[sankofalist]TV Watchers Less Sympathetic to Civil Liberties

Mon, 20 Dec 2004 20:14:49 -0500

> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand
this format, some or all of this message may not be legible.

--B_3186418493_6509519
Content-type: text/plain;
	charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit

TV Watchers Less Sympathetic to Civil Liberties
 "In a study to determine how much the public fears terrorism, almost half
of respondents polled nationally said they believe the U.S. government
should -- in some way -- curtail civil liberties for Muslim Americans,"
according to a survey released Friday by Cornell University.

 "The survey also showed a correlation between television news-viewing
habits, a respondent's fear level and attitudes toward restrictions on civil
liberties for all Americans. Respondents who paid a lot of attention to
television news were more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties,
such as greater power for the government to monitor the Internet.
Respondents who paid less attention to television news were less likely to
support such measures," the release said.

 Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, said in a  statement  reacting to the survey that, "Elected
representatives, government officials and other opinion leaders must finally
recognize that Islamophobia is a growing phenomenon in American society that
must be urgently addressed." He said the Cornell study confirmed a CAIR
survey from October that indicated that one in four Americans believed
anti-Muslim stereotypes.

--B_3186418493_6509519
Content-type: text/html;
	charset="US-ASCII"
Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>TV Watchers Less Sympathetic to Civil Liberties</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
TV Watchers Less Sympathetic to Civil Liberties 
<SPA=
N STYLE=3D'font-size:11.0px'> &quot;In a study to determine how much the publi=
c fears terrorism, almost half of respondents polled nationally said they be=
lieve the U.S. government should -- in some way -- curtail civil liberties f=
or Muslim Americans,&quot; according to a survey released Friday by Cornell =
University. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;The survey also showed a correlation between television news-vi=
ewing habits, a respondent's fear level and attitudes toward restrictions on=
 civil liberties for all Americans. Respondents who paid a lot of attention =
to television news were more likely to favor restrictions on civil liberties=
, such as greater power for the government to monitor the Internet. Responde=
nts who paid less attention to television news were less likely to support s=
uch measures,&quot; the release said. 
 
&nbsp;Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Isla=
mic Relations, said in a &nbsp;statement &nbsp;=
reacting to the survey that, &quot;Elected representatives, government offic=
ials and other opinion leaders must finally recognize that Islamophobia is a=
 growing phenomenon in American society that must be urgently addressed.&quo=
t; He said the Cornell study confirmed a CAIR survey from October that indic=
ated that one in four Americans believed anti-Muslim stereotypes.</FO=
NT>
</BODY>
</HTML>

--B_3186418493_6509519--