Countering Islamophobic media representations: The potential role of peace journalism

Abstract

Representations of Muslims in the Australian media have been routinely stereotyped; have failed to reflect the diversity of origin, outlook, and aspirations of Muslim Australians; and have negatively impacted perceptions of Islam and treatment of Muslims by non-Muslim Australians. This article explores findings from a study involving content and discourse analysis of representations of Muslims in Australian broadsheet newspapers. Lower levels of Islamophobia in news articles within the sample were associated with a ‘peace journalism’ approach to reporting. Peace journalism promotes the contextualization of conflict narratives and challenges dominant news conventions such as the focus on elite, bureaucratic sources. It is therefore suggested that potentially fruitful strategies for countering Islamophobia in the news media could include the adoption of standards for conflict reporting and expanding opportunities for peace journalism in reporting on issues relating to Muslims and Islam.