This issue isn’t new, but it grows more and more important each day. In an article published by the Brookings Institution, global media scholar Madiha Afzal discusses the way in which the media (and as a result, the general public) are isolating Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world.

The way that media outlets cover stories about bombings in Paris, the U.S. and other Westernized countries is vastly different from the way that bombings in Pakistan and Syria are covered. Even though citizens in both sets of countries are victims to terrorism, the media tends to place less emphasis on the tragedy of deaths in countries that we “expect” to see war in. As consumers, we are also more likely to be apathetic to terrorism casualties in these countries as well, which only perpetuates the problem. By paying less attention to attacks in Muslim countries, media consumers create the impression that Muslim lives matter less than other lives. By changing our Facebook profile picture to support France after attacks last November, we unconsciously furthered this divide. And as the gap widens between Muslims (American, European, or Middle Eastern) and Western states, there is more risk that terrorist groups like ISIS will be able to recruit members that feel they have no where else to turn.

This is admittedly a hard problem to correct, but it is one that the media needs to take responsibility for and act on in order to change consumer behavior and create empathy equity.