From the late Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie, to the extremism of the Taliban and the mass murder of the September 11th attacks, the image of Islam as a violent and anti-Western faith has featured dominantly in the global mass media. In this book, Elzain Elgamri sets out to refute such generalizations. Taking into account the historically conditioned Orientalist discourses, in light of the polarized relationship between Islam and the West, and deconstructing what has actually been reported in the British quality press, Elgamri points out that what has actually been journalistically covered is an incomplete fragment of a much more complex situation. While acknowledging that these terrible acts were indeed committed in the name of Islam, and that they did involve bloody violence that claimed the lives of innocent civilians and caused much intimidation, Elgamri argues that these events have been represented by the media as an archetype of Islam, whereas in actual fact there is no single monolithic Islam and, consequently, no single monolithic Muslim community. The author concludes that, contrary to what is frequently depicted, Islam and Muslim societies are not confined only to confrontation, violence, terrorism, and antagonism towards everything Western, but rather are extremely diverse in their religious and political outlooks.

(Mis)Representing Islam explores and illustrates how élite broadsheet newspapers are implicated in the production and reproduction of anti-Muslim racism. The book approaches journalistic discourse as the inseparable combination of ‘social practices’, ‘discursive practices’ and the ‘texts’ themselves from a perspective which fuses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with Edward Said’s critique of Orientalism. This framework enables Richardson to (re)contextualise élite journalism within its professional, political, economic, social and historic settings and present a critical and precise examination of not only the prevalence but also the form and potential effects of anti-Muslim racism. The book analyses the centrality of van Dijk’s ideological square and the significance and utility of stereotypical topoi in representing Islam and Muslims, focusing in particular on the reporting of Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Israel/Palestine, Algeria, Iraq and Britain. This timely book should interest researchers and students of racism, Islam, Journalism and Communication studies, Rhetoric, and (Critical) Discourse Analysis.

Is the British press prejudiced against Muslims? In what ways can prejudice be explicit or subtle? This book uses a detailed analysis of over 140 million words of newspaper articles on Muslims and Islam, combining corpus linguistics and discourse analysis methods to produce an objective picture of media attitudes. The authors analyse representations around frequently cited topics such as Muslim women who wear the veil and 'hate preachers'. The analysis is self-reflexive and multidisciplinary, incorporating research on journalistic practices, readership patterns and attitude surveys to answer questions which include: what do journalists mean when they use phrases like 'devout Muslim' and how did the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks affect press reporting? This is a stimulating and unique book for those working in fields of discourse analysis and corpus linguistics, while clear explanations of linguistic terminology make it valuable to those in the fields of politics, media studies, journalism and Islamic studies.

It is a widely held view that, since the end of the Cold War, attention has focused on Islam as a central force of disruption within a New World Order. Nothing has heightened this more than the assault on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and the reporting of these events. Reporting Islam is a timely contribution to this debate which looks at the ways in which Muslims are represented in the British news media. Elizabeth Poole examines the claim that Muslims are universally demonized in the British press and comes to some illuminating conclusions. Reporting Islam is of great value to students of media, cultural studies, Islamic studies and politics.