On the issue of automatic assumptions

In response to Prof. Hardig's post "On the issue of automatic assumptions," the shooting over the weekend at a Texas Muhammad drawing contest is another example of the ways in which American media often portrays Muslims. Out of all of the coverage I've seen of the issue, none of it mentions the number of Muslims who peacefully protested and chose not to commit an act of violence (which I would venture to say is beyond the number of attackers who threatened the event). Second, news outlets are currently reporting that ISIS has claimed responsibility for the shooting, playing into the idea that the two men were somehow linked to the organization without any evidence thus far that they were other than the claim. While this possibility cannot yet be ruled out, it is also possible that ISIS has falsely taken responsibility for the attack in an effort to breed additional fear among Americans of attacks being carried out on U.S. soil, thereby enhancing its legitimacy as an organization that can execute a strike thousands of miles from its base. Reporting that ISIS has claimed responsibility without providing evidence of such, especially when mentioning the lack of evidence well after the headline, is an example of how American news media sometimes favor reporting expediency to the potential detriment of an accurate portrayal of events. I also found this phenomenon to be evident within the coverage of the Chapel Hill shooting; the notion that the man who killed the three students had committed a hate crime was pervasive and very little mainstream media coverage mentioned the fact that he had reportedly had problems with other non-Muslim neighbors in the past. It appears that in providing accurate and representative coverage of Muslims (as well as other minorities), American news media has its work cut out for itself.