The characterization of scores of western media along a continuum reveals a problematic relationship with Islam and the Muslim world.**A considerable body of data as well as academic research demonstrates during the last few decades an unremitting and sometimes systematic negative portrayal of Islam and Muslims. Starting with the Rushdie affair in the 1980s, to September 11, 2001 attacks in US and the 2005 London Bombings and what has been known as the ‘War on Terror’ reveal and unrelenting reproduction of stereotypical images which tend to demonise the ‘other’. The publication of the Danish cartoons in 2005-06 defaming Prophet Mohammed and the murder of eleven journalists from the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, in addition to the representation of such wars as the War on Iraq, the War on Afghanistan, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict among others further opened the door for the blanket stigmatization of Arabs and Muslims and appear in its representation restricted to certain frames related to terrorism, radicalization and disorder.
Banking on Edward Said’s ‘ideology of difference’ and Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘post-modernism’, labelling can be understood as not merely a neutral process of classification that the media perform, but rather an act of power, often politically connoted, in relation to the studied ‘others’. In that process, the media tend to be powerful in reproducing and disseminating representation about minority groups. They often categorise, classify and evaluate individuals and communities in a way which leads to producing new meanings and control in society.
This special issue of the /Journal of Arab and Muslim Media Research/ aims to address the above theoretical issues and welcomes contributions based on original empirical studies regarding (and not necessarily limited to) the following areas of enquiry:
- Representation of Islam and Muslims in the media
- Media framing of Muslim youth
- Media reproduction of stereotypes
- Serious journalism VS sensational reporting
- Media ethics between theory and practice
- Cross-country comparative approaches to media ethics
- Media coverage of the ‘War on Terror’
- Media and islamophobia
- Journalism and social responsibility
- Media coverage of the aftermath of Charlie Hebdo attacks
- Media portrayal of Islam and Muslims
- Hate speech and the limits to freedom of expression
Submissions
Manuscripts to be considered for publication should be submitted via e-mail to Noureddine Miladi (Editor) on: noureddine.miladi@qu.edu.qa
*Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research *
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-journal,id=148/
Published in the UK by Intellect, the /Journal of Arab & Muslim Media/ /Research/ is the first international academic refereed journal specialized in the Arab and Middle Eastern media.