Essay On How Muslims Are Represented In The Media
How Muslims are Represented in Australian Media
Muslim Australians are an ethnically diverse group of people, yet the tone of certain media reports implies that all Muslims are the same. A stereotype of hysteria, inherent violence and barbaric practices often seems to be deliberately perpetuated, either to marginalise Muslim people as the uncivilised “Other” in the dichotomy between Eastern and Western culture, or for purely commercial reasons—sensational stories guarantee higher newspaper sales
The media plays a central role in how our society understands events and issues, and has the power to marginalise whole groups of Australians. With this power comes responsibility – the responsibility of informed, fair and critical reporting.
Constant negative representation implies that all Muslims are fundamentalists and …show more content…
Although labeling of Islam and Muslim’s as the ‘Other’ was common in media before, since the September 2001 tragedy it has become persistent. It is easy to exploit people’s fear of terrorism by using unconnected images and headlines to confuse readers and suggest that all Muslim people approve of terrorist activities. By not placing pictures and articles in their correct context, the media encourages readers to draw their own (mistaken) conclusions. The anxiety and paranoia that this focus manipulates helps to maintain support for government policies of mandatory detention, surveillance, and its military actions such as the war in Iraq.
The motive for the association of Muslims and violence is explained in Edward Said’s discourse, Orientalism. Said argued that through a discursive conception of the Orient, the West was able to construct an image of its own identity – that is, that the West is the negative of “Oriental”, comprising of what the West as central to modern, enlightened thought and the Orient as the mysterious and often dangerous
Muslim Australians are an ethnically diverse group of people, yet the tone of certain media reports implies that all Muslims are the same. A stereotype of hysteria, inherent violence and barbaric practices often seems to be deliberately perpetuated, either to marginalise Muslim people as the uncivilised “Other” in the dichotomy between Eastern and Western culture, or for purely commercial reasons—sensational stories guarantee higher newspaper sales
The media plays a central role in how our society understands events and issues, and has the power to marginalise whole groups of Australians. With this power comes responsibility – the responsibility of informed, fair and critical reporting.
Constant negative representation implies that all Muslims are fundamentalists and …show more content…
Although labeling of Islam and Muslim’s as the ‘Other’ was common in media before, since the September 2001 tragedy it has become persistent. It is easy to exploit people’s fear of terrorism by using unconnected images and headlines to confuse readers and suggest that all Muslim people approve of terrorist activities. By not placing pictures and articles in their correct context, the media encourages readers to draw their own (mistaken) conclusions. The anxiety and paranoia that this focus manipulates helps to maintain support for government policies of mandatory detention, surveillance, and its military actions such as the war in Iraq.
The motive for the association of Muslims and violence is explained in Edward Said’s discourse, Orientalism. Said argued that through a discursive conception of the Orient, the West was able to construct an image of its own identity – that is, that the West is the negative of “Oriental”, comprising of what the West as central to modern, enlightened thought and the Orient as the mysterious and often dangerous