Media Representations of Islam in Britain: A Sojourner Perspective.

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a qualitative study on international Muslim students’ perceptions of media portraits of Islam. 18 students were interviewed; they came from a range of countries so that a diversity of opinion could be gathered. The paper reveals that participants perceived the representation of Islam in the British media to be negative, being associated with conservatism, economic backwardness and terrorism. Participants criticised the media’s tendency towards the homogenisation of Muslims and of Muslim countries. They also called on media organisations to balance the negative portrait of Islam with positive news stories and to be more responsible in their reporting of terrorism. Interestingly, their direct consumption of UK media was limited, pointing to the possibility that their views were either ‘discursively’ driven or were the product of ‘passive media consumption’.