Exploring the Nature of Representation of Islam and Muslims in the Australian Press

Abstract

National press is considered as integral institution in articulation, propagation, and dissemination of the national agenda. The press helps general public in interpreting news stories. This article is set to explore the nature of representation of Islam and Muslims in the editorials of the Australian newspapers during January 01, 2016, to March 31, 2017. This study has employed van Dijk’s ideological square and lexicalization approaches within the critical discourse analysis paradigm to examine editorials from two leading Australian newspapers. The findings showed that both the newspapers The Age and The Australian produced entirely opposite discourses in their editorials regarding Islam and Muslims. The findings have demonstrated that The Age portrayed Islam and Muslims positively and favorably while The Australian constructed Islam and Muslims in a critical and negative way. In the editorial contents of The Age , predominant themes regarding Islam and Muslims were “victimization,” “understanding,” “multiculturalism,” “solidarity,” “cohesion,” and “harmony.” On the contrary, predominant discourse in the editorial contents of The Australian were “securitization,” “Othering,” “violence,” “categorization,” and “stereotyping.”