I find that our Somali community leaders do understand the profound influence media has in shaping popular opinion nor the implications of their words when approached by media representatives. While it is noteworthy that here in Australia, Somalis are still a new migrant group (earliest migrants coming during the early 1980s but the large wave came between 1991-1999) and as such I find that we're just getting the hang of things.
All in all Somali community here, is very reactive. Whenever I see a Somali on a news program I literally cringe! Here are a few examples:
A Somali community leader on khat:
If khat is banned then men in our community will go to alcohol or hard drugs or something worse than khat," says Abdurahman Osman, president of the Somali Community of Victoria.
That same community leader also said to a journalist something along the lines of how "Khat is not a drug because [he] uses it".
After three Somali men were arrested on alleged terrorism charges this program aired on a popular TV channel.
http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/20 ... ans-part-1.