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The framing of news on Islam and allowed for the effective
clustering of topics that connote several dominant symbolized meanings. Topics
that are not numerically important however are not insignificant. By analysing the
number of articles on particular topics rather than the tone of the articles, I
have been able to identify any ‘central defining themes that might be taken as
indicating the meaning and significance’ given to Islam in the newspapers. How
these topics were discussed together in the newspaper created particular
meanings which can be summarized as:
·
Muslim involvement in deviant activities
threatens security in the UK.
·
They are a threat to British ‘mainstream’ values
and thus provoke integrative concerns.
·
They are inherent cultural differences between
Muslims and the host community which creates tensions in interpersonal
relations.
·
Muslims are increasingly making their presence
felt in the public sphere.
Newspaper articles
When moderate organizations organised their own, un-confrontational,
demonstrations against the publication of the cartoons they received virtually
no publicity at all. For anyone reading British papers at that time it would
certainly have appeared that al-Guraba and young men wearing bomb belts, were
representative of Muslim opinion in Britain.
When it came to the comment columns one might have hoped for better. I
counted over 80 comment columns over six British newspapers. The Times and Mail
could not muster a single Muslim columnist to write about the events. The
Telegraph had one Muslim voice on its comment pages. The Guardian and
Independent on Sunday did rather better than that (indeed almost all the real
debate was in the Guardian), nevertheless there was a very narrow range of
Muslim views represented. Whereas in Sweden, Norway and France there were
Muslim voices to be heard in the press calling for Muslims everywhere to stand
up for liberal values and press freedom, it appears that in the UK, Muslims
were all against publication with the exception of Nonie Darwish writing in the
Telegraph.
It does seem odd that those British Muslim intellectuals spoke in such
unison and that the emphasis was so different from their counterparts in Europe.
The comment columns gave the very clear picture of a community that has very
different values from the rest of the country. To be sure the Guardian and the
Independent on Sunday (and Ann Leslie in the Mail) came out strongly in defense
of their right to have their views respected, but the overwhelming sense was of
a community of "others" with views that are not like
"ours".
A "torrent" of negative stories has been revealed by a study of
the portrayal of Muslims and Islam in the media, according to a report
published yesterday.
Research into one week's news coverage showed that 91% of articles in
national newspapers about Muslims were negative. The London mayor, Ken
Livingstone, who commissioned the study, said the findings were a "damning
indictment" of the media and urged editors and programme makers to review
the way they portray Muslims.
"The overall picture presented by the media is that Islam is
profoundly different from and a threat to the west," he said. "There
is a scale of imbalance which no fair-minded person would think is right."
Only 4% of the 352 articles studied were positive, he said.
Livingstone said the findings showed a "hostile and scaremongering
attitude" towards Islam and likened the coverage to the way the left was
attacked by national newspapers in the early 1980s. "The charge is that
there are virtually no positive or balanced images of Islam being
portrayed," he said. "I think there is a demonization of Islam going
on which damages community relations and creates alarm among Muslims."
Among examples in the study was a report which claimed that Christmas was
being banned in one area because it offended Muslims, which researchers said
was "inaccurate and alarmist". The report said that Muslims in
Britain were sometimes depicted as a threat to traditional British values, and
the coverage weakened government attempts to reduce extremism. The report is an
amalgam of research projects individually prepared by members of a panel. Some
research, examining published newspaper articles and reporting the experiences
of Muslim journalists, involved Hugh Muir, of the Guardian.
Muslims are being "demonised" by
the British media, with 91% of reports being negative, research commissioned by
London's mayor has found.
Ken
Livingstone said the survey, by consultancy firm Insted, studied a week's news
reports and found Islam was portrayed as a "threat to the West".
Another poll published on Tuesday found that at least 35% of Londoners held
Islam responsible for the 7/7 attacks. The YouGov poll, commissioned by the
Evening Standard, spoke to 701 people.
'Creates
alarm'
Mr
Livingstone said the research by Insted - a consultancy firm which deals with
issues of diversity and equality - found the national media had a "hostile
and scaremongering attitude" towards the community. Mr Livingstone said:
"The overall picture presented by the media is that Islam is profoundly
different from and a threat to the West. "I think there is a demonization
of Islam going on which damages community relations and creates alarm among
Muslims," he said.
Mr
Livingstone urged editors to be balanced in their coverage saying out of 352
articles studied by researchers last year just 4% were positive. The Evening
Standard poll asked 701 people about issues and attitudes towards Islam,
wearing the veil and faith schools. The poll found about a third of those
questioned wanted political groups "promoting fundamentalist Islamic
agendas" banned. While more than half of those interviewed said Muslims in
London were "isolated" from others, about 50% thought Islam was a
"generally intolerant faith".
Regarding
veils, at least eight out of 10 people said neither students nor teachers
should be allowed to wear the veil in school. On faith schools, some 20% of the
respondents wanted faith schools to be "encouraged", 10% wanted their
numbers to be reduced and one in three wanted them banned. Another poll,
carried out by Ipsos-Mori on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and
published on Monday, found 86% of Muslims in the city and 91% of other
Londoners strongly felt that the police needed to work closely with the
community.
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