David
Bowie died at age 69 on
Sunday after 18 months
of cancer treatment, the
New York Times Reports.
Following his death, Bowie’s
album Blackstar reached No.
1 on iTunes after an increase
in album sales.
1
Piano recital
WHAT: Fan Zhang, a
student piano player, will
perform four sonota pieces
from composers Haydn,
Scriabin and Albeniz as
the second segment of her
dissertation.
WHO: School of Music,
Theatre & Dance
WHEN: Today at 7:30
p.m.
WHERE: Earl V. Moore
Building, Britton Recital
Hall
The FBI has expanded
its investigation into
the
private
email
servers of democratic
presidential
front-runner
Hilary Clinton, Fox News
reports. The investigation
searches for possible public
corruption in connection
with the Clinton Foundation.
3
My Brothers:
Setting Goals
WHAT: Self-identified
men of color will be given
space to share their goals
and strategies for year.
WHO: Office of Academic
Multicultural Initiatives
WHEN: Today from
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan
Union, Central
Student Government
Chambers Room
Winterfest
WHAT: Student
organizations and various
majors will present
information about joining
their groups.
WHO: Center for Campus
Involvement
WHEN: Today from 4
p.m. to 8 p.m.
WHERE: Michigan
Union, third floor
Narcissism
defense lecture
WHAT: Prof. Laura Kipnis
will speak about the crevices
of the American psyche.
WHO: Michigan Society of
Fellows
WHEN: Today from 4 p.m.
to 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Rackham
Graduate School,
Amphitheatre
Excellence
lecture
WHAT: Christopher
Harding will lecture
on achieving musical
excellence.
WHO: School of Music,
Theatre & Dance
WHEN: Today at 11:40 a.m.
WHERE: Earl V.
Moor Building, Britton
Recital Hall
Newsroom
734-418-4115 opt. 3
Corrections
corrections@michigandaily.com
Arts Section
arts@michigandaily.com
Sports Section
sports@michigandaily.com
Display Sales
dailydisplay@gmail.com
Online Sales
onlineads@michigandaily.com
News Tips
news@michigandaily.com
Letters to the Editor
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Editorial Page
opinion@michigandaily.com
Photography Section
photo@michigandaily.com
Classified Sales
classified@michigandaily.com
Finance
finance@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
Laura Schinagle Managing Editor schlaura@michigandaily.com
Emma Kerr Managing News Editor emkerr@michigandaily.com
SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Allana Akhtar, Alyssa Brandon, Jacqeline Charniga, Katie
Penrod, Emma Kinery
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS: Riyah Basha, Marlee Breakstone, Desiree Chew, Anna
Haritos, Camy Metwally, Lydia Murray, Caitlin Reedy, Alexa St. John
Claire Bryan and
Regan Detwiler Editorial Page Editors opinioneditors@michigandaily.com
SENIOR OPINION EDITORS: Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Anna Polumbo-Levy, Jason
Rowland, Stephanie Trierweiler
Max Bultman and
Jake Lourim Managing Sports Editors
sportseditors@michigandaily.com
SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS: Minh Doan, Jacob Gase, Kelly Hall, Simon Kaufman, Jason
Rubinstein, Zach Shaw, Brad Whipple
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITORS: Betelhem Ashame, Chris Crowder, Sylvanna Gross,
Leland Mitchinson, Ted Janes, Kevin Santo,
Kathleen Davis and
arts@michigandaily.com
Adam Theisen Managing Arts Editors
SENIOR ARTS EDITORS: Caroline Filips, Melina Glusac, Jacob Rich, Ben Rosenstock
ARTS BEAT EDITORS: Matthew Barnauskas, Christian
Kennedy, Rebecca Lerner, Natalie Zak
Amanda Allen and
photo@michigandaily.com
Grant Hardy Managing Photo Editors
SENIOR PHOTO EDITORS: Zoey Holmstrom, Zach Moore, James Coller
ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS: Claire Abdo, Robery
Dunne, Sam Mousigian, San Pham, David Song
Anjali Alangaden and
design@michigandaily.com
Mariah Gardziola Managing Design Editors
Karl Williams Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
DEPUTY STATEMENT EDITORS: Nabeel Chollampat and Tori Noble
STATEMENT PHOTO EDITOR: Zoey Holmstrom
STATEMENT LEAD DESIGNER: Shane Achenbach
Emily Campbell and
copydesk@michigandaily.com
Alexis Nowicki Managing Copy Editors
SENIOR COPY EDITORS: Taylor Grandinetti and Jose Rosales
Nivedita Karki Online Editor nivkarki@michigandaily.com
Levin Kim Managing Video Editor
SENIOR VIDEO EDITORS: Michael Kessler, Abe Lofy, Emma Winowiecki
Michael Schramm Special Projects Manager
Emma Sutherland Social Media Editor
BUSINESS STAFF
Hussein Hakim Finance and Operations Manager
Claire Ulak Production Manager
Jordan Yob Marketing Manager
Matt Pfenning UAccounts Manager
Asja Kepes Local Accounts Manager
Colin Cheesman National Accounts Manager
Anna He Special Guides and Online Manager
Claire Butz Layout Manager
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by
students at the University of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may
be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $110.
Winter term (January through April) is $115, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates
are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must
be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press.
TUESDAY:
Campus Voices
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Photos of the Week
WEDNESDAY:
In Other Ivory Towers
MONDAY:
This Week in History
BRUCE CONFORTH
Beatniks, Hippies and Punks
KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily
LSA sophomore Taylor Kucharski participates in Michigan Yoga
Club’s first class of Winter 2016, held at the aUM Yoga Studio on
Monday.
STRETCH TO THE SKIES
Dr. Bruce Conforth is a
professor in the Department
of American Culture and
teaches, most notably
American Culture 208,
Beatniks, Hippies, and
Punks. Conforth is a
founding curator of the
Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. In 2012, he won the
Golden Apple Award for
outstanding teaching..
What is the greatest
lesson music or learning
musical instruments has
taught you?
Patience. Patience.
Because, among other
things, I’m a firm believer
in the saying that’s often
used in the blues that it’s
not the notes you play, it’s
the notes you don’t play
that are important, or a
close corollary to that: It’s
not how many notes you
play, it’s the space between
them, and I think that’s
really like a metaphor for
life in general.
You are known for being
a lot of different things
including a scholar,
musician, professor,
historian and curator, as
well as many more. What
achievement or identity
are you most proud of?
I don’t think I’m
particularly prouder of
any of those things than
I am just the idea that I
think I’m a decent human
being. I’d like to think that
who I am as a person is the
thing that I am proudest
of because I think that I’m
an honest, I think that I’m
a caring, I think that I’m a
loving, thoughtful human
being who’s always trying
to make himself a little bit
better.
How do you define
success?
Happiness. Personal
happiness. Personal
happiness and the ability to
know that you have defined
yourself.
—WILL FEUER
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ROSE FILIPP
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
rfilipp@michigandaily.com
SHOHAM GEVA
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
sageva@michigandaily.com
‘U’ professor
says expansion
to India will have
significant impact
By BECCA SOLBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
A
key
component
in
the
cultural
phenomenon
“Netflix and Chill” has gone
global.
Netflix
announced
on
Jan. 6 that the company is
embarking on a huge new
year’s resolution for 2016:
expanding to 130 countries
new countries.
In an interview with the
Daily,
Puneet
Manchanda,
a
professor
in
the
Ross
School of Business, said the
comanpies expansion to India
in particular was significant,
citing economy, growth and
strategy as motives for the
company’s expansion.
Manchanda said because
Netflix is seen as a hyper
global company, in order to
keep growing it needs to find
new markets. He said the
expansion also relies on high-
speed internet access, which
has a large market size in
countries like India.
“The rest of the world
has about six times as many
broadband subscribers than
the U.S.,” Manchanda said.
“So this is one way they can
grow by expanding into new
markets because the market
size is quite big.”
Additionally,
since
the
company currently provides
hugely popular content, such
as shows like “Daredevil,”
“Jessica Jones” and “Narcos,”
Manchanda said he thinks
Netflix wants to share the
content
with
the
largest
population possible. He said
by expanding into India, it will
be able to expand it’s audience
on
these
Netflix
original
shows, as well as others.
“They become a worldwide
channel, and that’s part of their
strategy,” Manchanda said.
As well, Manchanda said
as Netflix distributes content
produced
by
studios
and
TV companies, the larger
audience
may
increase
content providers’ drive to
give
Netflix
distribution
rights.
LSA junior Chloe Herl,
who currently has a Netflix
subscription,
said
she
is
excited to watch global films
once Netflix receives rights to
global content from countries
See NETFLIX PAGE 3
Illustration by Anjali Alangaden
Media portrayals of Muslims,
public opinion linked in study
Netflix goes global with plan
to expand to 130 countries
See MEDIA, Page 7