Anti Muslim Racism and the Media

Dear Colleagues,

Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism is a reality in the twenty first century just as it has been in the past. While Runnymede report of 1997 first introduced the term Islamophobia, Edward Said had already sensitized the world to the “othering “of Arabs and Muslims in his seminal work, Orientalism (1978). And, in Covering Islam (1981), Said questioned the objectivity of the western media in covering Islam and Muslims. Since then, we have had other studies that have documented this phenomenon (Kumar, 2012; Shaheen, 2001) and many reports (FAIR, 2008, Centre for American Progress, 2011&2015) that illustrate that with time there has really been no change in this trend of anti-Muslim racism in the media. In fact, the misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims has become even more prevalent and complex. Geo political events such as the Iranian revolution, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and tragic events of September 11th. 2011, did not create the image of the “Muslim other,” but these events were key in exacerbating the negative stereotyping of Muslims in the media.

Given the recent rise in anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment in North America and Europe, the media- print and online- especially social media, is critical in shaping public opinion and whipping up fear of Muslims. What often gets overlooked is the impact negative representation of Muslims and Islam in the media has on lives of ordinary Muslims, especially Muslims living in the West. Rise in hate crimes and hate incidents against Muslims, targeted attacks on their places of worship, and attacks on their way of life, contributes to general sense of unsafety and lack of belonging for western Muslims. Muslims as bad, mad, angry, uncivilized, irrational, dangerous, and more recently, a security threat, is an image that is embedded in most media misrepresentation and mischaracterization of Islam and Muslims. Islam as the religion of “violence”, and Muslims as the monolithic “other” is used by many politicians and hate mongers alike to create prejudice and fear. As anti-Muslim sentiment grows, it is clear that media coverage of Islam has a large part to play in building increased feelings of suspicion, insecurity and anxiety among non-Muslims, and alienation among Muslims.

As some recent research studies have noted (Ahmed &Matthes, 2016), most of the research on media and Islam is based in the West. Not much attention has been paid to the media in Muslim majority countries, or countries with significant Muslim populations. In this volume we hope to bridge that gap and solicit submissions from scholars around the world. It is also important to know what the Muslims themselves say about representation of Islam and Muslims, and the impact negative media coverage has on their lives, especially lives of visible Muslim women. Some of the issues that this volume will address will include media promotion of gendered Islamophobia, Arab Spring and the media, media and Muslim minorities in the East, and a comparative study of good media stories humanizing and representing lives of ordinary Muslims versus overwhelming negative portrayal of Muslims in the media, and comparative studies of media representation in Europe and North America.

Prof. Dr. Idrisa Pandit
Guest Editor

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• Islam
• media portrayals
• media representation
• Muslims
• Islamophobia
• media impact
• anti-Muslim racism