Xenophobia and Anti-Islamism: Framing the News Covering the Shootings Four Years After the Christchurch Mosque Shooting

Abstract

The concept of xenophobia, defined as fear and hostility towards the strange and different in a simple and general sense, is quite comprehensive and can be addressed in conjunction with Islamophobia. The terrorist attacks on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019 represent extreme examples of both xenophobia and anti-Islamism. In this study, news articles addressing the Christchurch mosque attacks from January 1, 2023, to October 22, 2023, were collected using keywords and analyzed in a total of 81 articles across nine different frameworks. A comparison was made with previous studies that conducted analyses and framed the topic, allowing an examination of how the content of news articles changed over time since the incident. Furthermore, it has been observed that the Western press did not categorize the attack as anti-Islamism, despite the clear statement in the terrorist's manifesto that he targeted Muslims. Given the influence of media content on shaping individuals' attitudes and perceptions of events, this discrepancy could impede efforts to combat xenophobia and anti-Islamism.