Framing Terror with Islam. Media Coverage in the United Kingdom after al-Qaeda Attack in 2005

Seminar paper from the year 2020 in the subject Communications - Media and Politics, Politic Communications, grade: 100/100, Bilkent University , course: COMD341 Media and Society, language: English, abstract: In this paper, the framing and representation of Muslims while covering terror issues in the UK media are examined. The impact on the Muslim community, their responses, and Islamophobia are explained. A comparison is made between the UK and US framing and lastly, contradictory findings in several research studies are discussed. Media coverage on terror includes specific framing methods that emphasized the relation between Islam and terror incidents. Since media has a crucial role to shape society’s understanding, the method of framing in such a way conduces disintegration among society in terms of Muslim and non-Muslim by focusing on the “us” “them” distinction and emphasize a connection between Islam and terrorism. Terror itself is a controversial issue that many states try to deal with and the media has the ability to influence counterterror endeavors as well as society’s perspective. “Communication and media are as important to the terrorist and the government as the actual act of violence itself. Therefore analysis of news coverage and its implications are crucial for counterterrorism efforts”. That’s why it is significant to cover the subject especially for the United Kingdom who has experienced organised violence by the extra-state, interstate, and intrastate actors. However, since this paper focuses on framing that specifies a relationship between Islam and terror in the UK, the 7/7 (2005) attack on civilians in London is the most relevant one to study, especially after the 9/11 (2001) attack in the United States.