Do media represent realistic images of Arab?

Both my friends are Arabs, and sometimes we sit down to chat about our cultures. I find it very intriguing that a lot of people have their own perception of "Arabs." But to be honest I can't blame the majority of people for having unrealistic views about Arabs, because they are not well educated about the culture. The sad part? When Sept. 11 had occurred I believe the tragedy definitely put a scar in the images of Arab. Instantly our society assumed every middle eastern person they saw was a terrorist. It's already hard enough to see that my best friends suffer through the war between Israel and Palestine. So to see the news portraying the Arab culture as terrorists, or some kind of "weird" religion just because of some are Muslim, is sickening. One of my best friends is not only Arab but a muslim, and one day she decided to wear the head wrap, in order to represent her religion. From the media, Muslim Arabs are seen to be un-ordinary, so for my best friend to go out in public with a hair wrap was shocking to a lot of my friends. I think it's important for other cultures to understand others before jumping to assumptions that certain people are the way they are, just because the media shows the side we expect to see. But then again it's hard for others to learn about other cultures when they don't have any interest in doing so.