Reporting Islam by Jacqui Ewart Kate O'Donnell

Author:Jacqui Ewart, Kate O'Donnell [Jacqui Ewart, Kate O'Donnell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
ISBN: 9781351780513
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2018-04-19T04:00:00+00:00

Assessment of two media reports

We selected two reports from two different British national news media outlets (The Times and BBC News) that covered two different aspects of the bombing: its direct aftermath (as the facts were beginning to emerge) and the later trial of Abdulla (when facts had been put to the court). Neither are overtly Islamophobic, and nor do they overtly negatively stereotype Islam or Muslims. They are also not conflict-based stories. Only three images appeared (all in the BBC story):one taken at the time of Abdulla’s arrest; a headshot of Abdulla; and an image of Abu Musab Zarqawi1 with weapons in the background. We wanted to see if assessing these stories using the Transformative Journalism Model could either reveal subtle problematics not readily identified through analysing news frames or news values and whether the analysis would (or could) reveal ways journalists were able to use the model to improve reportage. The overall aim is to point to areas where reportage could be more transformative. We selected a breaking story in The Times headlined ‘Airport bomb suspects “left behind suicide note detailing their motives”’ (Page, Lister and Foster, 2007) and a BBC story headlined ‘Iraqi doctor’s road to radicalism’ (Casciani, 2008).

While not all stories are designed to (nor can) convey the full facts of complex and unfolding terrorism scenarios, the first step in this analysis involved assessing the stories to identify how key facts were portrayed. In both stories there was a focus on setting out the facts in their context as they could reasonably be known at the time. For example, The Times story included that there was a suicide note, the suspects were simultaneously ‘suspected al-Qaeda terrorists’ and doctors, the impact of the plot on the domestic security situation, the Haneef link in Australia and the backgrounds of the suspects (including their family links). This story also focused on the nationalities of the men and reported that ‘Dr Abdulla holds a British passport’. The BBC story reporting on Abdulla’s later trial included that Abdulla was British-born and focused on his path to radicalisation. This story also included Abdulla’s perspectives on the catalysts for his actions. The key facts in The Times story were later borne out in police investigations and court proceedings, suggesting the reportage was neither distorted, exaggerated nor oversimplified. The BBC report largely relied on direct court testimony. It also established the context for that testimony, including the involvement of the UK and US in the first Gulf War and the later war in Iraq – facts able to be verified by readers. Based in fact, these stories establish a solid base for further analysis.

We next examined how each story relied on different sources. The Times story relied on unnamed police sources and the home secretary while the BBC story included commentary from an academic. In the Times story, police are positioned as experts, with insider knowledge of the events and the investigation. In reference to there being a suicide note, for example, the story

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