Jacqui Ewart

Non-Muslim Australians' Knowledge of Islam: Identifying and Rectifying Knowledge Deficiencies

Abstract It is more than a decade since social geographer Kevin Dunn first described non-Muslim Australians’ ignorance about Islam and its adherents and outlined a series of recommendations about how Australian governments could address this as a pressing social policy issue. Recently researchers have re-assessed non-Muslim Australians’ perceptions of their knowledge of Islam and Muslims identifying while it has improved since 2003, 70% acknowledge they know little to nothing about either. Using data from Australia’s 2016 National Social Survey, this study examines the correlation between non-Muslim Australians’ perceptions of their knowledge of Islam and Muslims and their actual knowledge. We find that perception of knowledge is a reasonable indicator of actual knowledge. Further, we find that tertiary education is the single significant demographic factor impacting actual knowledge. By examining geographical patterns of knowledge, we also find that ignorance of Islam and Muslims is consistent across Australia.

Journalists’ and Educators’ Perspectives on News Media Reporting of Islam and Muslim Communities in Australia and New Zealand

ABSTRACT We know much about how the news media report on the topic of Muslims and Islam, but we know very little about the journalistic practices and processes that contribute to the way these issues are framed and reported. Whereas research has until now largely focused on the ways in which Islam and Muslims are represented in various news media, there is relatively little research that explores the issue from the perspective of key people working in the news media. In order to address what we perceive as a significant gap in the research, we draw on data from interviews with 29 journalists, editors, media trainers, and journalism educators located in Australia and New Zealand to explore their understandings of the ways stories about Islam and Muslims are reported and why. The article also investigates the interviewees’ perceptions of the effects of news media coverage of Muslims and Islam. Our findings present a starting point to improving practice for those reporting on Islam and Muslim and inform the development of training modules in the reporting of Islam for journalists and journalism students.

What a difference training can make: Impacts of targeted training on journalists, journalism educators and journalism students’ knowledge of Islam and Muslims:

The problematic nature of news media framing of Islam and Muslims by Western news media has been well established by researchers. While research has focused on the ways such representations occur and to a lesser extent their effects on individuals and communities, we know little about why journalists frame Islam and Muslims in the Western news media in the ways they do. While studies point to a lack of knowledge about Islam and Muslims in non-Muslim populations, we know very little about how this translates to news media practitioners. This study draws from a far broader research project focused on encouraging more informed reporting of Islam and Muslims by the Australian news media. In this study, we establish the baseline knowledge of a purposive sample of Australian news media practitioners and journalism students about Islam and reporting stories about Islam and Muslims before and after targeted training. We find a relatively small investment in time significantly shifts this knowledge in both areas. Targeted training that includes a focus on basic facts about Islam as well as raising awareness of the resources that are now available to journalists may go some way towards improving reportage of Islam and Muslims.

The media's role in social inclusion and exclusion

Definitions of social inclusion and exclusion are fluid, and researchers and policy-makers have not agreed upon an all-encompassing definition. For wider society, social inclusion requires the transformation of these emerging definitions into ‘lived experience’ and actions. For the media, reporting on social inclusion is complicated by the confusion about what social inclusion is and to whom it is intended to apply, and by the gap between the ideal and the slower pace of societal change. Until recently, media studies researchers have focused largely on the issue of social exclusion and the media. The goal of this themed issue of MIA is to address some of the gaps in scholarly knowledge about the medias role in social inclusion and exclusion, and the context of that role within the wider social and political discourses. Our aim is to move beyond existing understandings of the medias role in social exclusion to look at spaces and places where there have been attempts to provide inclusion and whether they have worked, but also what issues and problems might have beset them.

A Quiet Revolution: Australian Community Broadcasting Audiences Speak Out

Around four million listeners in an average week tune into community radio stations around Australia, primarily to hear local news and information — evidence of a failure by mainstream media to meet their diverse needs. This discussion draws from the first qualitative study of the Australian community broadcasting sector to explore the role being played by community radio and television from the perspectives of their audiences. The authors argue that community broadcasting at the level of the local is playing a crucial role in the democratic process by fostering citizen participation in public life. This suggests a critique of mainstream media approaches and the central place of audience research in understanding the nature of the empowering relationships and processes involved. The authors argue that the nature of community broadcasting aligns it more closely with the complex ‘local talk’ narratives at the community level, which play a crucial role in creating public consciousness. They suggest that this quiet revolution has highlighted the nature of the audience–producer relationship as a defining characteristic of community media.

The rules of engagement: talkback radio audiences’ understandings of the conditions of access to programs

Abstract We know quite a lot about how access to talkback radio programmes is controlled by producers and hosts, but we know relatively little about the extent of audiences’ knowledge of these rules and their understanding of the conditions of access to talkback. Drawing on data from focus groups with audience members of 12 Australian talkback radio programmes, this paper explores what talkback radio listeners and callers know about the gatekeeping and production processes involved in talkback programmes. It also explores how the study participants, who were all dedicated, long-time listeners, engage with these processes to gain access where it might otherwise be denied. The article finds that audience members are well informed of the various methods producers and hosts use to control callers’ access to programmes and that while controlled access can have the effect of dissuading some audience members from calling, it impels others to actively subvert these restrictions.

Media-Generated Muslims and Islamophobia

Much of what is known about Islam and Muslims in Western societies is derived from the mass media. Studies have shown that over three-quarters of people in Western societies rely on the mass media, mainly television, as their primary source of information about Islam and Muslims (Rane, 2010b). The scholarly consensus is that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the sustained intensity of media coverage of Islam and Muslims resulted in an almost universal awareness of the religion and its adherents. That is not to say that most, or even many, people were then or are now knowledgeable about Islam or know Muslim people as a consequence of their media consumption; far from it. What it does mean is that a media version of Islam is widely known; what we are familiar with are media-generated Muslims. An important question, however, is how widely such images are accepted and what the implications are for intercommunity and international relations. This chapter explores Western public opinion and the extent to which there exist fear and prejudice towards Islam and Muslims, a phenomenon called Islamophobia. To assess the media’s role in this phenomenon, we examine the dominant representations of Islam and Muslims that have been identified by a growing body of scholarly research. In order to understand the origins of the Western media’s representations, we begin with the history of Western thought concerning Islam and Muslims.

Experience of Muslims in Australia and New Zealand

This chapter draws on the important body of research into the historical and contemporary presence of Muslims in Australia and New Zealand. We explore historical and contemporary contact between Muslims and non-Muslims in both countries, including the contemporary tensions associated with their presence in Australia and New Zealand. Additionally, this chapter examines how mainstream news media and politicians have responded to the challenges presented by these tensions and their associated conflicts. This chapter suggests ways that researchers might focus on some of these challenges, both political and social, to inform research directions for the future.

Best practice approaches for reporting disasters

Much of the research about disasters has focused on the poor and unethical practices of journalists reporting on disasters, but relatively little has been written about best practice approaches to news media coverage of such events. This article uses two sources of data, interviews with senior emergency managers in eight countries and the body of research on news media coverage of disasters, to develop a best practice schema for journalists reporting disasters in two phases – before they occur and as they unfold. There is relatively little research on best practice approaches to reporting disasters; therefore, we also include the literature about news media coverage of disasters as this enabled identification of key problems with reportage of disasters. We conclude this article with suggestions about how this schema might be further refined and note some additional areas for research that might be pursued as a result of the best practice approach.

Swimming against the Tide: How Disaster Agencies Build Political Resilience

ABSTRACT Despite the pressure on politicians to show leadership in times of disaster, many struggle with the extreme leadership challenges imposed by a calamity that is quickly consuming life and property. Drawing on data from elite interviews with senior personnel from disaster agencies in eight countries, we find that emergency managers want to engage with political actors well before a disaster strikes. This is critical to educate the political actor about disaster management, leadership, and communication, and to generate support for resources and funding. The challenge is to place disasters on the agenda of political actors ahead of all-consuming, day-to-day issues.