Media Framing of the Muslim World

Abstract

A succinct and accessible book, with many chapters that can stand alone as readings for undergraduate or graduate classes, Media Framing of the Muslim World: Conflicts, Crises, and Contexts is a welcome addition to the literature on Muslims and the media. The authors build on three key concepts: the idea that the media should function, but often does not, as the fourth estate (an independent and critical press); Edward Said’s Orientalism(the West as the perpetually superior Other who must represent the Orient, which is incapable of doing so itself), and in its modern form, Islamophobia; and the importance of history and context in understanding key events in the Muslim world (as distinct from religious determinism). The book is divided into eight chapters with an introduction and a conclusion: “Islam and the Muslim world,” “Media-Generated Muslims and Islamophobia,” “Image and Reality of Reporting War and Conflict in the Muslim World,” “Asylum Seekers,” “Covering Terrorism Suspects.” “The Arab Spring,” “A Clash of Civilizations?” and “Moving on from 9/11?” The chapters are not an extended study of a singular type of media representation of Muslims, but rather a bringing together separate elements into a whole so that we can look at the issues from several viewpoints. I will mention three of those that cover topics not often found in academic studies of Muslims and the media. Chapter 3 relates the personal experiences of John Martinkus, a professional journalist trying to cover the Iraq war over the last decade for a book and later on SBS (Special Broadcasting Service), an Australian broadcast company. His story highlights how the increasingly dangerous on-the-ground situation eventually interfered with proper reporting. Not only did it become very expensive to hire security, but western journalists were largely confined to reporting from safe hotels and subcontracting to local Iraqis or being embedded with the military. Martinkus notes that the only Iraqis they could interview were those employed by the US military/media or who had a US military gun pointing at them. Journalists living in fear tended to support Washington’s view as to why they were there and the efficacy of the mission itself ...