Mass media Islam: the impact of media imagery on public opinion

Transcription

1 Mass media Islam: the impact of media imagery on public opinion Halim Rane and Mohamad Abdalla Abstract For the vast majority of Australians, the mass media are a primary source of information about Islam and Muslims. The results of a telephone survey conducted with a sample of 500 people in Queensland indicate that the media have not facilitated a better understanding of Islam or its adherents. Rather, for many people reliant on the media for information, an understanding of mass media Islam has emerged. Due to a media tendency to focus on the extremes of Islam rather than the moderate mainstream, this understanding is more consistent with a constructed media version of Islam than with reality. Certain media sources were found to be more strongly associated with this process of image construction than others. The study also found that in spite of having limited knowledge of Islam and a reliance on the media for information, most respondents are generally accepting of Muslims as part of Australian society and do not perceive them as a threat to the country. Part of the explanation is that almost two-thirds of those surveyed recognise media representations of Islam and Muslims as a negative construction (biased, unfair, inaccurate or ill-informed) rather than an accurate, objective or fair representation. The study concludes that in spite of the media being a primary source of information, the potential for pejorative representations of Muslims to generate negative public opinion is limited to a minority of the population. Introduction Relations between Muslims and the wider Australian society have been strained over past decades, and particularly strained since Media coverage of domestic issues and international events involving Muslims is widely considered to be a central factor in the perpetuation of negative perceptions of Islam. The 2006 census compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows Muslims comprising 1.7 per cent of the Australian population (ABS, 2007). The wider AJR 30(1) 3

2 Australian society has, therefore, a relatively limited opportunity for interpersonal interaction with Muslim people. In the absence of direct or first-hand experience of people, places or events, the mass media generally become the primary source of information (Bryant & Zillman, 2002). Since the Gulf War of 1991, and even as far back as the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Islam and Muslim people have attracted considerable media attention (Said, 1997). Past research, specifically content analysis, demonstrates that Islam and Muslims have overwhelmingly been portrayed pejoratively by the mass media (see, for example, Rane, 2000). Since September 11, 2001, further research has continued to show not only a massive increase in the volume of media coverage of Islam and Muslims, but also an increase in the pejorative nature of this coverage (Manning, 2004). This article does not suggest that violence, terrorism, discrimination against women and violations of human rights committed by some Muslims in the name of Islam are an invention of the mass media. Undeniably, these are a reality in certain parts of the Muslim world among certain Muslim people. However, to consider the Western media s representation of Islam and Muslims as a mirror or a reflection of reality is inaccurate unless one recognises that, depending on their shape, mirrors are able to distort reality. Perhaps a better metaphor is to consider the media as a window: it does not so much distort reality as it limits the scope and range of view depending on its size, location and direction. The general tendency of the mass media is to focus on the unusual, sensational, and extreme. Consequently, when people rely on the mass media for their understanding of Islam and Muslims, they are unlikely to gain a view of the complete picture. The statements and actions of a minority of Muslims in the context of newsworthy people, places and events will dominate their understanding of Islam. More hardline and extreme Muslim voices tend to be presented as representative of the Muslim masses. This could be described as mass media Islam, as the image constructed is more consistent with the media version of Islam than with the reality. In his book Covering Islam (1997), the late Edward Said best describes this phenomenon when he says: The term Islam as it is used today seems to mean one simple thing but in fact is part fiction, part ideological label, part minimal designation of a religion called Islam. In no real significant way is there a direct correspondence between the Islam in common Western usage and the enormously varied life that goes on within the world of Islam, with its more than 800,000,000 [now 1.3 billion] people, its millions of square miles of territory principally in Africa and Asia, its dozens of societies, states, histories, geographies, cultures. On the other hand, Islam is peculiarly traumatic news today in the West. During the past few years, especially since events in Iran caught European and American attention so strongly, the media have therefore covered Islam: they have portrayed it, characterized it, analysed it, given instant courses on it, and consequently they have made it known. (p. l-li) Media content In the study of Islam and Muslims in the West and the issue of inter-community relations, a major focus has been the representation of Muslims in the mass media. This body of literature essentially consists of content and discourse analyses of media coverage of Islam and Muslims. A considerable body of literature concerning the representation of Muslims in the United Kingdom and United States has been produced, and provides some relevant insights for this article. Elizabeth Poole s (2002) book, Reporting Islam: media representations of British Muslims, presents the findings of her analysis of selected content of two British newspapers over a two-year period ( ). She found that while the coverage of British Muslims was more detailed than 40 Australian Journalism Review

3 that with an overseas focus, an orientalist discourse was present in the reporting. Orientalism treats the Orient and Orientals as an object of study inscribed by otherness. This typology is based on a real specificity but detached from history, and is thus conceived as intangible and essential (Said, 1978). Focusing on the American context, Fawaz Gerges (2003), in his article Islam and Muslims in the minds of America, argues that negative media representation of Islam and Muslims, coupled with the influence of certain lobby groups and foreign-policy elites, exerts significant influence on the US public, which in turn fosters hardline US foreign policy towards political Islam. While most analyses of the representation of Islam and Muslims in the mass media tend to focus on factual media, predominantly newspapers, and television news to a lesser extent, fictional media are equally important in the context of this research. The relationship between fictional and factual media in this context tends to be one of resonance. This point is affirmed by the work of Jack Shaheen (2003), whose work, Reel bad Arabs: how Hollywood vilifies a people, demonstrates that Hollywood films portraying Arabs and Muslims frequently allude to or are based upon actual events or issues, giving fictional films a factual or authoritative character. In his analysis of more than 900 films portraying Arabs and Muslims, Shaheen found the films repeatedly dehumanised Arabs and Muslims, portraying them as heartless, brutal, uncivilised, religious fanatics who are violent and terrorists. He argues that, because of their repetitious nature, such portrayals have a negative impact on public discourse and policy. Films that offered audiences a humane and humanised understanding of Islam and Muslims were very few. Within the Australian context, a number of important analyses have been conducted on the representation of Islam and Muslims. Research by Halim Rane conducted prior to September 11, 2001, shows that negative reporting of Islam and Muslims was prevalent in the Australian press years before that date. Rane s (2000) work, The Australian press coverage of Islam, involved a content analysis of 1038 articles published in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and The West Australian between 1996 and 2000 that contained the words Islam, Islamic, Muslim or Moslem in the headline or lead paragraph. The major findings of his research were that the articles most frequently focused on the Middle East (29 per cent), which served to reinforce the stereotype that most Muslims are Arabs. The articles most frequently focused on war, crisis or conflict (52 per cent), and these most often showed Muslims to be fighting against Christians (45 per cent articles where the religion of the groups at war/conflict were identified), with Muslims as the aggressors (80 per cent). Descriptive references attached to the word Muslim or Islamic were frequently derogatory (40 per cent militant, fundamentalist, extremist or terrorist ). The articles also frequently described acts proscribed by Islam, such as killing and lynching, as Islamic (73 per cent of those where such acts where mentioned). Moreover, the articles rarely portrayed the human side of Muslims (only 4 per cent did so). These findings add weight to the assertion that fertile ground existed to support the official claims regarding the role of Muslims in the event of 9/11, and the justification for the war on terror in its aftermath. A more recent study by Shahram Akbarzadeh and Bianca Smith (2005) examined the coverage of Islam and Muslims in The Age and Herald Sun between September 11, 2001, and December 31, The study found a prevalence of negative images of Islam and Muslims in the newspapers, but not to an extent that could be considered Islamophobic. As important as the construction of stories and choice of words used, the context of the stories was found to be highly significant due to the negative impression the authors inferred would be left with readers. The authors highlight the negativity of stories dealing with war and conflict in which Muslims tended to be portrayed as militants and terrorists. However, half of the stories presented in The Age and one-quarter of those in the Herald Sun were found to demonstrate care in the choice of words, present the diversity of Australian Muslims, and avoid stereotyping. AJR 30(1) 41

4 A further contribution to the literature has been made by journalist and media commentator Peter Manning (2006), whose book Us and them presents the findings of his content analysis of The Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Telegraph, and compares this coverage with the author s own investigations of events in Indonesia, Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine. Like the work of Elizabeth Poole (2002), Manning found both the dailies he analysed to be orientalist and stereotypical in their reporting. Among his major findings were that Arabs and Muslims overseas were portrayed as violent, without reason, humanity or compassion ; Sydney Arab men were portrayed as sexual predators ; and Middle Eastern asylum seekers were presented as tricky, ungrateful and undeserving (Manning, 2006, p. 37). Media effects There is a general expectation that the mass media have at least some effects on audiences. Within the field of media studies, this issue has been a central debate for decades, with views oscillating between those who consider the media to have powerful effects on audiences and those who hold that such effects are limited. Although in the 1930s media effects were thought to be direct and powerful, subsequently, in the absence of supporting evidence, it was concluded that media effects were more limited than first thought. However, the diffusion of television in the 1960s and 70s reinvigorated effects research. Among the most important contributions is that of Stuart Hall, who highlights the polysemic nature of texts and thus of differential readings (Hall, 1980). Hall explains that while the producers of media content will construct their messages in order to encourage their preferred reading, this reading may not necessarily be dominant. The culture, knowledge and experiences of audiences may all contribute to a negotiated and even an oppositional reading of the text. Post-September 11, 2001, many still consider that the media affects attitudes toward Muslims. Research by Tanja Dreher (2005), for instance, documents a climate of fear and insecurity in the months immediately following the attacks on New York and Washington. The reporting of these attacks is considered to have produced a crisis in community relations between Muslims and the wider society in New South Wales. Verbal and physical attacks on Muslims, and those of Muslim appearance, were considered to be racially and religiously motivated, and in turn produced a climate of fear among Arabs and Muslims in Australia. The predominant attitude underlying the attacks was that Arabs and Muslims were not Australians and were not welcome in the country. The study identified a widespread perception in the community that media reporting was a central contributor to a climate of inter-community tension and racist violence. In order to investigate the relationship between the negative reporting of Islam and violence, discrimination and socio-economic marginalisation of Muslims, empirical research is required to test the public s knowledge of Islam and attitudes towards Muslims. In this regard, researchers such as Kevin Dunn (2005) have made significant progress. Dunn s research shows that only one-fifth of the Australians surveyed had a knowledge of Islam that was reasonable or better, and that half of those he surveyed knew a little about the faith. One-third of respondents were completely ignorant of Islam. The respondents lack of knowledge of Islam was related to their feeling of being threatened by Islam, with 61 per cent of those with a little knowledge of Islam feeling threatened, dropping to 46 per cent among those with a reasonable or better knowledge of Islam. Demonstrating the importance of direct contact with Muslims in counteracting misconceptions, his study reports that less than half of the respondents knew any Muslims. Assessing the news media The findings presented in this article are based on a telephone survey conducted with a sample of 500 people across south-east Queensland. Respondents were drawn randomly from the Bris- 42 Australian Journalism Review

5 bane metropolitan region, which extends north as far as Noosa, west to Ipswich and south to the Gold Coast. The survey was fielded by the University of Queensland s Social Research Centre in the last week of August and the first week of September The survey response rate was 33 per cent, calculated by dividing the number of eligible participants contacted (N=1500) by the number of completions (N=500). The margin of error for proportional findings is +/- 4.4 per cent, at a confidence level of 95 per cent (p=0.5). The data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 14. The gender mix of the sample was 39 per cent male and 61 per cent female. Forty-five per cent of respondents were aged over 50, 44 per cent were between 31 and 50, and 11 per cent between 16 and 30. In terms of the respondents highest level of educational qualifications, 10 per cent completed primary school, 32 per cent high school, and 23 per cent possessed a TAFE/trade certificate or diploma and 25 per cent a Bachelor s degree. Nine per cent possessed postgraduate qualifications or higher. The questions included in the survey sought responses regarding the respondents : Knowledge of Islam and its main teachings; Interaction with Muslims; Acceptance of Muslims as part of Australian society; Perceptions of Australian Muslims as a threat to the country; Main source of information about Islam and Muslims; Perceptions about how Muslims are represented in the media; Perceptions about how political leaders influence understandings of Islam and Muslims; and Perceptions of statements made by political leaders about Islam and Muslims. Findings Given that Muslims comprise a very small proportion of the total population, it was hypothesised that opportunities for direct experience or interaction with Muslims would be minimal and under such circumstances the media would be a primary source of information about Islam and Muslims. The survey asked respondents for their main source of information about Islam and Muslim people. Overwhelmingly, mass media were the primary sources of information, with 79 per cent of respondents stating a particular media source. Moreover, even among those respondents who stated non-media sources, 63 per cent stated that the media s importance was a little (33 per cent), a fair amount (16 per cent) or very important (13 per cent) in informing their views about Islam and Muslims. Commensurate with expectations, most respondents stated television news and current affairs programs as their main source of information about Islam and Muslim people (62 per cent), followed by newspapers (21 per cent), books (8 per cent), internet (4 per cent), radio (3 per cent) and news magazines (2 per cent). The main non-media sources of information about Islam and Muslim people included personal interaction with Muslims, including friends, relatives, neighbours and work colleagues (15 per cent). Only six respondents stated that teachers, university lecturers or religious leaders were their main source of information about Islam and Muslims. The specific television channels from which most respondents indicated they acquired most of their information about Islam and Muslim people were Channel 7 (21 per cent) and the ABC (21 per cent), followed by Channel 9 (16 per cent), SBS (11 per cent) and Channel 10 (9 per cent). Smaller proportions of respondents gave cable channels such as Sky and Fox as their main sources. For those who stated newspapers as their main source of information about Islam and AJR 30(1) 43

6 Muslim people, most relied on The Courier-Mail (58 per cent) and over one-quarter depended on The Australian (27 per cent). Among those who indicated books as their main source of information, few could name specific titles, and no particular books featured prominently in the data. Interestingly, however, a few respondents stated that the Bible was their main source of information about Islam. Others mentioned George Negus The world from Islam (2003) and Abdullah Saeed s Islam in Australia (2003), both of which present a positive image of Islam. When the respondents knowledge of Islam was cross-tabulated with their main source of information about Islam, the data showed that those who reported higher levels of knowledge of Islam relied less on television news and current affairs programs. Respondents who reported their knowledge of Islam as being none at all comprised 67 per cent of those who stated television news and current affairs as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims. This proportion dropped to 50 per cent among those who reported having a little knowledge, 28 per cent among those who reported having a fair amount of knowledge, and 0 per cent among those who said they had a lot of knowledge about Islam. The data also showed a positive correlation between higher levels of knowledge of Islam and other media sources, namely books (6 per cent among those who reported a little knowledge, 14 per cent among those who reported a fair amount of knowledge, and 20 per cent among those who reported having a lot of knowledge about Islam), and the internet to a lesser extent. When main source of information was cross-tabulated with level of interaction with Muslims, the data showed that increased levels of interaction with Muslims correlated with major reductions in television news and current affairs as the main source of information about Islam and Muslims. Among respondents who identified television news and current affairs as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 64 per cent stated having never met a Muslim, 53 per cent stated rarely interacting with Muslims, 34 per cent stated interacting with Muslims occasionally, and 26 per cent stated interacting with Muslims often. As expected, the higher the respondents level of interaction with Muslim friends, neighbours, work colleagues and other acquaintances, the more these associates were identified as an important source of information about Islam. Interaction with Muslims was reported as the main source of information about Islam and Muslims by 8 per cent of those who stated rarely interacting with Muslims, 26 per cent of those who stated occasionally interacting with Muslims, 50 per cent of those who stated often interacting with Muslims, and 60 per cent of those who stated constantly interacting with Muslims. When respondents main source of information about Islam and Muslims was cross-tabulated with whether they were comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society, the data showed lower levels of acceptance of Muslims among those who stated television, newspapers or radio as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, compared with those who said their information was mainly gleaned from personal interaction with Muslim friends, neighbours, work colleagues and other acquaintances. Of those who reported television, newspapers, or radio as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 76 per cent stated that they were comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society, while 15 per cent said they were not and 9 per cent said they were unsure. By contrast, of those who claimed personal interaction with Muslim friends, neighbours, work colleagues and other acquaintances as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 88 per cent stated that they were comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society, while only 5 per cent said they were not and 7 per cent that they were unsure. When respondents main source of information about Islam and Muslims was cross-tabulated with whether they perceived Australian Muslims as a threat to the country, the data showed the perception of a threat to be higher among those who gave television, newspapers or radio as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, compared with those who identified their 44 Australian Journalism Review

7 main sources of information as personal interaction with Muslim friends, neighbours, work colleagues and other acquaintances. Of those who indicated television, newspapers or radio were their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 24 per cent stated that they perceived Australian Muslims as a threat to the country, while 65 per cent stated that they did not and 12 per cent stated that they were unsure. By contrast, of those who identified their personal interaction with Muslim friends, neighbours, work colleagues and other acquaintances as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 21 per cent said they perceived Australian Muslims as a threat to the country, while 76 per cent said they did not and 3 per cent that they were unsure. When television channels that respondents reported as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims were cross-tabulated with respondents reported knowledge of Islam, the data showed a decrease in reliance on commercial channels, such as Seven and Nine, among respondents who reported higher levels of knowledge of Islam. Of those who stated their knowledge of Islam to be none at all, 22 per cent gave Channel Seven and 21 per cent Channel Nine as their main source of information, while of those who claimed a little knowledge of Islam, 22 per cent relied on Channel Seven and 15 per cent on Channel Nine, and of those who claimed to have a fair amount of knowledge of Islam, only 10 per cent relied on Channel Seven and Channel Nine. By contrast, the reverse was observed in the case of SBS viewers. Of those who stated their knowledge of Islam to be none at all, 2 per cent gave SBS as their main source of information, while of those claimed a little knowledge of Islam, 14 per cent relied on SBS, and of those who claimed to have a fair amount of knowledge of Islam, 25 per cent relied on SBS. In considering whether respondents were comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society, no significant difference was observable when this question was cross-tabulated with main television channel of information. The notable exception, however, was Channel Nine. Only in the case of respondents who stated that Channel Nine was their main source of information about Islam and Muslims did the data show a significantly higher proportion of respondents who did not accept Muslims as part of Australian society compared with those who did (21 per cent to 15 per cent). It should be noted that of all respondents who stated Channel Nine as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, 72 per cent stated that they did accept Muslims as part Australian society and only 18 per cent did not. It is noteworthy, however, that the proportion of respondents who did not accept Muslims as part of Australian society was highest among Channel Nine viewers (18 per cent), compared with 14 per cent for Channel Seven, Channel 10 and SBS, and 12 per cent for ABC viewers. Acceptance of Muslims was highest among Channel Seven viewers (82 per cent), followed by SBS viewers (79 per cent), Channel 10 and ABC (77 per cent), and then Channel Nine (72 per cent). Of those respondents who reported television as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, perception of Australian Muslims as a threat to the country was lowest among Channel Seven and SBS viewers (17 per cent and 18 per cent respectively) and highest among ABC, Channel Ten and Channel Nine viewers (28 per cent, 27 per cent and 26 per cent respectively). Among respondents who rejected the notion of Australian Muslims as a threat to the country, the highest proportion of respondents was viewers of SBS (79 per cent), followed by Channel Ten, Channel Seven and the ABC (68 per cent, 67 per cent and 65 per cent respectively). Channel Nine showed the lowest proportion of respondents who rejected the notion of Australian Muslims as a threat to the country (54 per cent). As mentioned above, for respondents who stated that newspapers were their main source of information about Islam and Muslims, almost 60 per cent relied on The Courier-Mail. It is noteworthy, therefore, that almost one-quarter (23 per cent) of respondents who identified The Courier-Mail as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims indicated they were not comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society. Moreover, more than one-quarter (26 per cent) of respondents who claimed The Courier-Mail as their main source of information about Islam and Muslims said they considered Australian Muslims to be a threat to the country. AJR 30(1) 45

8 When asked how they would describe the representation of Islam and Muslims in the media, almost two-thirds of respondents identified this as negative. Sixty-three per cent described the media s representation of Islam and Muslims in such negative terms as biased (16 per cent), sensationalist (9 per cent) and other terms including unfair, negative, misrepresentative, stereotypical and uninformed. Twenty-three percent of respondents, however, described the representation of Islam and Muslims in the media in neutral terms, such as fair (17 per cent), accurate, objective and honest. Several respondents described the media s representation of Islam and Muslims as restrained, not harsh enough, and even biased toward or in favour of Muslims. Respondents were also asked the extent to which Australian political leaders contributed to their understanding of Islam and Muslim people. Although 59 per cent responded by stating not at all, the remaining 41 per cent stated that Australian political leaders contributed to their understanding of Islam and Muslim people a little (36 per cent), a fair amount (4 per cent) or a lot (1 per cent). When asked how they would describe statements made by the Federal Government about Islam and Muslims, the largest proportion of respondents (39 per cent) described the Federal Government s statements in negative terms, such as made to serve political objectives (7 per cent), biased (5 per cent), inaccurate (4 per cent) and sensationalist (3 per cent). However, only a slightly smaller proportion of respondents (33 per cent) described the Federal Government s statements in positive or neutral terms, including fair (20 per cent) and accurate (4 per cent). Other respondents stated that they could not recall any statements by the Federal Government concerning Islam and Muslims, that statements made were cautious, restrained, politically correct, diplomatic or suggested the Government was sitting on the fence. Conclusion This research has confirmed that the news media are a primary source of information about Islam and Muslims for the vast majority of Queenslanders and remain an important secondary source for the remainder. As expected, television was by far the dominant medium, distantly followed by newspapers and then other sources. Reliance on the mass media is problematic for a range of reasons related to their structure, nature and organisation, which has been the focus of extensive research and analysis in the field of media studies over many decades. Of particular concern are such factors as the concentration of media ownership, the profit orientation of commercial mass media, and the relationship between media companies and business and political leaders. Such factors have been found to negatively impact on media objectivity, integrity and responsibility (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). The results of this survey suggest the media have not facilitated a better understanding of Islam, in spite of increased coverage over the past decade. While almost one-fifth of respondents have no knowledge of Islam, the majority claim to have at least some knowledge of the faith. However, more than one-third of those who claimed to have at least some knowledge of Islam were unable to state what they considered to be the main teaching of Islam. While 56 per cent of those who claimed to have at least some knowledge of Islam were able to accurately state at least one of its main teachings, this research suggests that a little less than half of all Queenslanders actually have some understanding of Islam. The fact that 80 per cent of respondents who claimed to have some knowledge of Islam were not familiar with the Five Pillars suggests the respondents actually have less knowledge of Islam, or at least a far more superficial understanding of Islam, than they perceive themselves to have. In spite of limited knowledge of Islam and a reliance on the media for information, those surveyed were generally accepting of Muslims and most did not perceive Muslims as a threat. Al- 46 Australian Journalism Review

9 most 80 per cent stated that they were comfortable with Muslims as part of Australian society and only 14 per cent that they were not. With regard to the amount of research that has demonstrated the pejorative nature of media coverage of Islam and Muslims, this survey suggests that only a minority of 14 per cent of respondents show any sign of being affected by this coverage. This group demonstrated stereotypical understandings of Islam and Muslims, basing their unwillingness to accept Muslims as part of Australian society on such concerns as terrorism, a perception of Muslims as unwilling to integrate, and a perceived desire of Muslims to impose views or ways on others. However, over two-thirds of respondents do not accept the notion of the Islamic threat, at least in terms of Australian Muslims. In spite of the massive media and political attention given to the issue of Islamic terrorism since September 11, 2001, this research indicates that fewer than one-quarter of those surveyed regard Australian Muslims as a threat to the country, and, moreover, only half of these viewed the threat in terms of security or terrorism. While these figures may be interpreted to suggest that overseas events and the media coverage of them has had a negative impact on how some respondents perceive Muslims, it may also be argued that the impact has been minimal relative to the volume and degree of negativity that numerous content analyses have documented. While it must be reiterated that this research has shown the overall impact of the media on audience attitude to be limited, even in the case of television news and current affairs, nonetheless certain channels, namely SBS, seem to be associated with higher proportions of viewers who demonstrate more positive attitudes toward Islam and Muslims. Other media, such as Channel 9 and The Courier-Mail, seem to be associated with higher proportions of viewers and readers who demonstrate more negative attitudes toward Islam and Muslims. It is noteworthy that this survey was conducted during a period of relative calm in terms of tension between Islam and the West. As Dreher s research demonstrates, negative attitudes towards Muslims, along with physical and verbal attacks, tend to rise during periods of hostility between Muslims and the West when media coverage of the tension is most intense. Consequently, while this survey recorded relatively high levels of acceptance of Muslims and relatively low levels of perceptions of Muslims as a threat, one would expect the former to drop and the latter to increase during periods of heightened tension or hostility. Arguably, part of the explanation for the limited impact of the media demonstrated in this study is that almost two-thirds of respondents recognise the media representation of Islam and Muslims as negative (biased, unfair, inaccurate or ill-informed) rather than accurate, objective and fair. Less than one-quarter of those surveyed considered the media coverage of Islam and Muslims to be neutral in the sense of being fair, accurate and objective. Thus, it can be surmised that negative media coverage has not translated into most Queenslanders holding negative attitudes towards Muslims. This study also found that the potential for media influence is undermined by the generally high level of education held by respondents, and the fact that interpersonal interaction with Muslims is a fairly regular occurrence for over one-third of respondents. Muslims in the West, including Australia, consistently blame the mass media for what they perceive as misconceptions about Islam, negative attitudes toward Muslims, and tense or even hostile relations between the Muslim community and certain segments of the wider society. Content analyses of media coverage consistently demonstrate that Islam and Muslims are portrayed pejoratively, although some exceptions have been identified. Current definitions of newsworthinessy have ensured that the image of Islam and Muslims that is presented is very narrow in its view of Islam and the Muslim world. As a result, it is difficult for Australians, and perhaps also increasingly difficult for Australian Muslims, to distinguish between Islam as the way of life embraced by one-fifth of humanity residing across the globe, and mass media Islam, as the version of Islam constructed by the media on the basis of repeated slogans and images of violence, terror- AJR 30(1) 47

10 ism, backwardness, and barbarity in the name of Islam. Rather than endorsing the approach to Islam often adopted by the more extreme and conservative elements in the Muslim world, more attention could be given to alternative perspectives, particularly those of Western Muslims, in order to correct misconceptions, balance negative attitudes and improve relations between the Muslim community and the wider society. Such improvements in balanced covering of Islam may also serve to address some of the public s concern with media credibility. From a media perspective, such an approach would facilitate a more comprehensive, complete and inclusive representation of Islam and Muslims and advance the cause of social responsibility in media reporting. References Akbarzadeh, S., & Smith, B. (2005). The representation of Islam and Muslims in the media (The Age and Herald Sun newspapers). Monash University. Retrieved June 5, 2006, from monash.edu.au/politics/cmmips/news-and-events/islam-in-the-media.pdf. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2007) Australian Demographic Statistics: Dec Retrieved from Brand, J., Archbold, D., & Rane, H. (2001). Stage two: the audience. In M. Pearson & J. Brand, Sources of news and current affairs. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Authority. Bryant, J., & Zillman, D. (Eds.). (2002). Media effects: advances in theory and research. New Jersey: Elbaum Associates. Dreher, T. (2005). Targeted: experiences of racism in NSW after September 11, Shopfront Monograph Series, University of Technology, Sydney. Retrieved June 6, 2006, from epress.lib.uts.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2100/46/6/targeted per cent20web per cent20april per cent2007.pdf. Dunn, K. (2005). Australian public knowledge of Islam. Indonesian Journal for Islamic Studies (Studia Islamika), 12(1), Gerges, F. (2003). Islam and Muslims in the minds of America. The Annals of the American Academy, 588, Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe & P. Wills (Eds.), Culture, media, language. London: Hutchinson. Herman, E., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing consent: the political economy of the mass media. London: Vintage. Manning, P. (2006). Us and them: a journalist s investigation of media, Muslims and the Middle East. Sydney: Random House Australia. Manning, P. (2004). Dog-whistle politics and journalism. Sydney: Australian Centre for Independent Journalism. Negus, G. (2003). The world from Islam: a journey of discovery through the Muslim heartland. Pymble: HarperCollins. Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: media representations of British Muslims. Portland: I. B. Tauris & Co. 48 Australian Journalism Review

11 Rane, H. (2000). Australian press coverage of Islam. Master s thesis, Bond University. Saeed, A. (2003). Islam in Australia. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. Said, E. (1997). Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world (updated ed.). London: Vintage. Said, E. (1978) Orientalism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Shaheen, J. (2003). Reel bad Arabs: how Hollywood vilifies a people. The Annals of the American Academy, 588, Authors Dr Halim Rane is a lecturer in the National Centre of Excellence in Islam Studies at Griffith University, Brisbane. Dr Mohamad Abdalla is the Founding Director of the Griffith Islamic Research Unit and Co-Director of the National Centre of Excellence in Islamic Studies. AJR 30(1) 49

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