Islam and Muslims in the Media: Industry Challenges and Identity Responses

This article examines the representation of Islam and Muslims in the British press. It suggests that British Muslims are portrayed as an ̳alien other‘ within the media. It suggests that this misrepresentation can be linked to the development of ‘racism‘, namely, Islamphobia that has its roots in cultural representations of the ̳other.‘ The paper presents empirical evidence from media educators in the UK that implies journalists do not deliberately write racist material. However it is suggested that this argument does not account for the cultural and ideological factors that influence media coverage of Islam that also echoes how the Western media have routinely represented non –white minority groups historically. One consequence of this is the willingness of the Western Muslim diaspora to explore alternative media and employ new /social media to challenge anti-Muslim racism. The paper finally postulates that journalists must acknowledge the influence of ―hidden agendas‖ (Pilger, 2002) that impacts on their reporting of Islam and Muslims.