British Muslims in the Broadsheet Press: a challenge to cultural hegemony?

Abstract

This paper examines the representation of British Muslim communities in the British broadsheet press and provides empirical evidence that (i) British Muslim communities are almost wholly absent from the news, excluded from all but predominantly negative contexts; (ii) that when British Muslims do appear, they are included only as participants in news events, not as providers of informed commentary on news events; and therefore (iii) that the issues and concerns of the communities are not being served by the agendas of the broadsheet press. The paper presupposes that the power relationships represented in the broadsheet press are both generative and transposable, modifying power relations in other fields (Bourdieu, 1991). I argue that the dominant modes of representing British Muslims are therefore both a product of and a contributing factor to the continued social exclusion of British Muslim communities at all levels of society.