Tag Archives: politics

New CASS Briefing now available — The EDL: moving right-wing populism online in the UK

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CASSbriefings-EDLThe EDL: moving right-wing populism online in the UK. The English Defence League (EDL) is a far-right populist political movement and campaigns specifically on issues concerning the presence of Muslims and Islam in Western societies. This briefing from CASS presents the results of a corpus study on the online activities of the EDL and its supporters. The briefing shows that, although the hierarchy of the EDL claims to be specifically concerned with radical Islam, the discourse of supporters is less focussed and contains more explicit forms of Islamophobia.

New resources are being added regularly to the new CASS: Briefings tab above, so check back soon.

CASS Director Tony McEnery to be panelist at “Community Question Time – Islam and the Media”

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On Thursday 25th April, Tony McEnery will join Dr. Sara Silvestri (City University London), Ahmad Bostan (Unity FM), and Simon Jones (Director of Communications, Policy and Performance at London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham) at Regent’s Park Mosque to speak on the topic of Islam and the Media.

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This event is the sixth in a series of Question Time style events, each of which have their own separate themes relating to issues that may contribute to radicalisation. This series is special in that meetings directly engage with communities, allowing community members to ask questions and raise issues with relevant specialists or professionals related to the theme. Through this engagement, a greater level of understanding can be reached by both the communities and the speakers, further empowering people to resist and challenge ‘norm’ narratives.

Tony McEnery will be speaking on “The representation of Islam in the British Press with a particular focus on linguistics and attitudes”, drawing in part on data and findings from his recent co-authored volume on Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The representation of Islam in the British Press. Check back after the event to read a brief summary of the event and some of Tony’s thoughts about his talk.

Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The representation of Islam in the British Press

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A new volume is now available from CASS investigators Paul Baker and Tony McEnery, along with Edge Hill University Senior Lecturer and Lancaster University alumnus Costas Gabrielatos:

Baker, P., Gabrielatos , C. & McEnery, A. (2013). Discourse Analysis and Media Attitudes: The representation of Islam in the British Press. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

discoursemediaatt“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.”

Available from Cambridge University Press.