A Corpus-based Analysis of Islamophobic Propaganda in British and American Newspapers

Abstract

The present study examines the reproduction of Western Islamophobic propaganda in selected American and British newspapers. Discursive, socio-cultural, political, procedural narrative and stereotyping frames of Islamophobic propaganda are presented as background. A propaganda model of Jowett & O'Donnell (2012) is selected to examine 32 chosen articles from The Guardian, The Daily Mail, USA Today, and The New York Times for the period of 2012-2023, based on search words like ‘Islam’, ‘Muslims’, ‘Prophet Muhammad’ and ‘Burning Quran’. Based on a corpus-based analysis, this data has shown differences in the Islamophobic propaganda in the British and American articles regarding ideology, purpose, context, propagandists, target audience, ‘institutional’ organisation, media techniques utilised to maximise its effects, audience reactions and possible counterpropaganda. The analysis has also revealed that two different propagandas were used in the data; the British articles were behind displaying an integration and agitation propaganda, where politicians, journalists and individuals involved were actual supporters of the leading opinions, while the American ones were behind presenting public diplomacy propaganda. The repetition of violent vocabulary associated with Islam and Muslims was so familiar; a procedure used ideologically to convince readers, despite the ‘governmental’ or ‘planned’ permissions, to insult their Prophet, to burn their Quran, or to depict them as terrorists.