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

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TUESDAY:

Campus Voices

THURSDAY:
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FRIDAY:

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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. 

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‘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

