News Media Coverage of Islam and Muslims in Australia: An Opinion Survey among Australian Muslims

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Ewart, Jacqui
Cherney, Adrian
Murphy, Kristina
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2017
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Abstract

Existing research has explored the ways the mainstream news media covers Muslims and Islam, but few studies have examined Muslims’ reactions to this reporting. Studies that have investigated this issue have identified that the responses of Muslims to news media coverage tend to be largely negative because of the lack of Muslim news sources, the stereotypical representation of Muslims in news coverage, the portrayal of Muslims as the enemy within, and the conflation of Muslims with terrorism. This paper further explores the attitudes of Muslims to news media coverage of Islam and Muslims by drawing on data from 14 focus groups (N = 104 participants) conducted with Australian Muslims. Similar to previous research, findings reveal that Australian Muslims are highly critical of news media coverage of Islam and Muslims and express concern about the divisiveness that such portrayal can have for Australian society. However, the study participants also had positive comments to make about the news media. Possible solutions to negative news media portrayals of Muslims are considered.

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Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs

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This publication has been entered into Griffith Research Online as an Advanced Online Version.

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Political science

Communication and media studies

Sociology

Religious studies

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