There is something besides bigot-pandering media at work here. In my experience much anti-Muslim propaganda flows through the de facto network of fundamentalist churches that can be found in every corner of the country. This is especially true of the free lance non-denominational churches who don’t have bishops or other higher-ups to tell them to cool it. These churches are independent of accountability but they tend to use the same books, watch the same videos, and invite the same guest speakers.
I’ve mentioned the person who told me that Muslims always plan to take over and institute “shahara law” as soon as they reach 3% of the population in a given area. She got this precise sounding information from a guest speaker at her church, an unaffiliated Bible church in Lubbock. This seems to be fairly common. I hear fantastic claims all the time that I know did not come from even such crazed media sources as Pamela Gellar or Rush Limbaugh.