How Newsweek's #Muslimrage went rogue

 

Ellen E. Jones
Tuesday 18 September 2012 09:24 BST
Comments
CHICAGO - AUGUST 2: The August 2 issue of Newsweek magazine is shown on a newsstand on August 2, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. Newsweek is one of the top three newsweeklies in the US but as of 2007 has lost $44 million in operating costs.
CHICAGO - AUGUST 2: The August 2 issue of Newsweek magazine is shown on a newsstand on August 2, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. Newsweek is one of the top three newsweeklies in the US but as of 2007 has lost $44 million in operating costs. (Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When old media (e.g the venerable Newsweek magazine, est. 1933) takes up the tools of new media, (e.g Twitter hashtags), clumsiness often ensues.

Such was the case when Newsweek tried to publicise their September 24th cover story on the Innocence of Muslims protests, with the snappy "#Muslimrage". "Want to discuss our latest cover? Let's hear it with the hashtag: #MuslimRage", they tweeted. It didn't quite go as planned.

"The tagged reactions to Newsweek's proposal have been...mixed," writes Megan Garber in The Atlantic, "Some tweets are funny. Some are satirical. Some are cruel. But they are pretty much united in their rejection of Newsweek's premise that "Muslim rage" is something to be talked about, under the magazine's brand, on Twitter. Which is also to say: People rejected glibness."

You can read the selection of tweets here.

The situation is also reminiscent of the joyful hashtag reappropriation of the EDL's "creeping sharia" phrase in April.

@TheLostRosa tweets "When the garden centre won't sell you a #creepingsharia for your fence muslimrage"

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in