How the global press is framing

„Extremism‟ and its variants

A cross-national analysis of 108 non-news articles from

nine newspapers across the world

Naureen Aqueel

2009

A Thesis under the supervision of Dr. Nisar Ahmed Zuberi submitted in partial

fulfillment of the degree Masters of Arts in Mass Communication, from the

Department of Mass Communication, University of Karachi.

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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Taking up research in the final semester of my Masters degree was probably one of the best

decisions I took—although there were many times when the little voice inside my head kept

rebuking me for what trouble I had taken upon myself and the sympathetic comments of

friends and classmates only supported it. Several times, my colleagues and I, while

discussing our problems, would wonder silently, and sometimes out loud, why we had taken

up the optional thesis instead of the easier regular course. Now, as we stand with a stack of

our very own work in our hands, the feeling of pride and accomplishment is enough to tell

me I couldn‘t have made a better choice.

The greatest thanks, without doubt, goes to Allah (swt) for giving me the courage, strength,

persistence, ability, resources and spirit to carry this task through.

Next, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Nisar Ahmed Zuberi for encouraging me,

guiding me and, most of all, motivating me to do something of worth with my time and

education. I am grateful to him for his time and support and for patiently bearing with us

through all the times we pestered him with questions, confusions and frustrations.

I am also extremely grateful to my parents and my sister for their love, support and guidance

throughout the years. A big thank you to my family for bearing with me during all my

constant complaints and excuses of ―I am working on my thesis‖ throughout this entire time.

To my family, this is for you.

Additionally, I would like to thank:

My friend Laila Brence for advising me to take up this topic and guiding me on how to start

my work,

My seniors and friends Huma Iqbal, Hafsa Ahsan and Naeema Akram for guiding me and

motivating me whenever I lost hope,

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The Media Post team, specifically Sidrah Gufran, Ferya Ilyas, Tehmina Qureshi, Ema Anis,

Muhammad Ammar bin Yaser, Nida Fatima, Javeria Hina, Khushboo Rafique, Tauseef Razi

Mallick, Fazle Azeem Bari and Farheen, for taking over and managing the magazine during

the crucial layout phase, while I worked on my thesis,

My friends Rabiya Suleman and Sobia Moiuddin for helping me in obtaining some

references,

My classmates and colleagues in this bumpy thesis journey, Meena Ahmed, Haya Fatima

Iqbal, Sumaira Basri and Amna Ameer, for the stress, complaints, advices, frustrations and

even laughter that we shared throughout this period,

All the teachers who have taught me and made me capable of undertaking and successfully

completing this project today,

All my friends and family who prayed for me and for my success, and motivated me to keep

moving ahead.

Thank you all!

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................1

Chapter One: Introduction ...........................................................................................................2

Statement of Objectives ............................................................................................................10

Chapter Two: Theory ..................................................................................................................11

The Reality Definition Function—Media Construction of Social Reality ...............................12

The role of language in the ‗reality definition‘ function ....................................................13

The construction of a ―pseudo-environment‖ .....................................................................13

Media Setting the Agenda—Making Issues Salient .................................................................14

‗Agenda-building‘ at the macro-level ................................................................................15

Media Framing Reality .............................................................................................................15

Framing and defining by creating conceptual contexts ......................................................16

Hegemony and framing—the influence of political elites .................................................17

Discourse and Ideology.............................................................................................................18

Ideology, language and media discourse in the social dimension ......................................19

The construction of context ................................................................................................20

Summary ...................................................................................................................................21

Chapter Three: Literature Review .............................................................................................22

Growing Interest in Media Portrayals of Terrorists and Extremists .........................................23

Terrorism Coverage and the reinforcement of administrative positions ..................................24

Use of frames and the production of stereotypes ......................................................................25

Labelling, typifications and definitions of terrorists and extremists .........................................27

Themes of ―otherness‖ and ―us versus them‖ ...........................................................................28

The ever-repeating discourse on ―Islamic Terrorism‖ ..............................................................29

Summary ...................................................................................................................................33

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Chapter Four: Methodology .......................................................................................................34

Aim of the Research..................................................................................................................35

Hypothesis.................................................................................................................................35

Method of study ........................................................................................................................35

Sample.......................................................................................................................................36

Selection of newspapers for the sample ....................................................................................36

Division of sample ....................................................................................................................38

Selection of articles for the sample ...........................................................................................39

Analysis of data.........................................................................................................................40

Chapter Five: Findings ................................................................................................................46

Vocabulary used to define the concept of extremism ...............................................................47

Vocabulary used opposing to the concept of extremism ..........................................................50

Indirect linkage: Use of terms ‗Islam/Islamic‘ and ‗Muslim‘ ..................................................52

Countries that feature in discussion on extremism and terrorism .............................................54

Direct linkage: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims .............................................56

Association of extremism to religious adherence, symbols and education ..............................58

Chapter Six: Discussion and Analysis ........................................................................................60

Vocabulary used to define the concept of extremism ...............................................................61

Vocabulary used opposing to the concept of extremism ..........................................................68

Indirect linkage: Use of terms ‗Islam/Islamic‘ and ‗Muslim‘ ..................................................71

Countries that feature in discussion on extremism and terrorism .............................................72

Direct linkage: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims .............................................73

Association of extremism to religious adherence, symbols and education ..............................77

Cross-national analysis summary .............................................................................................81

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Summary of the findings ...........................................................................................................83

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................84

Suggestions and Recommendations ..........................................................................................85

References .....................................................................................................................................86

List of Tables and Figures:

Table 5.1: Vocabulary used to define the concept of extremism…................................49

Table 5.2: Vocabulary used opposing to the concept of extremism…………………...51

Table 5.3: Use of terms ‗Islam/Islamic‘ and ‗Muslim‘……………………...................52

Figure 5.1: Use of terms ‗Islam/Islamic‘ and ‗Muslim‘………………..........................53

Table 5.4: Countries that feature in discussions on extremism and terrorism…………55

Table 5.5: Direct linkage: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims………….56

Figure 5.2: Association to Islam……………………………………………………….57

Figure 5.3: No association to any religion………………………………………..........57

Table 5.6: Association of extremism to religious adherence, symbols and education...58

Figure 5.4: Association to religiosity…………………………………………………..59

Figure 5.5: Association to religiosity and other concepts……………………………...59

Figure 5.6: Association to other concepts……………………………………………...59

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ABSTRACT

Extremism, fundamentalism, terrorism and other related terms are at the heart of global

media discourse since the past few years. The press has been fundamental in shaping our

attitudes and perceptions regarding these issues by effectively defining and redefining these

concepts for us. This research attempts to explore how the global press is defining and

framing extremism and its variants by using a quantitative and qualitative analysis of texts of

108 non-news articles picked up from nine newspapers across the world. Findings revealed

that a variety of loaded terminologies were being used to define extremism and its opposing

concepts and that media definitions were often influenced by dominant political discourse.

Extremism was found to be talked about majority of the time in relation to Islam and

Muslims. A growing trend of associating extremism to religious adherence, symbols and

education was also found. Western newspapers from the U.S. and U.K were often found to

associate extremism to being anti-West and moderation to being pro-West and had among

the highest instances of association of extremism to Islam.

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Introduction

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The media play a fundamental role in educating audiences about various social realities. The

question of how the media mediate between the external objective reality and our perception

of social reality has been one of the major themes of Mass Communication research. There

has been particular interest in the ‗reality definition‘ function of the press. The press has been

instrumental in educating readers, creating awareness about issues, defining our perceptions

of reality and changing attitudes.

The role of language in reporting and discussing particular topics is also one of importance in

media studies. How the use of terminologies and language in the media is in accordance with

dominant political discourse in society and how this subsequently shapes media portrayals

and definitions is another important aspect of this debate.

Of late, there has been a lot of focus on topics like extremism, moderation and terrorism in

the media. The press has been at the centre of shaping our perceptions and attitudes regarding

these issues. The media not only report incidents of terrorism and militancy, they have also

come to define these concepts for us.

The purpose of this research is to examine how the global press is defining extremism and its

various linguistic variations. The sample comprised a collection of 108 non-news articles

(including columns and editorials) picked from 9 publications across different countries from

different regions of the world. 12 write-ups were selected from each newspaper on the basis

of a convenience sample with the criteria of selecting articles using one or more of a variety

of terminologies relating to extremism.

The newspapers were selected on the basis of circulation figures as well as off-record

hegemony. A further limitation that emerged in determining selection was the condition that

the newspaper that was to be used had to have a website and subsequently, an online archive

providing free access to the ‗Comment‘ or ‗Opinion‘ section of that publication for the period

of time covered in the study. The comparative cross-national analysis allows for a study of

differing perceptions and concept frames in different countries and different contexts. The

study uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis of the media texts selected

in the sample.

Extremism, fundamentalism, radicalism, fanaticism, terrorism etc are elusive terms and it is

difficult to attach one single meaning to them. We know that one man‘s terrorist is another

man‘s freedom fighter and we have also seen that yesterday‘s terrorists can be today‘s

statesmen.

While a search fails to bring up much about the origins of the term ‗extremism‘, there seems

to be some amount of material available on the origins of the term ‗fundamentalism‘. The

term ‗fundamentalism‘ has been used in so many contexts that its origins have been

obscured. Like other scholarly terms that have entered general usage (‗Charisma‘ for

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example), popularity has resulted in a degradation of the meaning of the term as well as

questionable applications (Weinberg and Pendahzur, 2004). The origins of the term

‗fundamentalism‘ lie firmly in American Protestantism. After a lengthy debate about

evolutionary biology and creation, the Protestant denominations gradually separated into

‗modernists‘ who argued that believers needed to adapt to the findings of science and

scholarship, and ‗traditionalists‘ or anti-modernists who insisted upon maintaining the older

views of revelation and biblical inerrancy. As the struggles between the two groups

progressed, the views of anti-modernists were articulated in a set of pamphlets published

between 1910 to 1915, under the title of ‗The Fundamentals‘. Gradually, those who

supported this position began to term themselves ‗fundamentalists‘ (Weinberg and

Pendahzur, 2004).

The absence of one agreed meaning for the aforementioned terms in current usage is readily

apparent. But in the presence of such a case, these terms lend themselves to more

manipulation and engineering by the dominant political and media elite of a society. In the

post September 11 scenario, these terms have acquired more political connotations and are

actively being defined and redefined by the media. These definitions are not always correct

as the media have a tendency to be shaped by dominant political discourse. In the present day

scenario, these terms have in fact become political terms to create hysteria against certain

groups.

Well-known journalist, Robert Fisk, the London-based Independent‘s Middle East

correspondent describes this quite well when he writes:

――terrorism‖ no longer means terrorism. It is not a definition; it is a

political contrivance. ―Terrorists‖ are those who use violence against the

side that is using the word. The only terrorists whom Israel acknowledges

are those who oppose Israel. The only terrorists the United States

acknowledges are those who oppose the United States or their allies. The

only terrorists Palestinians acknowledge—for they too use the word—are

those opposed to the Palestinians.‖ (Fisk, 1990)

The content of newspapers is not really facts about the world, but in a very general sense

‗ideas‘ and in this, language is not neutral but a highly constructive mediator (Fowler, 1991).

The language the media use can help shape opinions and perceptions and consequently

influence action against certain groups in society. By repeatedly associating certain

phenomena through use of language and terminology, the media are able to shape definitions

of phenomena. And with the immense power and ubiquity that the media have acquired

today, it becomes increasingly important to monitor how the media are defining certain terms

and what stereotypes and notions they are creating.

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A principle that has been long understood by propagandists is that a lie which is repeated

often enough becomes widely accepted as truth (Rampton and Stauber, 2003) and that by

repeated associations of two or more phenomena the desired concepts tend to acquire

commonsense status in a society.

Walter Lippmann‘s concept of ‗manufacturing consent‘ (a term popularised by the works of

Noam Chomsky) is an interesting angle that can be applied to this debate. The concept

contends that in democratic societies, the less the state is able to employ violence in the

interests of the elite groups that effectively dominate it, the more it becomes necessary to

devise techniques of ―manufacture of consent‖ (Chomsky, 1986).

Chomsky (1986) puts forward that one way of ―manufacturing consent‖ is to devise an

appropriate form of ―Newspeak‖ in which crucial terms have a technical sense divorced from

their ordinary meanings. The term ―newspeak‖ was coined by George Orwell to describe

words ―deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only

had in every case a political implication but were intended to impose a desirable mental

attitude upon the person using them.‖

Orwell was an ardent observer of the relationship between politics and language. In one of

his collections, he wrote: ―In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of

the indefensible. Things like the continuance of British rule in India, the Russian purges and

deportations, the dropping of atom bombs in Japan, can indeed be defended, but only by

arguments which are too brutal for most people to face, and which do not square with the

professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of

euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness‖ (Orwell, 1970).

Chomsky (1986) uses the example of the phrase ―peace process‖ to explain the idea of

―newspeak‖. According to how the term is used in the mass media and the U.S. scholarship,

―peace process‖ means peace proposals advanced by the U.S. government in the context of

the Middle East crisis. If the Palestinians, for example, refuse to accept the U.S. terms of the

peace process, they are in effect described as rejecting peace in accordance with the

―newspeak.‖ The desired conclusion follows, whatever the facts (Chomsky, 2007).

Similarly, Chomsky (2007) uses the example of another pair of ―newspeak‖ concepts very

relevant to the current study: ―extremist‖ and ―moderate‖. U.S. policy is by definition

―moderate‖ so that those who oppose it are ―extremist‖ and ―uncompromising.‖ The Israeli

Labour coalition position then (in 1986) according to Chomsky‘s description of ―newspeak‖

was also ―moderate‖ as it conformed to the position of the U.S.

―The terms ―terrorism‖ and ―retaliation‖ also have a special sense in U.S. ―newspeak.‖

―Terrorism‖ refers to terrorist acts by Arabs, not Israel or the U.S.‖ (Chomsky, 1986). Terms

like ―preventing‖ or ―reducing‖ violence also have another special sense in the context of

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Arab-Israeli conflicts. In one case for example, the Israeli and U.S media defined the attempt

by villagers to run their own affairs as ―violence‖ and a brutal attack to teach them who rules

as ―reducing violence.‖

In his book ‗Imperial Ambitions: Conversations in the Post 9/11 World‘, Noam Chomsky

(2005) gives another example of an American journalist (a Middle East correspondent with

tremendous experience) who writes in his article that the U.S. must be the only country in the

world where someone can be called a terrorist for defending his own country from attack.

Media portrayals of concepts in many cases are influenced by the dominant cultural

meanings attached to them, what in other words Orwell described as political language.

People‘s opinions and conceptions are often shaped by the mass media and the mass media

themselves often follow dominant political discourses that support the actions of hegemonic

powers. At the same time, media discourse often plays an important role is establishing and

maintaining power relations in societies.

The media often have set conventional patterns of reporting and even opinion and analysis

that they follow in covering events. Van Dijk (1988) calls these set patterns cognitive scripts

and models of behaviour shaped by the experience and narration of previous events. These

cognitive structures are shaped by dominant cultural, political and religious worldviews and

the media often follow them even when covering some of the most atypical of occurrences.

The media play an important role in lending salience to various issues. We have all heard of

terms like ―media frenzy‖, ―media hype‖ and ―moral panic‖. While popular mass

communication theories like Agenda-setting theory contend that while the media may not be

successful most of the time in telling us what to think, they are stunningly successful in

telling readers or audiences what to think about (Cohen, 1963), there are other theorists who

are now arguing that media are stunningly successful in telling us not only what to think

about, but how to think about it (McCombs, 2003).

We see that certain events and issues tend to become fodder for newspapers and the

electronic media with reporting, commentary and analysis about them being done at

unprecedented levels. In this way, the media become active participants in the course of

events, shaping and creating events as they report. At many times, media involvement in the

sense of reporting can have a significant effect on the event itself and even the outcome. The

media therefore, are said to be actively involved in what Thompson (1995) called

―constituting the social world.‖

The media thus often generate news waves by lending an issue increased attention,

amplifying it and creating ‗hype‘ about it, subsequently influencing action regarding it.

Pakistani society has often seen this sort of media generated news wave at incidences of

violence in the city and those relating to threats to law and order etc.

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The Pakistani media just like the global media have been giving a lot of attention to

extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism. If one takes a look at any edition of any

newspaper in this day and age, one will undoubtedly come across some mention or the other

of extremism and terrorism. In this age of the ‗looming threat of terror‘ and increased focus

on the fanaticism and extremism that causes it, it is almost impossible for a day to go by with

no mention of these phenomena in the media.

A Google search of Dawn‘s (Pakistan‘s topmost English daily newspaper) website turns up

some 5400 results for ‗extremism‘. A similar search for ‗fundamentalism‘ turns up some 782

results on the Dawn website. Similarly, a Google search of the website of The News

(Pakistan‘s second most prestigious English daily) turns up 1490 results for ‗extremism‘ and

203 for ‗fundamentalism‘. A Google search of the American most prestigious daily, New

York Times, turns up 61800 results for ‗extremism‘ and 4950 for ‗fundamentalism‘. A similar

search done on Britain‘s prestigious daily, Telegraph, turns up 3450 results for ‗extremism‘

and 1790 for ‗fundamentalism.‘ The amount of press coverage and mention given to these

issues then is readily apparent.

What propelled the researcher to take up this topic for research was the relatively new debate

in Pakistan about progressive liberalism versus religious adherence and conservatism and the

tendency among the media and intellectual elites to label all signs of religion as ‗extremism‘,

‗fundamentalism‘ or ‗radicalism‘ etc. The elite press and media of the country have relatively

recently engaged themselves in this debate which tends to label all signs of religion as

extremism and radicalism. This is done either directly, or indirectly, by associating religion

and religious practice and conservatism with the aforementioned terms.

As an example, consider two articles that appeared in the year 2009 in one of the top monthly

newsmagazines of Pakistan, Newsline: ‗The Power of the Pulpit‘ and ‗The Saudisation of

Pakistan‘. Both these articles are representative of the popular intellectual discourse about

extremism and fundamentalism that is prominent in the elite media of the country.

‗The Power of the Pulpit‘, the cover story for that month, by popular journalist and novelist,

Muhammad Hanif, stands critical of the growing trend of religious adherence in the society

and associates it to ‗Talibanisation‘, a neologism that is said to have been coined by the

media to describe the increasing influence of the Taliban in the society. He calls the growing

trend of religious preaching on Television as a precedent to the rise of militancy in the

country. He writes:

―In Karachi, there are frequent warnings that the Taliban are headed this

way. There are posters warning us about Talibanisation. Altaf Hussain

thunders about them at every single opportunity. But nobody seems to

warn us about the preachers who are already here: the ones wagging their

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fingers on TV always tend to precede the ones waving their guns,

smashing those TVs and bombing poor barbers.‖ (Hanif, 2009, ‗The

Power of the Pulpit‘, Newsline)

The article, ‗The Saudisation of Pakistan‘, by Pervez Hoodboy goes along the same lines,

arguing that radicalism is not only a problem in FATA and that Madrassas1 are not the only

―institutions serving as jihad factories‖, rather ―extremism is breeding at a ferocious rate in

public and private schools within Pakistan‘s towns and cities‖. Hoodboy associates this to the

‗Saudisation‘ of the country, its educational curriculum, the building of hundreds of

mosques, and the rise in the trend of women wearing the abaya2 or burqa

3. By linking

religious practice and symbols repeatedly to the debate about rising extremism and militancy,

Hoodboy like many other writers in this dominant intellectual discourse in the elite media of

the country, includes these elements into the definition of the term extremism and its

variations. He writes:

―While social conservatism does not necessarily lead to violent

extremism, it does shorten the distance. The socially conservative are

more easily convinced that Muslims are being demonised by the rest of

the world. The real problem, they say, is the plight of the Palestinians, the

decadent and discriminatory West, the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus,

the Kashmir issue, the Bush doctrine – the list runs on. They vehemently

deny that those committing terrorist acts are Muslims, and if presented

with incontrovertible evidence, say it is a mere reaction to oppression.‖

(Hoodboy, 2009, ‗The Saudisation of Pakistan‘, Newsline)

As another example, we can consider an article by popular columnist, Nadeem F. Paracha, in

the most prominent daily of the country, Dawn. In his article titled ‗Nauseous mumblings‘,

Paracha is again critical of the trend of religious preachers on television and the growing

trend of young men and women adorning beards and hijabs4 respectively, and practising

religious rituals. He calls these trends an exhibition of ‗extreme beliefs‘. He writes:

1 Maddrassa, literally meaning place of study, refers to a traditional Islamic school of higher study where the

Quran and other related sciences are taught.

2 Abaya refers to a cloak covering the body and clothes worn by Muslim women in public

3 Burqa refers to a cloak and head-covering worn by Muslim women which often covers the face too

4 Hijab, literally meaning veil, refers to the adherence of certain standards of modest dress by Muslim women,

often referring to the head-covering

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―There have been recorded cases against many petty-bourgeois shop-

owners and traders of financing jihadi5 organisations; whereas many

sections among the more ‗modern‘ bourgeois class have largely exhibited

their own version of extreme beliefs by passionately patronising (as

supporters and clients), a number of Islamic televangelists and drawing-

room preachers whose number has grown two-fold from 1990 onwards.

Consequently, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young

men and women from the middle-class now preferring to adorn beards

and hijabs, and taking religious rituals a lot more seriously (compared to

the situation till the late 1970s). But this class still constitutes a large

number of westernised youth as well.‖ (Paracha, 2009, ‗Nauseous

Mumblings‘, Dawn, Images on Sunday)

This trend in the dominant intellectual discourse however is not a feature limited only to

Pakistan, although it does come somewhat as a surprise that it is dominant in a majority

Muslim country like Pakistan. Karim (2002) in his paper ‗Making sense of the Islamic Peril‘

notes how the Northern mass media have the tendency to declare manifestations of Muslim

belief such as wearing the hijab and performing the communal Muslim prayer as certain

signs of ―Islamic fundamentalism,‖ whereas the wearing of Christian religious apparel or

attending church in their own countries are not usually considered signs of fanaticism. ―The

generalisation and polarisation of all Muslims as ―fundamentalists‖ and ―moderates,‖

―traditionalists‖ and ―modernists,‖ ―fanatics‖ and ―secularists‖ serve to distort

communication. They tend to make the Muslims who are interested in constructive dialogue

with non-Muslims apologetic about their beliefs or, contrarily, disdainful about any

interaction.‖

Karim (2002) also discusses how such situations have been a recurring feature of crisis

situations in the relationship between Northern and Muslim societies. He quotes Ahmed

(1992) on the example of the ―Rushdie Affair‖ when Muslims who dared criticise any aspect

of Salman Rushdie‘s controversial book, The Satanic Verses, risked being branded an

―Islamic fundamentalist.‖ After the September 11 terror attack many Muslims living in

Western societies were fearful of wearing traditional clothing in public, let alone engaging in

discussion with others for fear of being labelled extremists or fundamentalists.

Although some Northern journalists, academics, and politicians do go against this dominant

discourse and state repeatedly that Islam is not synonymous with violence or terrorism, their

alternative discourses are usually overshadowed by many other opinion leaders who continue

5 Jihadi, literally meaning struggle, in popular discourse has come to refer to those who take up war for Islamic

causes

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to frame information within dominant discourses (Karim, 2000). With such repeated media

associations of terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism with symbols of Islamic practice

like the hijab and beard, it came as no surprise then that journalists who had made much of

turbans and hijabs being symbolic of ―Islamic fundamentalism‖ were baffled that a number

of people whom the Taliban had oppressed chose to continue wearing these traditional

garments even after the regime was deposed (Karim, 2002).

The purpose of this research, however, is not to come up with a definition for the term

extremism or other related terms. It is merely to explore how the global press is defining the

term and what meanings are being associated to this concept. Although it may appear that

this research is focusing only on the definitions of extremism, fundamentalism and

radicalism in the context of Muslims, the research was not designed only with this aspect in

mind. The plan was to examine how extremism and other related terms are being defined by

the global media in the context of all religions and nationalities. However, a point worth

noting—and one having other implications as well—is that most articles found discussing

extremism focused on Muslims and most research literature found on the subject was also in

the context of Islam and Muslims.

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

Below follow the primary research questions that will be explored in this study. The

hypothesis that will be tested in the study in addition to exploring these questions, is

mentioned in the methodology chapter.

RQ1: How is the global press defining extremism?

RQ2: What vocabulary is being used to define the concept of extremism?

RQ3: What vocabulary is being used opposing to the concept of extremism?

RQ4: How much is the use of the terms ―Islam‖ and ―Muslim‖ in articles discussing

extremism, terrorism and militancy within them?

RQ5: Which countries feature more in discussions on extremism and terrorism?

RQ6: How much is extremism being linked to religious adherence, symbolism and

education?

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Theory

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The theoretical framework for this study can basically be seen in a few theories of media

studies all aiming to explain in one way or the other how the media shape social realities;

how they mediate between external objective reality and our social reality which is basically

our belief of what the world is like and how this reality is shaped by ideology and dominant

discourses in the society. They examine how and to what extent media contribute to the way

individuals perceive the world.

This chapter takes a look at all of these theories and how they provide the essential grounding

for this research. The interesting thing about these theories that the researcher wishes to draw

attention to, is how all of these theories link together in the context of explaining the present

topic.

The „Reality-Definition‟ Function—Media Construction of Social Reality:

One of the principle functions of the media is to mediate between ―the world outside‖ and the

―pictures in our heads‖ according to Walter Lippmann (1922). The construction of reality

approach in media studies emphasises that there is no single reality but rather a constructed

interpretation of reality.

The media make use of tools like claims (assertion, description, typification), claim-makers,

linkage, values and norms reinforcement. The claim-makers who are in other words known

as ‗experts‘, are spokespersons involved in forwarding a specific claim about a phenomenon,

in this case the event. In the case the event is a terrorism incident for example, ―these

‗experts‘ or ‗terrorism watchers‘ identify the origin of the phenomenon with a particular set

of claims and provide solutions. The ‗experts‘ do not merely say that condition X is a

problem; they characterise X as a problem of a particular sort. Particular cases often shape

our perspective of social problems, and claim-makers draw attention to examples that seem

to justify their claims. Thus, what sometimes we see is experts making a correlation instead

of a search for the cause of the phenomenon.‖ Media reporting consequently becomes

partial; it has the effect of distorting the information. Partiality also occurs when there is the

exclusion of oppositional information, or information is left out (Kuypers, 2002).

Lippmann was also interested in the ‗reality-definition‘ function of the press. In their book

‗Communication and Democracy: Exploring the Intellectual Frontiers in Agenda-Setting

Theory‘, McCombs, Shaw and Weaver include a chapter by Toshio Takeshita which speaks

about the theory advanced by Shimzu in which he emphasised the dominance of the copy. By

the words ‗the copy‘, he meant the media‘s portrayal of reality or the mediated realities, with

the original corresponding to reality (Takeshita, 1997).

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Shimzu put forward that in modern societies people depended on the copy provided by the

media in order to adapt to the enlarged environment. Ordinary people could not check the

copy against the reality and they were forced to depend on the copy at the risk of their fate. It

is highly unlikely that the copy reflect the original with complete fidelity because certain

conditions cause distortion in the copy. He pointed out that when a commercial company

runs the media, they tend to produce a copy leaning towards ―primitive interests‖—interests

in sex, crime, conflict and so on in hopes of maximising profits. On the other hand, when the

government owns the media, the copy tends to be propaganda to achieve some political

goals. Shimzu said that the copy usually imposes rationality on people (Takeshita, 1997).

The role of language in the „reality-definition‟ function:

Language plays a key role in the creation of our realities. Language and words provide a set

of categories or frames in which we ‗see‘ things. Words help us objectify, or in other words,

give meaning to whatever we receive from the mass media and also to whatever we

experience in the world. Language is the process of giving something a label. If one has a

word for something (in other words, a label), it becomes meaningful while the absence of a

label makes the thing less likely to have meaning and one is likely to encounter difficulty in

perceiving the meaning.

Alfred Schutz is a sociologist who provided some early discussion on the social construction

of reality ideas. Using notions from the theory of Phenomenology, Schutz argued that we

conduct our lives so easily in the world because we have developed stocks of social

knowledge which we use to quickly make sense of what goes around us and then structure

our actions. According to Schutz, one of the most important of these forms of knowledge is

typifications. Typifications allow us to quickly classify objects and actions that we observe

and then structure our actions in response. However, typifications often operate like

stereotypes—though they make it easy to interpret our experiences, they also distort and bias

these experiences (Schutz, 1967, 1970). Our media select and create news and in the process

socially construct reality.

The construction of a “pseudo-environment”:

Lippmann also spoke about the concept of ―pseudo-environment‖, which is the environment

that is socially constructed, which we rely on to experience and understand events. Takeshita

(1997) quotes another Japanese theorist Fujitake who used the concept of pseudo-

environment to discuss how people accept the media‘s portrayal of reality as a legitimate

surrogate of reality. Fujitake distinguished between pseudo-environment in the broad sense

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and pseudo-environment in the narrow sense. The former refers to a subjective image of the

environment, which corresponds to the way Lippmann used the term (referring to the

‗pictures in our heads‘); and the latter refers to media‘s portrayal of reality.

Fujitake used the word pseudo-environment in the latter sense, describing it as no more than

a representation of a real environment, a fiction constructed by media personnel. People

usually equate this fiction with the real environment, he theorised. Thus, it is highly likely

that the media‘s definition of reality moves to that of the audience members‘ without being

questioned.

Media Setting the Agenda—Making Issues Salient:

Another set of perspectives that share interest in the ―reality definition‖ function of the press

are the Agenda-setting perspectives (Takeshita, 1997). This theory is particularly popular in

mass communication. It describes how media give attention to a particular issue and the

method by which the media communicate the relative importance of various issues and

events to the public. Agenda-setting focuses the public‘s (readership‘s) attention on particular

issues (Kuypers 2002).

Bernard Cohen (1963) is generally credited for refining the ideas of Lippmann, that have

been discussed above, into the theory of agenda-setting. Cohen (1963) wrote, ―The press is

significantly more than a purveyor of information and opinion. It may not be successful

much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its

readers what to think about. And it follows from this that the world looks different to

different people, depending not only on their personal interests, but also the map that is

drawn for them by the writers, editors and publishers of the papers they read.‖

Agenda-setting posits that the more media cover an issue, the more top-of-mind and salient

that issue is for the public. ―In choosing and displaying news, editors and newsroom staff and

broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about

a given issue, but how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of

information in a news story and its position…The mass media may well determine the

important issues—that is, the media may set the ‗agenda‘ of the campaign‖ (McCombs and

Shaw, 1972).

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„Agenda-building‟ at the macro-level:

Agenda-setting is seen primarily as a micro-level approach. Another interesting

contemporary articulation and a more macro-level theory of it is the Agenda-building theory.

Protess et al. (1991) described agenda-building as, ―the often complicated process by which

some issues become important in policy making arenas.‖ According to Kurt Lang and Gladys

Lang (1983) agenda-building is a more appropriate term than agenda-setting and it refers to

―a collective process in which media, government, and the citizenry reciprocally influence

one another.‖ They say the basic premise of agenda-building is that the media can profoundly

affect how a society (or nation or culture) determines what are its important concerns and

therefore can mobilise its various institutions towards meeting them.

A theory related to agenda-setting is Priming, which is the idea that even the most motivated

citizens cannot consider all that they know when evaluating complex political issues and thus

instead, they consider the things that come easily to mind and priming is able to draw

attention to some aspects of political life at the expense of others. News therefore helps to set

the terms by which political judgments are reached and political choices are made (Iyegar

and Kinder, 1987).

Media Framing Reality:

While agenda-setting and priming theories suggest that by repeating themes, media pass on

their representations of salience to the audience, another relevant and related theory, that of

Framing, suggests that material that is incorporated into a narrative structure will be more

salient to audiences than the material that is not (Edy and Meirick, 2007).

McCombs and Ghanem (2001) have put forward that agenda-setting operates at two levels—

the object level and the attribute level. The focus of conventional agenda-setting research has

been on the object level assessing how media coverage could influence the priority assigned

to objects (e.g. issues, candidates, events and problems). In doing this, media told us ―what to

think about.‖ But media can also tell us ―how to think about‖ some things. This is done by

media influencing ―attribute agendas‖. Media tell us which object attributes are important

and which ones are not.

Entman (1993) defined framing as: ―To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality

and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a

particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment

recommendation for the item described.‖

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However, Entman (1993) himself writes that frames also work different from agendas. He

says salience is not produced by repetition but rather by the structure of narratives. He writes

that frames ―define problems—determine what a causal agent is doing with what costs and

benefits, usually measured in terms of common cultural values; diagnose causes—identify

the forces creating the problem; make moral judgments—evaluate causal agents and their

effects; and suggest remedies—offer and justify treatments for the problems and predict their

likely effects.‖

Reese (2001) for example describes frames as, ―organising principles that are socially shared

and persistent over time, that work symbolically to meaningfully structure the social world.‖

Framing involves how a story is structured, what information is included and what tone is

adopted.

Framing and defining by creating conceptual contexts:

Tankard et al. (1991) define framing as, ―a central organizing idea for news content that

supplies a context and suggests what the issue is through the use of selection, emphasis, and

elaboration.‖ Papacharissi and Oliveria (2008) in their paper on ‗News Frames Terrorism‘

describe the process of framing in the media in detail, ―Framing theory emphasizes the

ability of any entity—media, individuals, or organizations—to delineate other people‘s

reality, highlighting one interpretation while de-emphasising a less favored one. A frame then

becomes the central idea around which attributes of events are organized within individual

schemata. Frames guide the conceptual union of words and images and thoughts (Fairhurst

and Sarr 1996; Gitlin 1980; McCombs and Ghanem 2001), upon which individuals rely to

make sense of their surrounding environments. Messages are undeniably attached to the

frames chosen to describe them. Thus, frames create a conceptual context that facilitates the

apprehension, classification, and understanding of messages in accordance with individuals‘

ideas previously associated with the frames adopted.‖

Papacharissi and Oliveria (2008) also discuss how frames are applied to crisis situations such

as terrorist attacks. They argue that such frames may serve a strategy with which to identify

main causes and responsible agents, make moral judgments, and, finally, to suggest policy

responses to the event. Consequently, the frames that the media adopts to cover terrorism and

the ones the governments adopt to report and respond to this type of action influence the

society‘s perception of this activity.

It is in this way that definitions of terrorism and terrorist attacks are contextually shaped by

the frames adopted by a specific society. Papacharissi and Oliveria (2008) quote examples of

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how the blurring of the distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters in various political

regimes is a result of the application of different frames. While in one society the means of

action employed by certain groups of interest may be outrageous, in other societies, the same

actions may be quite acceptable. The frames used to describe these strategies play a central

role in determining how the acts are perceived. Whenever terrorist attacks occur for example,

they are referenced in cultural and political interpretations.

Hegemony and framing—the influence of political elites:

Frames often play a role the maintenance of the established political order, in other words

maintaining hegemony (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). The importance of framing lies not

only in terms of the directions in which particular media frames influence public discourse on

an issue, but also in terms of its political and strategic utility (Powers, 2008). Pan and

Kosicki (2001) argue that framing is best understood as a process where ―strategic actors

(utilize) symbolic resources to participate in collective sense-making about public policy

issues.‖

Powers (2008) describes Pan and Kosicki‘s explanation in this way: ―Pan and Kosicki make

three primary arguments to advance framing research:

(1) framing is a strategic process in that all actors have particular political and social agendas

that become relevant in their presentation and discussion of issues, even if subconsciously;

(2) framing is symbolic and dramatic, part of a process of the narrativization of information

that strongly influences the boundaries, actors, and import of a given issue; and

(3) framing potency (the likelihood that a particular frame will be triggered in the collective

decision-making process) can be maximised through a process of ‗frame alignment‘ (where a

particular frame becomes discursively and ideologically aligned with others in an effort to

create an imagined ‗discursive community‘ that, ideally, forms a public opinion).‖

Media frames are often constructed from and embodied in key words. How to frame a topic

is a dynamic process of ongoing struggles between political actors and media actors

(Stromback, Shehata & Dimitrova, 2008). Hall et al. (1978) put forward that elite political

actors are the primary definers of political issues. Because whenever journalists require

quotes they turn to official and established news sources and thus these sources are able to

spin the news and frame the content as they wish to.

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Reese (2001) calls framing ―an exercise of power‖. Entman (1993) called frames ―the imprint

of power.‖ Individuals or groups are said to influence media frames by applying their

resources in the so-called process of frame sponsorship (Gamson, 1988). These resources

include the cultural and economic assets of the sponsor; his/her knowledge of journalistic

practices and the frame‘s resonance in the broader political context. Framing contests,

therefore, routinely favour political elites, whose resources are likely to be unmatched and

thus media frames reflect the interests of the existing power structure (Wojseiszak, 2007).

Gitlin (1980) describes this relationship in this way, ―Those who rule the dominant

institutions secure their power in large measure directly and indirectly, by impressing their

definitions of the situation.‖

Wolfsfeld‘s (2004) Politics-Media-Politics (PMP) model adds an interesting explanation to

this theory. He argues that although politics and media are deeply intertwined, events, actions

and real world changes within the arena of politics spark media activity. He speaks about

‗political waves‘ which are sudden and significant changes in the political environment that

are characterised by substantial increase in the amount of public attention centred on a

political issue or event. Such waves are often triggered by events such as a terrorist attack, a

war or an election. Every wave is said to open up a framing contest between the political

actors and the media.

It is evidently clear then that media frames play a very important role in determining the

audience‘s or readership‘s perception of certain events, the problem definition, the causal

evaluation of the situations by highlighting one interpretation of an event or problem and

defining it in the public‘s mind through the process of framing. The role of political elites in

shaping the media framing is also apparent.

Discourse and Ideology:

Another theoretical framework of understanding how the media construct social reality and

in whose interests, is that of critical discourse analysis. It builds on the debate about the role

of political elites in shaping media content. Discourse can be defined as units of social

meaning or building blocks of social reality. The assumption is that all instances of

communication and interaction carry discourse. The communicator either contributes to the

perpetuation of existing discourses or is involved in the creation of new discourses. A critical

approach to discourse links ideology to discourse in that discourse serves to create and

recreate relations of domination (Ebrahim, 2007).

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Citing the works of many scholars like Fairclough and Van Dijk, Erjavec and Volcic (2006)

summarise that mainstream research on media discourses in recent years has been focused on

a broad framework of a critical discourse analysis, which is concerned with diverse issues

such as the projection of power through discourse, the instantiation of dominance and

inequality in discourse, the ideological underpinning of discourse, and discourse‘s affiliation

with social change.

Ideology, language and media discourse in the social dimension:

Van Dijk (1998) describes ideology as a ―system of ideas‖. Ideologies are often associated

with group interests, conflicts, or struggle. They may serve to legitimise or to resist power or

dominance, or they may represent social problems and contradictions. They may be related to

social classes and other social groups as well as institutions, organizations, and other forms

of social structure. It is often claimed that ideologies are typically expressed and produced in

and through language. ―The primary functions of ideologies in a society, such as

concealment, manipulation, and so on, are mostly discursive social practice. Of course, this

does not mean that ideologies are expressed only through language; however, it seems

obvious that language use, among other social practices, plays a significant role in the

reproduction of ideologies‖ (Van Dijk,1998).

Language is usually not used in a contextual vacuum. It often operates in a social dimension

and it tends to reflect and construct ideologies. Discourse is never neutral or objective,

instead it is an exercise in social or political power. Media discourse is a site for the

production and diffusion of ideology (Erjavec and Volcic, 2006).

According to one understanding, discourse in the media functions through news values

whereby certain stories are favoured over others. For example, topics may influence what

people see as the most important information of text or talk, and thus correspond to the top

levels of their mental models. For example, expressing such a topic in a headline in news

may powerfully influence how an event is defined in terms of a ―preferred‖ mental model

(e.g. when crime committed by minorities is typically topicalised and headlined in the press

(Van Dijk, 2003).

The theoretical framework of discourse analysis holds that dominant groups generally have

the control over various strategic institutions. Media are often owned and controlled by a

few. This gives them the power to decide what can and cannot appear in the media. This

power can be abused to ensure that the media primarily represent the ideology of the

dominant group (Bozzoli, 1987). Recipients of media information tend to accept beliefs,

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knowledge and opinions through discourse from what they see as authoritative, trustworthy,

or credible sources, such as scholars, experts, professionals, or reliable media (Nesler et al.

1993).

The construction of context:

One important aspect of discourse is context. Context is defined as the mentally represented

structure of those properties of the social situation that are relevant for the production or

comprehension of discourse.

―It consists of such categories as the overall definition of the situation, setting (time, place),

ongoing actions (including discourses and discourse genres), participants in various

communicative, social, or institutional roles, as well as their mental representations: goals,

knowledge, opinions, attitudes, and ideologies. Controlling context involves control over one

or more of these categories, e.g. determining the definition of the communicative situation,

deciding on time and place of the communicative event, or on which participants may or

must be present, and in which roles, or what knowledge or opinions they should (not) have,

and which social actions may or must be accomplished by discourse.‖ (Van Dijk, 2003).

Thus, again, ideology, power structures and the elite in society are able to shape how certain

events and phenomena are defined by controlling the discourse in society and specifically,

the media.

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SUMMARY:

This chapter took a look at various theoretical frameworks that have specific applicability in

the context of the selected topic. All theories discussed explain in different ways, how the

media construct social reality, define issues, problems and contexts for the public and how

these definitions or discourses are influenced by the power structures within the society. The

media lend salience to issues by bringing them to public attention, but not only do they tell us

‗what to think about‘, they are also able to tell us ‗what to think‘ because they are able to

frame the event or issue for us and highlight one interpretation over the other, in effect

defining the issue for us. This framing is influenced by political actors and ‗political waves‘

and thus, what comes forward in the media is mostly the frame the political actors wish to

project. Discourses in society and the media thus get affected by the ideological and political

structures and social dimensions.

The theory thus, in a nutshell, indicates that:

Media perform a ‗reality-definition‘ function by means of which they construct social

reality for their audience/readers

Media set the ‗agenda‘ and make issues salient

By controlling what material enters the narrative structure media select and ‗frame‘

which aspects of a perceived reality and which conceptual contexts will be shown to

the public and hence influence public perceptions

The frames adopted by the media are influenced by political actors

Ideology, social power and the political structure influence the media discourse which

again determines the public‘s perceptions of reality

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Literature Review

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It is true that since the events of September 11, discussions on terrorism and extremism have

acquired a new significance in the media, as well as in academic circles. Not only is there a

lot of discussion on these phenomena in the media itself, they have also been part of the

academic discourse with much research, writing and debate surrounding them.

A lot of literature is available discussing the phenomena of extremism, terrorism,

fundamentalism, fanaticism and the like; their causes, origins, definitions, consequences,

perceptions about them and even their portrayal in the media. Much time and energy has

been put into understanding these phenomena in order to devise effective strategies of

dealing with them. From studies like ‗The Fundamentalism Project‘ (which is a five-year

interdisciplinary cross-cultural study of modern religious fundamentalisms, conducted by the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences with support from the John D. and Catherine T.

Mac Arthur Foundation conducted in the 1990s) to those like ‗Religion, Terrorism and the

Limits of Freedom‘ Pratt (2008), extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism etc are much-

researched and much-written-about topics. However, going into the conceptual, linguistic

and theological debates about these phenomena is out of out of the purview of this study.

This research aims merely to explore how the media are defining these phenomena and

constructing the public‘s perceptions of them.

Therefore, the literature that will be reviewed and summarized in this chapter will be those

studying the media‘s portrayals, definitions and framing of these phenomena.

Growing Interest in Media Portrayals of Terrorists and Extremists:

Although research into the media portrayals of terrorism/terrorists and extremism/extremists

had previously been carried out, the political and policy ramifications of the September 11

attacks and the increased media attention given to these phenomena subsequent to that, led

way to a voluminous scholarly interest in the topic. If one carries out an internet search of the

topic, one comes across many researches on media portrayals of terrorism and terrorists.

However, there is fewer literature on media portrayals and definitions of extremism, and

literature on terrorism cannot completely replace that on extremism since terrorism still has a

relatively clearer definition yet the term extremism remains much more elusive and therefore

open to manipulation and redefinition.

It is interesting to note that a general search of the internet on search engines like Google

Scholar or other research and journal websites for ‗media images of extremism‘, ‗media

definition of extremism‘ and ‗press definition of extremism‘ etc, brings up a large number of

results relating to September 11 and more specifically, Muslims in the media after September

11.

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The most relevant researches found on the present topic were those by Papacharissi and

Oliveria (2008), ‗News Frames Terrorism: A Comparative Analysis of Frames Employed In

Terrorism Coverage in U.K. and U.S. Newspapers‘; Erjavec and Volcic (2006), ‗Mapping

the Notion of ―Terrorism‖ in Serbian and Croatian Newspapers‘; Nelson (2008),

‗Understanding the Press Imaging of ―Terrorist‖: A Pragmatic Visit to the Frankfurt School‘;

Deeprawat (2002), ‗From ―Evil Empire‖ to ―Extremism‖: Exploring Enemy Images and

Otherness in American News Media‘, Ebrahim (2007), ‗A Critical Analysis of the Discourses

on Muslims, Before and After September 11, 2001‘, and Karim (2002), ‗Making Sense of the

Islamic Peril—Journalism as a Cultural Practice‘. Other relevant studies and researchers are

included in the following review in addition to these.

The researches being reviewed in this chapter are basically rooted in one or more of the

theoretical frameworks outlined in the previous chapter.

Terrorism coverage and the reinforcement of administrative positions:

The starting point of most researches on terrorism and its coverage in the media is driven by

the interest to consider how press coverage connects to public reaction and perception of

terrorism which then translates into public policy (Papacharissi and Oliveria, 2008). A

content analysis of the early U.S. television coverage of the September 11 attacks

emphasised news values over patriotic themes and democratic values, while subsequent

coverage was mostly fact-oriented with some analysis which matched objectives stated by

executives in interview data (Mogenson et al., 2002).

Most media coverage of terrorist incidents and subsequent coverage and debates on the issue

are seen to reinforce administrative positions. There are however, media that favour

alternative views too. For example, in their study on framing in the war in Afghanistan,

Jasperson and El-Khikia (2003) studied how CNN and Al-Jazeera framed the issue. They

found that U.S. coverage often employed frames that reinforced the administrative positions

and patriotic messages. Al-Jazeera coverage, on the other hand, did not focus much on the

strategic and military issues but rather focused on the alternative policy issues of the Afghan

death toll etc.

The most significant finding Papacharissi and Oliveria (2008) found in their study was that in

framing, media align news frames corresponding to the national policy, pointing to the

symbiotic agenda between the policy agenda and the press. In terrorism coverage, the U.S.

media agenda as was portrayed by the opinion-leading newspapers of the country excluded

coverage of military alternatives as in accordance with the official government policy. The

U.K media agenda, as reflected through the influential papers chosen in their sample,

presented their readers with broad coverage of policy alternatives. ―The effect, in Entman‘s

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(1993) words, is one that inadvertently highlights particular aspects of perceived reality, so as

to promote particular perspectives and exclude others‖ (Papcharissi and Oliveria, 2008).

Another example is a study of the news coverage of the Abu Ghraib incidents which showed

that leading American media closely followed elite political discourse when reporting on the

issue (Bennett et al., 2006). The news frame was dominated by an ‗abuse frame‘ rather than a

‗torture frame‘. Although the ‗torture frame‘ was supported by mid-level sources, it never

reached the level of counter frame in the news coverage. Stromback, Shehata and Dimitrova

(2008) pointed out that in the Abu Ghraib case, one reason for the ‗abuse frame‘ being

prominent could be the fact that the Bush administration was more successful than the

sponsors of the torture frame in subsidising the ‗abuse frame‘.

―Terrorism‖ has become a term of elite and popular discourse and thus has come to possess

obvious ideographic qualities, and like the terms ―freedom‖, ―democracy‖ and ―justice‖,

―terrorism‖ functions as a primary purpose term for the central narratives of the culture,

understood by all, employed in political debate and daily conversation and yet loaded with

culturally-specific meanings (Jackson, 2006).

Karim (2002) maintains that the political violence of those who seek to upset the status quo is

often characterised as terrorism. ―Experts‖ from the government, the military, and academia

emerge as the owners of dominant discourses on terrorism. They make themselves readily

available through the mass media to the public, to define and describe the problem as well as

respond to the alternative discourses on the issue. These people then are able to assign

responsibility for terrorism concerning who and what causes it and who and what will deal

with it. ―Issues involving political violence are generally shorn of their structural causes and

placed under general rubrics such as ―right-wing terrorism,‖ ―left-wing terrorism,‖ ―narco-

terrorism,‖ ―nuclear terrorism‖ or ―Islamic terrorism‖‖ (Karim, 2002).

Use of frames and the production of stereotypes:

Scholars have often described frames to be of two major types: episodic frames which focus

on describing single events or occurrences, and thematic frames which provide more in-depth

coverage that emphasise context and continuity. Research has often found that episodic

frames which are usually more drama-oriented and focus on the concrete news tend to

involve the use of negative stereotypes. Thematic frames which tend to be more in-depth and

analytical are mostly found to detract from negative stereotyping. Studies have shown that

coverage of terrorist events often feature episodic and thematic frames.

Papacharissi and Oliveria (2008) in their study of news framing of terrorism found that the

New York Times made more frequent and repetitive use of several elements associated with

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episodic framing when discussing terrorism-related issues. They found that in the New York

Times, coverage was characterised by the use of strong negative epithets including adjectives

like ―deadliest‖, ―vicious‖, ―indiscriminate‘, ―opportunistic‖, ―chaotic‖, and ―jihadist‖ etc.

Compared to the Times, they found that the Washington Post was less episodic in its

orientation and was less frequent in its use of stereotypical terms and adjectives. They also

found the Financial Times of the U.K. to be further removed from the episodic frame and

that it showed a noticeable effort to use words carefully. The Guardian was also found to be

using a thematic frame. They found both U.S. newspapers as compared to the two U.K.

newspapers were less likely to refer to international or historical factors in analytical pieces

or editorials and, when doing so, they typically reverted to government sources, opinions and

analysis. The U.K newspapers were found to be thematic in their approach of terrorism

coverage.

The way news or coverage is framed has a significant effect on readers‘ perceptions about an

issue or group. Different stories and different media frame groups in different ways. Studies

have found framing effects demonstrated in the context of news stories about activist groups.

One way of framing which Boyle et al. (2006) discuss in their paper is the presentation of

news stories in terms of groups or individuals. Citing other researches, they discuss how

media coverage of extreme activists often focuses on individual members. Gitlin (1980) for

example, showed that media presentations of individual student activists is done in such a

way that it might actually make the group and its goals seem more extreme and potentially

dangerous.

To see how media framing is able to make some aspects of perceived reality more salient in

such a way as to promote a particular problem definition according to Entman‘s definition,

we can take a look at Powers‘ (2008) study of how the Danish cartoon affair mediatized

cross-cultural tensions. Powers contends that the media repeatedly emphasised the

incongruence of Islam and Western cultures and the extremist and reactionary elements in

some Muslims‘ reactions in the coverage of this issue. By doing this, the Western media was

able to encourage an account that further stereotyped Muslim culture and politics and

promoted the clash of civilisations thesis. However, there were other forms of protests and

indeed other aspects of the affair that the media could have focused on to counter the

‗harmful clash narrative‘(Powers, 2008).

There is an increased trend in the media and other kinds of discourses of the notion that the

world is facing a ―new terrorism‖. ―The ―new terrorism‖ thesis argues that, driven by hatred,

fanaticism and extremism rather than by political ideology, today‘s religiously-inspired

terrorists are determined to cause mass casualties among civilians, are driven to sacrifice

themselves in murderous suicide attacks and would be willing to employ weapons of mass

destruction.‖ (Jackson, 2006)

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Jackson (2006) also purports that the terrorism-extremism associations contained in many

media texts works to construct the widely accepted ‗knowledge‘ that certain forms of Islam

are by nature violent and terroristic. Jackson argues that narratives on ―Islamic terrorism‖

imply that because ―Islamic terrorism‖ is fanatical, irrational, murderous and religiously-

motivated, there is no possibility of negotiation, compromise or appeasement and thus imply

that eradication, deterrence and forceful counter-terrorism are the only reasonable responses.

Labelling, typifications and definitions of terrorists and extremists:

Another way of examining how media define phenomena and produce stereotypes is the

labelling approach. In accordance with the symbolic interaction theory, this approach

explains how reality is defined by shared social symbols, where human beings define and

interpret each other‘s actions. Nelson (2008) showed how the ‗deviant label‘ is used within a

society, whereby behaviours interpreted as deviant by others are often given the ‗deviant

label‘. This includes labels like ‗misguided‘, ‗terrorist‘, ‗extremist‘, ‗radical‘, ‗activist‘,

‗moderate‘ and so forth. The labels about dissident groups are acquired after a long process

which is guided by intellectuals in the society and they gain acceptance and become

solidified as part of Public Opinion (Gillian and Gollin, 1973).

Furthermore, the tool of linkage is used in constructing news and subsequently, concepts.

This happens when newspapers tie or correlate one issue with another or others. As a result

an array of topics becomes associated with the phenomenon or event. For example, in the

articles she examined, Nelson (2008) points out these examples, ‗the fall of President Suharto

led to the opening for Al-Qaeda in Indonesia‘, and ‗to stop anyone else from abusing the

position of religious teacher, the Islamic Religious Council of S‘pore (MUIS) is adapting its

register‘.

Nelson (2008) further elaborates on this by explaining that ―the process of defining who are

virtuous and who are dangerous is done through claim-making involving descriptions

(metaphors), typification and assertions regarding the extent and nature of an incident. It also

refers to what is being said about the fact, how the fact is being disclosed and how claims are

presented so as to persuade the readership.‖ She showed that in the articles of Straits Times

analysed in the study, racial and religious militants were called extremists and associated

with terrorists.

Typifications often result in the stereotyping of particular groups. Nelson (2008) found that

in the articles from the Straits Times that she analysed after a particular terrorist incident in

January 2002, the ―more defined perception‖ of terrorist that newspaper was presenting was

that of Islamic extremists, Muslim extremists, deviant Muslims, misguided terrorists and the

Jemaah Islamiyah group. She also pointed out that that those descriptions about who the

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terrorists were, were followed by calls by the authorities and in the editorial for ‗moderates‘

to speak up against the ‗outsiders‘.

An interesting point however, that Deeprawat (2002) reveals in his study, is that because of

the many racial antagonisms that came to be associated with terrorism, many media outlets

refused to use the term. Reuters for example did not allow their journalists to use the term

―terrorist‖ to describe the attacks or their perpetrators. Journalists from that organisation were

only allowed to quote others using the term. The organisation justified this policy by saying

that they did not characterise the subjects of news stories but instead reported their actions,

identity and background.

Themes of “otherness” and “us versus them”:

As outlined in the previous chapter, media affect and are affected by power relations within

the social system. Therefore, much research has gone into examining media discourse and

how that is shaped by hegemonic and power relations within society.

The media often operate within the societal intergroup framework of ‗us versus them‘

perceptions, stereotypes and prejudices. Van Dijk (1998) for example worked on how the

discourse on terrorism is constructed and how the us/them dichotomy is presented and

interpreted within it. He conducted a semantic analysis of five Dutch national daily

newspapers and found that Tamils were described negatively as a threat to the nation or a

public danger. This was done by the use of discourses concerning the illegal ‗fake‘ refugees,

a threat to the nation and the social status quo.

Erjavec and Volcic (2006) found that mainstream American journalism reproduced Bush‘s

discourse and supported the war effort in Afghanistan and thus created a dichotomy between

―us‖ and ―them‖ and blamed them (the evil Other, being an Islamic terrorism, personified by

bin Laden) as solely responsible for the September 11 attacks. The American, Croatian and

Serbian journalists thus were found to employ such discourses that define and see the ―clash

of civilisations‖ as the driving force behind global conflicts and ―fundamentalism‖ as

resistance to modernity.

Deeprawat (2002) based on his analysis of articles from the American news media, maintains

that the media serve as ―a catalyst in the formulation of enemy images around the common

ideologies of an interpretive community led by authorities such as the government. It is

evident that when a country faces an external adversary, the news media, acting in

conjunction with the power structure within the society they serve perpetuates the notion of

―evil enemy‖ and ―otherness.‖‖

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Deeprawat (2002) points out that the national image is often created at the expense of

distorting worldviews by juxtaposing ―us‖ against ―them‖ and by doing so, creating a

dichotomy of ―good‖ and ―bad.‖ Also, he explains how portraying the enemy as fanatics and

ruthless helps in the dehumanisation process which helps people emotionally detach

themselves from the enemy, making it easier to torture them in inhuman ways.

Enemy images can also be constructed as ―enemy of God‖ which was the practice in Bush‘s

war on terror. This included for example Bush‘s proclamation of the war being a ―crusade‖

and the desire to rid the world of ―evil‖ (Deeprawat, 2002). Certain words and images were

also juxtaposed to ―conjure a fixed image of the enemy, as seen with repetitive pictures of

Bin Laden and Arab-looking men in relation to words such as ―Arab‖ and ―radical Muslim‖

to describe the enemy‖ (Deeprawat, 2002).

The ever-repeating discourse on “Islamic Terrorism”

The discourse on ―Islamic terrorism‖ draws on a long tradition of cultural stereotypes and

deeply hostile media representations and depictions of Islam and Muslims. The mainstream

media have typically employed frameworks centred on violence, threat, extremism and

fanaticism while portraying Muslims. (Jackson, 2006).

Islamophobia has become a more pronounced theme in Western media coverage of Islam,

Muslims and the Muslim World since the events of September 11. It was that incident that

created a great opportunity for the media to freely propagate stereotypes about the Muslim

world. Kaddour (2002) points out that since September 11, the media depicted Islam as

―filthy and evil. The so-called war against terror became a war against Islam…Men in beards

and women in veils now became hard-line terrorists.‖

Jackson (2006) explains that the ―Islamic terrorism‖ discourse is founded on a series of core

labels, terms and discursive formations including, among many others: ―the Islamic world‖,

―the West‖, ―the Islamic revival‖, ―political Islam‖, ―Islamism‖, ―extremism‖, ―radicalism‖,

―fundamentalism‖, ―religious terrorism‖, ―Jihadists‖, ―Wahhabis‖, ―Salafis‖, ―militants‖,

―moderates‖, ―global jihadist movement‖, ―al Qaeda‖, and of course, ―Islamic terrorism‖.

―Crucially, these terms are often vaguely defined (if at all), culturally-loaded and highly

flexible in the way they are deployed textually. In addition, these labels and terms are

organised into a series of dramatic binaries, such as: the West versus the Islamic world,

extremists versus moderates, violent versus peaceful, democratic versus totalitarian, religious

versus secular and medieval versus modern. Such powerful oppositions function to limit the

discursive space for more nuanced narratives and to obliterate the multiple and often

contradictory identities and characteristics of the narratives‘ central actors. For example, the

application of labels such as ‗terrorist‘, ‗Islamist‘ and ‗extremist‘ to groups like Hamas and

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Hezbollah functions to obscure and obliterate their simultaneous existence as political party,

social welfare provider, protection force, local association, relief agency, charity, education

provider, bank, guerrilla force and the like.‖ (Jackson, 2006) ―The use of the term ―Islamic

terrorism‖ discursively links the religion of Islam with terrorism, thereby forming an

unconscious and seamless association between the two.‖

In the literature he conducted a critical analysis on, Jackson (2006) found that ―Islamic

terrorism‖ by Muslims living in Western societies is shown as being a result of lack of

integration, alienation, unemployment, the failure of multiculturalism or the radicalising

influence of foreign Jihadists.

Jackson (2006) maintains that it is analytically misleading to speak of ―extremism‖,

―fundamentalism‖, ―Islamism‖, or ―moderates‖ without careful qualification and

contextualization. ―There are great variations in Islamic fundamentalist and Islamist

movements, not least between Sunni and Shia, violent and non-violent, political and quietist,

nationalist and internationalist and those that fall in-between and cross-over such crude

divisions. Every Islamist group is a product of a unique history and context, and comparing

Islamists in Saudi Arabia with Uzbek, Somali, Bangladeshi or Malaysian Islamists, for

example, usually serves to obscure rather than illuminate.‖ (Jackson, 2006). Another relevant

point that he makes is that the dividing line between ―extremists‖ and ―moderates‖ is not

only context-specific but highly porous, constantly shifting and that it depends on subjective

value judgements. Such terms, in his view, obscure the fact that a vast array of social,

political and cultural activities carried out by Islamist groups across the world cannot be

called radical.

Karim (2002) also contends that one primary problem that underlies constructions of Muslim

societies and the use of terrorism by various groups is the failure to acknowledge their

diversity. He says that consensus does not exist even among radical Islamist groups on the

legitimacy of issues such as using terrorism as a tactic. But the Northern-based transnational

media tend to uncritically accept the ―Islamicness‖ of these actions without putting them into

the context of the rigourous debates among Muslims of such issues. On the other hand,

seldom is attention drawn to the ―Christianness‖ of extremist groups such as the White

supremacists or cult members who use Christian symbols and offer religious rationalisation

for their actions. Karim (2002) demonstrates this by his study of the simultaneous reporting

of two events in March 1993 in issues of Time, Newsweek, and Maclean‟s (Canada‘s largest

newsweekly). One event was the suspected involvement of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Raman in

the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Centre and the deadly clash of the Branch Davidians

with the U.S. federal agents in Texas. He found that the articles about the former incident

were punctuated with references such as ―Muslim cleric,‖ ―Islamic holy war,‖ ―Muslim

fundamentalist,‖ ―Islamic link,‖ ―Muslim sect,‖ ―extremist Muslim terrorist groups,‖ etc,

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while in the articles about the latter incident the three North American magazine completely

avoided using the adjective ―Christian‖ to describe the Branch Davidians.

Jackson (2006) maintains that the most basic function that this dominant discourse of

locating the source of terrorism in religious extremism serves is to obscure its political

origins and the possibility that it is a response to specific Western policies. The discourse

thus works to depoliticise, decontextualise and dehistoricise the grievances of the groups they

are able to label as religious extremists. This ‗knowledge‘ serves to obviate the need for any

sort of policy re-appraisal from the U.S. and British governments. Also, by denying the

rational political demands of insurgent groups, demonising them as fanatics and

essentialising them as anti-modern, anti-democratic and anti-secular, the discourse also

functions to rule out dialogue, compromise and reform as possible policy alternatives to

violent confrontation.

Another finding that has emerged from researches speaking about the Western media‘s

definition of terms like ―extremist‖ and ―moderate‖ is the superiority of Western political

ideas and cultural values that is embedded in media discourse. We saw in the introduction

how Chomsky (2007) explained the ―newspeak‖ concepts of ―extremist‖ and ―moderate‖ and

that U.S. policy is characterised as ―moderate‖ and those opposed to it ―extremist‖.

In her analysis of articles from the U.S. press, Mishra (2008) found that Muslims who

showed familiarity with Western political thought were positively marked as ―moderate‖ and

the Western press divided Muslims into modernists and traditionalists based on Western

hegemonic definitions of modernity.

Esposito (1992) puts forward that there is a new form of orientalism equating revivalism,

fundamentalism or Islamic movements solely with radical revolutionaries and ignoring the

vast majority of Islamically committed Muslims who belong to the moderate mainstream of

society. The realities of the marketplace tend to reinforce this trend, where publishing houses,

journals and the media seek out that which captures the headlines and all too often confirms

stereotypes and fears of extremism and terrorism. He draws attention to how any reference to

an Islamic organisation inevitably includes adjectives like ―fundamentalism‖,

―conservativeness‖, and ―extremist‖.

We see that the Western media often portray Iran as a ―fundamentalist‖ and ―terrorist‖

country. Mughees-uddin (1995), indicates that the major reason for the negative image of

Iran in the U.S. media is its ―Islamic Character‖.

The media construction of the concept of ―Islamist‖ in the context of the new debate on

extremism following the September 11 incident is another interesting aspect of this

discussion. Machool (2009) explains that in its everyday usage, ―Islamist‖ refers to an

Islamic scholar or an orthodox Muslim and many moderate Muslims would describe

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themselves as ―Islamists‖. However, ―since the 9/11 attacks, the definition of ‗Islamist‘ in

Western discourse has become associated with radicalism and the use of political violence;

thus, the term ‗Islamist‘ as employed in this context, is ambiguous, and its persistent use can

perceptively equate all Muslims with the violent activities of ‗militant‘ Islamic groups.‖

(Machool, 2009)

Ebrahim (2007) in her study of discourses on Muslims before and after September 11, shows

how by lexicalisation, or the choice of words journalists consistently associate Muslims and

Islam with fundamentalist actions, extremism and terrorism. Some of the themes she found in

the articles are: ‗Muslims are fundamentalists‘, ‗Muslims are violent‘, ‗Islam teaches

violence‘, and ‗Us versus them and Islam versus the West‘.

Thus, we see that a number of studies have been carried out in order to understand the

media‘s portrayal of terrorism, extremism, fanaticism etc. Much work has been done on the

imaging of terrorists and on the portrayal of Muslims and Arabs, especially in the aftermath

of the September 11 incident, and on the media‘s discourse of Islamic terrorism etc.

However, there is a need for more research into the media‘s definition of the term

―extremism‖ and its variations, because this term and its meanings are more elusive than the

others that have been studied. This research is a modest attempt to fill that gap. The angle of

exploring how extremism is increasingly being defined by the media as including religious

adherence and practise may be a new angle that needs more research into it.

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SUMMARY:

This chapter reviewed various researches that have been conducted on the current topic or

that relate to it in different ways. Relevant parts of the researches have been summarized. It

was found that although there is much research into the portrayal and image of terrorists in

the media of various countries and on the stereotyping of Muslims after the events of

September 11, and the subsequent discourse on ―Islamic terrorism‖, there is still a lack of

research into how the media define the phenomena of extremism, fundamentalism,

fanaticism etc.

In brief, the literature reviewed indicates that:

There is now a growing interest in studying the media‘s imaging of terrorists and the

media‘s coverage of terrorist incidents

―Terrorism‖ has become a term of popular elite discourse with various ideographic

qualities which are defined by the political elites in society

Mainstream media terrorism coverage often tend to support administrative positions

and definitions

Media usually use their power of association to label and stereotype various groups as

extremists, terrorists, fundamentalists etc

The use of discourses on extremism and terrorism are often used to promote enemy

images of ―otherness‖ and ―us versus them‖ and hence to achieve various policy

objectives

There is an ever-repeating discourse on ―Islamic terrorism‖ in the media that links

Muslims and various aspects of the Islamic faith to fundamentalism, extremism and

terrorism

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Methodology

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Aim of the Research:

This research aims to examine how the global press is defining extremism and related

phenomena and what new elements appear to be entering this definition via media framing,

construction and discourse. Owing to the elusive nature of these concepts and the importance

the media are giving to these topics, these terms lend themselves to more easy definition and

redefinition by the media, thus, it becomes important to examine how the media is defining

these terms, what vocabulary is being used in discussions on these topics, which countries

and religions it is being associated to it and what it is being linked to.

Hypothesis:

In line with these aims, the present research seeks to explore the research questions outlined

in the introductory chapter and test the following hypothesis:

H: Extremism will be talked about majority of the time in relation to Islam and Muslims.

Method of the study:

In order to answer the research questions and test the hypothesis, I made use of a

combination of quantitative and qualitative content analysis of a sample of 108 non-news

articles from 9 newspapers from across different regions of the world.

The use of a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques for the analysis of text

helped overcome the weaknesses of any one the research methods. By using the quantitative

method, the necessary quantification of the data was achieved by allowing for a necessary

systematic explanation of the data in terms of the frequency and prominence of particular

textual properties.

The weakness of decontextualisation of words from the discourse that quantitative methods

are often criticised for was avoided by using the qualitative methods of text analysis after

systematic quantification. The use of the qualitative method helped acknowledge that the

values and biases of the researcher are in fact an integral part of the research study as they

not only guide the choice of topic, theorisation and categorisation procedure but in effect,

also influence the results.

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Sample:

The sample comprised a collection of 108 non-news articles (including commentary,

columns and editorials) picked from 9 publications across different countries from different

regions of the world. 12 write-ups were selected from each newspaper on the basis of a

convenience sample going backwards from September 31, 2009 till whenever the quota of 12

was met, with the criteria of selecting articles using one or more of the following terms and

their variations in the context of discussion about the topic of extremism:

extremism/ fundamentalism/ radicalism/ militant/ fanaticism/

moderate/ hardline/ terrorism

Variations of these terms like ‗extremist/extreme‘, ‗radical‘, ‗moderation‘, ‗fundamentalist‘,

‗militancy‘, ‗terror/terrorist‘ etc were also taken account of. However, it must be noted that I

picked only those articles that used one or more of the listed terms and spoke about the theme

of extremism and terrorism. I did not pick articles that gave only fleeting mention to

‗extremism‘, ‗moderation‘ or ‗terrorism‘ within the larger context of an article focusing on

another topic. In New York Times for example, I did not pick up an article that mentioned

Pakistan‘s need to convince Afghanistan to deal with the extremists as this was only fleeting

reference in the wider context of an article on the relations between two countries.

Selection of newspapers for the sample:

The study consisted of a cross-national comparative analysis of the non-news articles from

the newspapers of 9 different countries. The newspapers were selected on the basis of

circulation figures, off-record hegemony, and the more practical consideration of online

availability of archives. An attempt was made to select newspapers that were influential in

setting the tone for other newspapers in their countries, however it must be noted that

practical considerations such as unavailability of free online archives posed as one of the

most significant limitations to having the best sample of newspapers.

An attempt was made to select articles from different regions of the world and to cover each

region to get a comprehensive understanding of the definition of extremism in the global

press across different regions of the world. However, due to limitations of time and

resources, certain criteria had to be compromised.

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Initially, I made a list of different regions of the world and the countries whose newspapers I

could use for the sample of this study. The initial list included the following regions and

countries:

North America: U.S.A

Europe: U.K.

South Asia: Pakistan, India

South-east Asia: Malaysia, Singapore

Middle East: Israel, Palestine, Egypt

Australia: Australia

I used the Europa World Yearbook 2008 to find out the highest English-language circulation

newspapers of each of these countries. However, due to an absence of libraries that subscribe

to these newspapers and a lack of resources to acquire them, the method decided upon for

collection was to access the online archives of these newspapers and retrieve articles from

there. It was from there that the limitations and difficulties started emerging.

Some of these newspapers did not have a website. If they did have an online existence, they

either lacked an online archive altogether or provided access to archives only upon

registration and payment. Thus, newspapers began being cut off the list.

Replacements were also searched which included searching for the websites and archives of

various South African newspapers and other European newspapers in order to keep a

consistently varied sample of study. However, as I continued with the search, I kept coming

across disappointment upon disappointment as many newspapers lacked either a functional

website or a free archive collection that I could access as a student without having to pay for

the services.

Eventually, the newspapers that remained in the sample were those that had a website which

provided access to archives from September 31, 2009 and back to allow for the needed

number of articles to be found. The final list of newspapers from which the sample of articles

were selected is this:

1. New York Times (U.S.A)

2. Telegraph (U.K.)

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3. Dawn (Pakistan)

4. Times of India (India)

5. The Star (Malaysia)

6. Arab News (Saudi Arabia)

7. Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey)

8. Daily News Egypt (Egypt)

9. The Canberra Times (Australia)

Division of sample

12 write-ups, comprising editorials, commentary and opinion pieces were selected for

analysis from each of the 9 newspapers that were part of the sample. Since the selection was

on the basis of a convenience sample going backwards from September 31, 2009, the articles

were selected based on this backward sequence and thus there was no limit or control on the

number of column pieces and the number of editorials that became part of the sample.

Newspaper No. of write-ups selected

1. New York Times 12

2. Telegraph 12

3. Dawn 12

4. Times of India 12

5. The Star 12

6. Arab News 12

7. Hurriyet Daily News 12

8 Daily News Egypt 12

9 The Canberra Times 12

Total 108

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Selection of articles for the sample:

A manual method of selection was employed in the process of collection of the sample. As

mentioned before, the sample was a convenience sample. Going backwards from September

31, 2009, I selected the first 12 relevant articles having one or more of the listed keywords in

proper context. Some newspaper websites had an in-built search option that provided for a

search of the archives. Others did not, and thus a more cumbersome manual search had to be

employed which at times involved opening the edition of each day and then going to the

comment section and then opening and skimming through each write-up as to check whether

it was relevant or not.

Some newspaper websites also required that one register and make an account for free in

order to access archives or full articles. In other websites the search engines were not

working properly and hence, again a manual process involving opening each day‘s edition,

going into the ‗Comment‘ section, opening almost each article and skimming through it to

check whether it was relevant or not, had to be employed. Where search engines were

available and functioning, the search engine was used, where they were not I browsed

through the online archives, browsing through the editorial and columnists and comment

sections, picking up the relevant articles that used the mentioned terms in backward sequence

starting from September 31.

For the purpose of research, articles belonging to the ‗Comment‘, ‗Opinion‘, ‗Feature‘ and

‗Editorial‘ sections were chosen for analysis after the selection process described above.

Thus the sample included commentary, columns and editorials. Individual articles served as

the units of analysis. Reviews of books, plays and events and letters from readers that were in

the ‗Comment‘ or ‗Feature‘ section were excluded. However, there were some newspaper

websites that did not have an ‗Editorial‘ section, thus editorials were therefore missing from

the sample of those newspapers.

Some articles part of the ‗Comment‘ and ‗Opinion‘ sections of some newspapers were picked

up from other syndicated services. For example, Daily News Egypt had most of its articles

picked up from some syndicated service often foreign and therefore most articles did not

reflect Egyptian opinion as one would expect. However, these articles were made part of the

sample as there wasn‘t much option according to the sampling method and also according the

practice of the newspaper which selects such articles on a regular basis. Selection by the

newspaper, however, can be seen to reflect its gate-keeping policy.

The entire process of the collection of data was very cumbersome process and the most time-

consuming part of the research. In the absence of proper search engines on the newspaper

websites, the need to go through each day‘s edition and almost all comment pieces in that

edition took up a lot of time and patience. When a particular newspaper website or its

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archives were found to be inaccessible, it proved to be very disappointing for the researcher.

Also, the absence of a proper list of the top most newspapers of various countries of the

world along with their circulation and readership statistics and the link to their website, was

direly felt. There were a few websites like www.allyoucanread.com and www.world-

newspapers.com , but these websites failed to provide a referable list of world newspapers by

country, with circulation information or any other form of categorisation criteria.

After all articles were selected for the sample, they were screened once again to determine

whether they were relevant to the study or not. I realise that some articles entered the sample

on the basis of the use of the listed terms within the text, and although the terms are used in

the relevant context, the discussion is at times limited only to a part of the article while the

rest of the article may be irrelevant to the study. Still, the use of terms and vocabulary within

the context of the discussion on extremism and the context of the countries in which the

discussion is carried out, was taken account of in the categorisation.

Analysis of data:

For purposes of analysis, the articles were read over, several times, to identify common

patterns in them. Notes were taken regarding the use of language and terms, the context of

countries in the discussion, the association to religion and religiosity within the discussion

etc. Guidance was also taken from previous researches on related topics that were covered in

the literature review.

Categories were then made and articles were read over again and coded according to them.

At times, ideas for new and relevant categories came up after a few articles had already been

coded and thus this involved another time-consuming process of returning to the previously

read articles and coding them further. Notes were also taken of the type of definitions used in

articles and the quotes were extracted and saved separately to be part of the qualitative

analysis.

The following are the subdivisions and categories that were constructed in order to answer

the research questions mentioned above and to test the hypothesis:

(A) Terms used to describe the phenomenon of „Extremism‟:

Within this major subdivision of analysis, the following terms were included as categories to

analyse the articles:

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1. Extremist/Extremism/Extreme

2. Fanatic/Fanaticism/Fanatical

3. Fundamentalist/Fundamentalism

4. Radical/Radicalism/Radicalised

5. Terror/Terrorist/Terrorism

6. Militant/Militancy/Militias

7. Islamist/Islamisation/Islamism

8. Jihadist/Jihadi/Jihad

9. Hardline/Hardliner

10. Religious zealots/ Zealots

11. Insurgent/Insurgency/Rebels

12. Theocrats/Theocracy

13. Sectarian

14. Conservative

15. Mullahs (This term was not counted when it was part of the name of a person, e.g.

Mullah Omar)

16. Bigots/Bigotry

17. Hate/Hatred/Intolerance

18. Separatism/Separatist

Articles were coded on a presence/absence basis as to whether or not they used any of these

terms. If an article used a term it was coded as 1, if it did not, it was coded as 0. If one term

was used more than once in an article, it was only coded once, meaning it measured only

whether or not the term was used. One article obviously used more than one of these terms

and thus it was coded whenever a term was used. The purpose was to count how many

articles used which terms to describe the phenomenon of extremism. The purpose was not to

measure how many times a term is used, rather how many articles use the term.

Sometimes the terms were used in the article in quotations of other articles, of government

officials etc or also at times as part of the alternative discourse in which the term would be

used to refute its use or to explain why it should not be used. However, even in such cases,

the term was counted. This is considered to be one of the weaknesses of quantitative analysis

as it counts words often divorced from their contextual meanings. The context of articles that

used the alternative discourse will be discussed separately in the discussion.

The coding was done on the computer on a Microsoft Excel sheet for each newspaper

separately. When an article was found to have used a term it was coded as 1 under the

column of that term. If it did not, it was coded as 0 (in other words, left empty). The total

instances of use of each term was then summed up for each newspaper and transferred to a

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table of all newspapers‘ use of the terms. The total use of these terms in the sample and the

percentage of use were also calculated.

(B) Terms used opposing to the concept of „Extremism‟:

The terms included in this category are:

1. Moderate/Moderation

2. Secular/Secularist/Secularism

3. Modern/Modernist/Modernism/Modernity

4. Pro-West/Pro-America/American/Western

5. Democracy/Democratic

6. Progressive

7. Liberal/Liberalism/Open

8. Educated/Education

9. Feminist

10. Centrists

11. Tolerance/Tolerant/Toleration

Again, here articles were coded on the presence/absence basis. If an article used the term, it

was coded as 1, if it did not it was coded as 0. If a term occurred more than once in an article,

it was only coded as 1. Words were counted when they were part of quotations or alternative

discourses as explained above. Coding too was done in a similar manner to that for Category

(A), on an Excel sheet for separate newspapers. Total use of terms in the sample and the

percentage use were then calculated.

These terms were only counted when mentioned as opposing to the concept of extremism or

its variations, not upon normal use in the articles. For example, ‗West‘ was used many times

in articles of the Arab News for example to speak about the West‘s stance on an issue, but

such a case was not counted in this category.

(C) Use of the terms “Islam/Islamic” and “Muslim” in the articles:

The purpose of this category is only to examine how many articles that speak about

extremism in any form use the terms of either Islam/Islamic/Islamist or Muslim so as to

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check how the media function to directly or indirectly associate these concepts. It is a well-

observed fact that most discussions about extremism and terrorism in this day and age are

done in the context of Muslims and Islam. This is an attempt to measure that. In this category

again, context is not taken account of and instances of use of the terms are counted, even if

they are part of the alternative discourse, speaking against stereotyping and association of

extremism and terrorism to Islam. The context is accounted for in the following category and

in the qualitative analysis.

(D) Association with Religion

The categories within this subdivision are:

(i) Islam

(ii) Any other religion

(iii) No association to any religion

The purpose of this category is to examine how the phenomenon of extremism and other

related concepts are being linked to religion. As was observed in most articles, it is linked to

Islam and thus Islam is the first category under this subdivision. Articles that spoke about

‗Islamic extremism‘, ‗Islamists‘, ‗Jihadis‘, ‗Mullahs‘, ‗Clerics‘ etc or Islamic religion,

teachings and ideology leading to extremism were placed in category (i) Islam. The second

category is any other religion and those articles which associate extremism to any other

religion whether Judaism, Christianity or Hinduism are placed in this category. The third

category is of those articles that do not associate extremism to any religion by either making

no mention of religion or by being part of the alternative discourse which speak against

stereotypes and for example discuss how Islam or another religion does not teach extremism

etc. This subdivision thus takes account of the context which was missing in the previous

subdivision. Articles that use terms like ‗mullahs‘ or ‗jihad‘ etc are placed in category (i)

since they are indirectly associating the concept to Islam even if no explicit mention of

‗Islam‘ is made. This categorisation method is different from the subdivision method (C)

because this takes account of the context and does not just count the use of the word Islam in

the article, instead it examines whether extremism, terrorism, militancy, fanaticism etc are

being discussed in the context of Islam.

1

(E) Context of countries in the articles:

This category takes account of the context of the countries in which the discussion takes

place. The following countries/regions are included in this subdivision:

1. Afghanistan

2. Pakistan

3. Iran

4. Middle East (Israel and Palestine)

5. U.S.A

6. Malaysia

7. Britain

8. African Countries

9. Indonesia

10. Turkey

11. Miscellaneous: This category includes those articles that make almost equal mention

of more than one country. I have also placed countries like France, Sri Lanka, Russia

and Australia in this category because their mention has occurred only once each in

the entire sample.

When articles made mention of more than one country, they were placed in the category of

the country that was discussed for longer. When equal space was given to more than one

country it was placed in the Miscellaneous category.

(F) Association to religious adherence, symbols and education:

This subdivision aims to count how many articles from the sample link extremism to

religious adherence, symbols and education as done in the discourse shown in the

introductory chapter. Thus, this category counts the articles which link increased religiosity,

religious adherence, outward display of religion, religious lifestyles, religious education and

any signs of orthodox religion to extremism. This may be done by linking extremism to these

concepts alone or linking it to these in addition to linking it to violence, attitudes and

mindsets.

1

The aim is not to discredit any of the descriptions, for some acts may indeed be extremism,

the purpose is only to account for how much religious adherence, lifestyles, symbols etc are

being linked to extremism such that now extremism has come to be synonymous with

religion and people who practise religion in any form (which may itself not be extremism),

are branded as extremists. A more detailed explanation follows in the discussion.

The categories in this subdivision include:

(i) Religiosity: All articles that associate extremism to increased religiosity, religious

adherence and lifestyles, religious education and ideology, outward display of

religious practice like the burqa, hijab, beard, turban, prayer, religious book, and

other symbols, religious laws and interpretations etc are placed in this category.

Articles that called calls for establishing a Muslim or Islamic Caliphate extremism

were also included in this category. Articles that only used the terms Muslim,

Islamic, Christian etc with no explicit association to religiosity were not included

in this category.

(ii) Religiosity and other concepts: All articles that associate extremism to any of the

above concepts in addition to other concepts like violence, mindsets, attitudes,

political stance etc are placed in this category.

(iii) Other concepts: Articles that associate extremism to violence, mindsets, attitudes,

political stance etc and not to explicit symbols of religiosity are placed in this

category.

Categorising the articles in these and other categories was a difficult process and involved a

lot of subjective judgment. Also, since resources, time and the nature and context of the study

did not allow for use of separate coders and other methods for making the study more

reliable, the researcher acknowledges that at times the categorisation may be influenced a

great deal by subjective judgment and hence be prone to disagreement by others.

Other concepts and words extremism is associated with in the articles are examined in the

qualitative analysis in the discussions chapter.

1

Findings

1

Vocabulary used to define the concept of extremism:

In order to answer the research questions RQ1 and RQ2, categorisation method (A) was

adopted. Table 5.1 summarises its findings.

The term used most frequently was ‗Extremism/Extremist‘ itself, used in a total of 60 articles

constituting 55.6% per cent of the sample.

The second most frequently used term was ‗Terrorism/Terrorist‘ which was found in a total

of 58 articles constituting 53.7% per cent of the sample.

‗Radical/Radicalism‘ is used the third most in the articles in the sample. 35 articles used the

term and it makes up 32.4% of the sample. ‗Militant/Militancy‘ comes next with a total of 34

articles using the term, constituting 31.4% of the sample.

‗Islamist/Islamisation/Islamism‘ was the fifth most popular term used in 32 articles, making

up 29.6% of the sample. Interestingly, the greatest use of ‗Islamist/Islamism/Islamisation‘ to

describe extremism was found in the Telegraph of the U.K. and in Daily News Egypt.

The term ‗Jihadi/Jihadist‘ was also frequently used. It was found in 24 articles constituting

22.2% of the sample. It was used the most in Times of India, with 5 articles out of 12 using

it.

New York Times, the U.S. newspaper used the term ‗Extremism/Extremist‘ in 9 articles out

of 12, and the term ‗Terrorism/Terror/Terrorist‘ in 6 out of 12. Arab News of Saudi Arabia,

used the term ‗Extremism/Extremist‘ in 10 of 12 articles and Times of India used it in 9 of

12.

Among all the terms used in the New York Times, ‗Extremism/Extremist‘ was the most

highly used. In Telegraph, the most highly used term among all terms was

‗Terrorism/Terror/Terrorist‘ with 8 articles using the word.

In Dawn of Pakistan, the term used in the most articles of the sample was

‗Militant/Militancy‘, used in 9 articles. ‗Terrorism/Terrorist‘ was the second highest used in

8 out of 12 articles. In Times of India, the term used in the highest number of articles was

‗Extremism/Extremist‘ with 9 articles in which it was used.

Another highly used term within one publication was ‗Radical/Radicalism‘ in Hurriyet Daily

News of Turkey with use in 10 articles out of 12. Daily News Egypt used the same term in 8

cases out of 12. The Canberra Times used the term ‗Terrorist/Terror/Terrorism‘ in most

articles in 9 out of 12 cases.

The words with the lowest use in the entire sample were ‗Theocrats/Theocracy‘ and

‗Bigots/Bigotry‘ with only 3 cases of use each in the entire sample of 108 articles. However,

1

since there were a few cases of use of these terms in relation to ‗Extremism‘, it was

considered important that they be included.

New York Times was found to have the highest instances of use of all of the terms that have

been categorised, with total instances of use of all terms in NYT summing up to 53.

Telegraph and Daily News Egypt were found to have the next highest instances of use of all

the terms, totaling to 46. Dawn stands third on this count. This shows how much extremism

is discussed in these newspapers.

Grading of use of terms (highest to lowest):

1. Extremist/Extremism—60

2. Terrorist/Terror/Terrorism—58

3. Radical/Radicalism—35

4. Militant/Militancy—34

5. Islamist/Islamism/Islamisation—32

6. Jihadist/Jihadi—24

7. Hatred/Intolerance—21

8. Fundamentalism/Fundamentalist—20

9. Conservative—15

10. Hardline/Hardliner—13

11. Insurgent/Insurgency—11

12. Fanatic/Fanaticism—8

13. Mullahs—8

14. Sectarian/Sectarianism—7

15. Zealots—6

16. Bigots/Bigotry—4

17. Separatist/Separatism—3

18. Theorcrats/Theocracy—3

1

1

Vocabulary used opposing to the concept of extremism:

In order to answer research question RQ3, categorisation method (B) was adopted. Terms,

words and vocabulary used opposing to another term or concept stand as significant

indicators of the definition of that term. Therefore, the method of categorising and examining

those terms that were used as opposites (or juxtaposed) against the concept of extremism was

used in this study. Table 5.2 contains the results on that count.

Among the terms used opposing to the concept of extremism, ‗Moderate/Moderation‘ was

the word used in the greatest number of articles with total use in the entire sample of 108

articles standing at 21, constituting 19.4 % of the sample.

Interestingly, the second highest used term or conception as opposed to the concept of

extremism was ‗Pro-West/Pro-American/Western/American‘. There were 19 articles out of

108 in which this was used constituting 17.6% of the sample.

After that, the third highest was ‗Secular/Secularism/Secularist‘ used in 17 out of 108 articles

constituting 15.7% of the sample.

After that, ‗Liberal/Liberalism/Open‘ and ‗Democracy/Democratic‘ were used in 13 articles

each out of 108 making up 12.03% each.

In Telegraph, the ‗Pro-West/Pro-American/Western/American‘ conceptualisation was used in

the greatest instances, in 8 articles out of a total of 12.

Here again, New York Times had the highest instances of use of all of the terms categorised

totaling to 26. The second highest however, was Daily News Egypt summing up to 23.

Telegraph used these terms the third highest in 20 instances.

Grading of use of terms (highest to lowest):

1. Moderate/Moderation—21

2. Pro-West/Western/Pro-America/American—19

3. Secular/Secularism/Secularist—17

4. Liberal/Open—13

5. Democracy/Democratic—13

6. Modern/Modernity/Modernism—11

7. Educated—11

8. Tolerant/Tolerance—11

9. Progressive—4

10. Feminist/Feminism—3

11. Centrist—1

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1

Indirect Linkage: Use of the terms „Islam/Islamic‟ and „Muslim‟:

Research question RQ4 was answered by adopting the categorisation method (C). Table 5.3

summarises its findings. Figure 5.1 illustrates the results.

It was found that the use of the term ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ was there in 72 articles out of

the total 108 articles, thus, making up 66.67% of the sample.

The use of the term ‗Muslim‘ was found in 56 of the 108 articles, constituting 51.85% of the

sample.

The highest number of articles to use the term ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamism‘ were found in Daily

News Egypt, with 11 articles out of 12 using it. Also, 8 out of 12 of the same newspaper‘s

articles used the term ‗Muslim‘ in 8 out of its 12 articles.

New York Times and The Canberra Times used the term ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamism‘ in 75% of

the cases each.

Telegraph, The Star and Arab News, all three used the term ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamism‘ in

66.67% of their articles each.

The Star was the greatest to use the term ‗Muslim‘, which was used in 75% of the cases.

After that, New York Times, Telegraph and Daily News Egypt used the term in 66.67% of

the cases each.

Newspaper

Use of term

―Islam‖

Use of term

―Muslim‖

Percentage

―Islam‖ ―Muslim‖

1. New York Times 9 8 75% 66.67%

2. Telegraph 8 8 66.67% 66.67%

3. Dawn 7 4 58.33% 33.33%

4. Times of India 5 4 41.67% 33.33%

5. The Star 8 9 66.67% 75%

6. Arab News 8 5 66.67% 41.67%

7. Hurriyet Daily News 7 3 58.33% 25%

8. Daily News Egypt 11 8 91.67% 66.67%

9. Canberra Times 9 7 75% 58.33%

Total 72 56

Percentage*

66.67% 51.85%

Table 5.3: Use of terms „Islam/Islamic‟ and „Muslim‟

*Figures are rounded off

1

Figure 5.1: Use of terms „Islam/Islamic‟ and „Muslim‟

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Countries that feature in discussions on extremism and terrorism:

In order to answer research question RQ5, the categorisation method (E) was adopted. This

examined which countries or regions were most often included in discussions on extremism

and terrorism. The findings are summarised in Table 5.4. (See following page)

It was found that the country that featured the most in discussions on extremism and

terrorism was Pakistan which was mentioned in 25 out of the total 108 articles, making up

23.5% of the sample. The underlying reason for this however, as a cursory glance at Table

5.4 shows, is that most of Dawn‘s (Pakistan) articles were about Pakistan itself and that is

where most of the concentration is found. Thus, with 10 articles on Pakistan coming from

Dawn itself and 9 from Times of India, it is apparent that Pakistan would have the highest

occurrence in the sample.

The second highest featured region in the sample was the Middle East with 17 articles out of

108 being in that context, constituting 15.74% of the sample. Although the category of

Miscellaneous contains a larger number of articles, it is not considered for measurement

purposes because it contains those articles which made reference to a number of different

countries or those whose mention came up only once each.

Similar to Pakistan, Malaysia too had a high number of articles focusing on an internal issue,

with 10 articles on Malaysia itself. That is where the total for Malaysia gets its figure of 10

from, because Malaysia was not mentioned in the articles of any other newspaper but The

Star.

Iran featured in many discussions on extremism, forming 7.41% of the sample.

Grading of countries (highest to lowest):

1. Pakistan—25

2. Middle East—17

3. Malaysia—10

4. Iran—8

5. Britain—6

6. Afghanistan—5

7. Turkey—5

8. Saudi Arabia—4

9. African Countries—4

10. Indonesia—3

11. U.S.A—2

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1

Direct Linkage: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims:

In order to test hypothesis H (Extremism will be talked about majority of the time in relation

to Islam and Muslims), the categorisation method (D) was adopted to test the concept‘s

association to religion in the sample. The findings are summarised in Table 5.5. Figures 5.2

and 5.3 illustrate the result.

It was found that 70 of the 108 articles associated extremism and terrorism etc to the religion

of Islam, making up 64.81% of the sample, while only 3 out 108 articles associated

extremism to any other religion, constituting 2.78% of the sample. 35 (32.41%) articles did

not associate extremism to any religion or were part of the alternative discourse speaking

against the stereotypes and the linkage of extremism to Islam or any religion at all.

The highest association to Islam was done by the New York Times, with 10 (83.33%) articles

falling in the category of articles associating extremism to Islam. Telegraph had 9 (75%)

articles falling within this category, so did Daily News Egypt. Dawn, Times of India and The

Star each had 8 (66.67%) articles associating extremism to Islam.

The highest number of articles not associating terrorism and extremism to any religion, or

being part of the alternative discourse were found in the Arab News, 7 articles (58.33%).

H (Extremism will be talked about majority of the time in relation to Islam and Muslims)

therefore, was proved.

Newspaper (i)

Islam

(ii)

Any

other

religion

(iii) No

association

to any

religion

Percentage*

(i) (ii) (iii)

1. New York Times 10 0 2 83.33% 0 16.67%

2. Telegraph 9 1 2 75% 8.33% 16.67%

3. Dawn 8 0 4 66.67% 0 33.33%

4. Times of India 8 0 4 66.67% 0 33.33%

5. The Star 8 0 4 66.67% 0 33.33%

6. Arab News 4 1 7 33.33% 8.33% 58.33%

7. Hurriyet Daily News 7 0 5 58.33% 0 41.67%

8. Daily News Egypt 9 0 3 75% 0 25%

9. Canberra Times 7 1 4 58.33% 8.33% 33.33%

Total 70 3 35

Percentage*

(total/108 x 100)

64.81%

2.78%

32.41%

Table 5.5: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims

1

*Figures are rounded off

Figure 5.2: Association to Islam

Figure 5.3: No association to any religion

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Association of extremism to religious adherence, symbols and education:

In order to answer research question RQ6, categorisation method (F) was adopted. Table 5.6

summarises those findings. Figures 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6 illustrate those findings.

It was found that 17 of the 108 articles associated extremism to religiosity, religious

adherence, lifestyles, symbols and education etc, making up 15.74% of the sample. 30

articles associated extremism to religiosity as well as other concepts like attitudes,

viewpoints, politics, violence etc, making up 27.78% of the sample. Articles that linked

extremism to violence, attitudes, political stance, mindsets etc made up a majority of the

sample coming down to 61 articles (56.48%).

Although majority of the articles were part of category (iii) ―Other concepts‖, it is still

interesting to note that 47 articles (17+30) i.e. 43.5% articles linked extremism one way or

the other to religiosity and religious adherence, either alone or along with other concepts.

That is a large figure and it shows that there is a growing trend in the media of associating

extremism to religiosity, religious adherence, education, symbols and lifestyles etc.

Newspaper

(i)

Religiosity

(ii)

Religiosity & other

concepts

(iii)

Other concepts

1. New York Times 5 3 4

2. Telegraph 2 3 7

3. Dawn 2 1 9

4. Times of India 1 3 8

5. The Star 2 3 7

6. Arab News 0 3 9

7. Hurriyet Daily News 2 5 5

8. Daily News Egypt 1 7 4

9. Canberra Times 2 2 8

Total 17 30 61

Percentage*

(total/108 x 100)

15.74

27.78

56.48

Table 5.6: Association of extremism to religious symbols, adherence and education

*Figures are rounded off

1

Figure 5.4: Association to religiosity

Figure 5.5: Association to Religiosity and other concepts

Figure 5.6: Association to other concepts

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Discussion &

Analysis

1

Examining how the global press is defining extremism was an interesting topic and allowed

for an intriguing in-depth analysis of the press of various countries, each having its own

styles of commentary and analysis with different patterns of definition, association and

linkage. The study also offered an opportunity to understand the stance of the press of

different countries, not only on the topic of extremism and terrorism, but also on a number of

different topics covered in the articles that were part of the sample.

The categories and analysis methods that I constructed for the quantitative analysis were

done after a thorough literature review and a review of the sampled articles. Common themes

and patterns were noted and subsequently categories were constructed in order to aid the

quantitative analysis. Articles were then categorised and tabulated and the findings were

presented as in the previous chapter. To allow for a more complete analysis, the findings will

now be discussed and analysed qualitatively and in more detail.

Some practices mentioned as extremism may indeed be extremism and so, the aim here is not

to discredit them but just to show the many ways in which extremism is being defined.

However, there are cases of definition which may be particularly objectionable and the

matter is discussed with the example.

Vocabulary used to define the concept of extremism:

Research questions 1 and 2 gave a chance for an interesting analysis of the press definition of

the term ‗extremism‘ and its variations. Table 5.1 summarised the findings that answered the

research questions probing how the global press is defining extremism and what vocabulary

is being used to define it.

The categories in the categorisation method (A) were constructed after a review of relevant

literature and of the sampled articles. The term used in most of the articles was

‗Extremist/Extremism‘ itself, used in 55.6% of the cases. Arab News, Saudi Arabia‘s daily

newspaper, used the term in most of its articles. The terms ‗Terrorism/Terrorist‘,

‗Radicalism/Radical‘, and ‗Militant/Militancy‘ followed 53.7%, 32.4% and 31.4%

respectively as the most frequently used terms in discussing extremism.

Other terms or conceptions in use that were particularly interesting included terms like

‗Islamist/ Islamisation/ Islamism‘ which was the fifth most popular (29.6%) and

‗Jihadi/Jihadist‘ (22.2%). The use of these terms point to how the discourse on extremism

and terrorism is increasingly being linked to the religion of Islam. The concept of

‗Islamist/Islamisation/Islamism‘ was interestingly found to be used the highest in the

Telegraph of the United Kingdom, Daily News Egypt of Egypt and Hurriyet Daily News of

Turkey.

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Other terms whose use was found in discussions relating to extremism and terrorism included

‗Fanatic/Fanaticism‘, ‗Hardline/Hardliner‘, ‗Zealot‘, ‗Insurgent/Insurgency‘, ‗Theocrats/

Theocracy‘, ‗Sectarian/ Sectarianism‘, ‗Conservative‘, ‗Mullahs‘, ‗Bigots‘, ‗Hatred/

Intolerance‘ and ‗Separatist/Separatism‘.

A new term that was found to be in use in discussions on extremism but was not included in

the categories was ‗Obscurantism/Obscurantist‘. Its use was mainly found in Dawn,

Pakistan‘s topmost English daily, in relation to the ideology of extremists. One instance of its

use was also found in Daily News Egypt.

But in order to gain a thorough understanding of how the articles described extremism,

something more than a mere counting of the terms or words used in discussions on it was

needed. Therefore, here I examine the contexts and more detailed definitions of the concept

of extremism.

From an overall analysis of the articles, it was noted that majority of the articles discussed

extremism in the context of religion and violence, with a few instances of discussions in the

context of politics. Although most articles spoke about violence, majority of the time some

direct or indirect mention of religion was found.

Some of the prominent themes or topics in the articles included the Taliban/Al-Qaeda and

their growing influence, the growing influence of Islamist or conservative political parties

especially in Iran but also in Malaysia, terrorist and militant activities, suicide bombing

incidents etc, West versus Islam and democracy versus other systems of government, secular

and religious education, rise of orthodox Islamic practices like the burqa, and the Middle East

crisis.

A column in the New York Times, ―The Losers Hang On‖ used the reference to how

extremists like the Taliban ―have failed to persuade people by either their arguments or their

performances in power that their puritanical versions of Islam are the answer.‖ (NYT,

26/07/09)

An article in the New York Times titled ―The Koran and the Ballot Box‖ by a contributor

spoke of ―modern Islamic fundamentalism‖ and described fundamentalism as the Islamic

injunction of ‗commanding right and forbidding wrong‘. It said:

―Yet in the current demonstrations we are witnessing not just the end of

the first stage of the Iranian democratic experiment, but the collapse of

the structural underpinnings of the entire Islamic approach to modern

political self-rule. Islam‘s categorical imperative for both traditional and

fundamentalist Muslims —―commanding right and forbidding wrong‖ —

is being transformed.‖ (New York Times, 21/06/09)

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Another column in the New York Times titled ―The Virtual Mosque‖ described the ‗Islamists‘

and ‗hardliners‘ as those who impose a religious lifestyle:

―The Sunni and Shiite Islamists in Iraq tried to impose a religious

lifestyle on their communities, and the mullahs in Iran quashed the

reformists. In the last year, though, the hard-liners in all these countries

have faced a backlash by the centrist majorities, who detest these Islamist

groups.‖ (NYT, 27/06/09)

The tool of linkage is often used in defining terms and assigning desired meanings to them.

Thus, in instances where religious scholars, clerics etc are used in association with terrorists,

militants and extremists, it serves the purpose of definition by association. Here for example,

in a column in Dawn titled ―A Bad Day for Pakistan‖, Anwar Syed writes:

―Gen Ziaul Haq‘s military regime pretended to be Islamic in the hope of

gaining legitimacy. It patronised the ulema and mashaikh, created the

predecessors of the Taliban, and promoted extremism and militancy. Well

advanced in their career, the Taliban are now out killing those who will

not subscribe to their version of Islam. Apparently, those who operate

banned militant organisations now affiliate themselves with the Taliban

and Al Qaeda.‖ (Dawn, 27/09/09)

This indirectly associates the ‗ulema and ‗mashaik‘ (scholars) to extremism. An editorial in

Dawn titled ―Signs of Improvement‖ uses a similar linkage:

―Gen Ziaul Haq, aided and abetted by the US, Egypt and Saudi Arabia,

encouraged the forces of obscurantism to further his illegitimate rule. Our

intelligence agencies pursued a policy of ‗strategic depth‘ in Afghanistan

that created Frankensteins we could no longer control. ‗Talibanisation‘

entered the nomenclature and, for a time, the country was held hostage by

semi-literate clerics and their armed supporters.‖ (Dawn, 06/09/09)

A trend noticed in Dawn was the tendency to attribute most extremism and terrorism to

General Zia-ul-Haq‘s Islamisation policy in the 1980s in which he supported a deliberate

attempt to Islamise Pakistani society, implement versions of religious laws and aid and

support the mujahideen forces to fight against Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.

There were, however, articles that associated extremism to violence, terrorism and war. In an

article of the New York Times titled ―Afghan Women March, America Turns Away‖ (New

York Times, 20/04/09) extremists were defined as ―forces of oppression‖ and the men who

1

had sprayed acid on a group of female students in an incident in Afghanistan were called

‗extremists‘.

Similarly, an article in the Telegraph titled ―How Safe Should We Feel About The Terrorist

Threat?‖ described it as violence:

―In the past two years, there have been 90 successful prosecutions, mostly

involving British-born Islamists who have sought to carry out appalling

atrocities with little thought for the consequences or the intended

victims…Furthermore, as was seen on July 7 2005, it takes only a quartet

of zealots, a rudimentary explosive device and a fanatical willingness to

die to cause carnage.‖ (Telegraph, 08/09/09)

―Treating Al-Qaeda‖ by Bernard Haykel in Daily News Egypt also describes extremism as

―violent Islamism‖ (Daily News Egypt, 27/09/09).

Times of India articles also contain references to ―violent extremism‖ in relation to the

Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. The article ―Which Way Is Islamabad Tipping?‖ (Times

of India, 20/09/09) by Hilary Synnott speaks about the militant and terrorists ―undermining

the state‖, ―the barbaric excesses of the home-grown neo-Taliban‖, ―groups that publicly

threaten the state and the army itself‖, but it also associates extremism to the prospect of

―Salafist tendencies‖6 taking over Pakistani governance. By associating extremism to this and

to the Taliban‘s applying ―their perverted form of Shariah7 in Swat‖, the article links the

phenomenon of extremism to Islam and its religious laws and practice in addition to

violence.

The barbaric practices of the extremists, specifically the Taliban, are further described in

another article of the Times of India titled ―Why Run Away From The Enemy?‖ which

speaks about how the U.S. and NATO forces are leaving Afghanistan and Pakistan:

―The war aims of the US-led NATO forces have been dramatically

modified. From mounting an assault on a global menace, the West now

wants to merely safeguard itself from terror attacks. In other words, if the

Taliban can guarantee that it won‘t mount terror strikes against the West

or help those crazies from Birmingham who want videographed

martyrdom, they can earn themselves the uninhibited right to thrash every

barber, every musician and every unveiled woman. Their pent-up jihadi

6 ‗Salafist‘ is a term in Islamic theology to refer to those who claim to follow in the footsteps of the righteous

early Muslims, ‗Salifist‘ meaning ‗predecessors‘ or ‗ancestors‘.

7 Shariah refers to Islamic law as contained in the holy book, the Quran and the practice of the Prophet.

1

impulses can be carefully redirected elsewhere, as long as it is not

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the ones who are likely to oversee the post-

withdrawal arrangements.‖ (Times of India, 13/09/09)

Extremists practices here are therefore described as ―thrash(ing) every barber, musician and

every unveiled woman‖.

Another article in the Telegraph titled ―Britain Is No Longer A Christian Nation‖ (Telegraph,

27/06/09) defined fundamentalism as ―cutting off links with the wider world‖.

One noticeable trend in many articles was the decontextualisation of the violence and

activities described as extremism and terrorism. In most discussions, there is an absence of

context as to the reasons for the violence and other extremist activities. The grievances that

may have caused the acts are not mentioned. In fact, according to Jackson (2006), most

popular discourses also ―depoliticise, decontextualise and dehistoricise the grievances of the

groups that are being labelled as religious extremists, and many a times the political origins

of the acts are obscured.‖

Another striking trend noticed in the articles was the tendency of associating extremism to

being anti-Western or anti-American and moderation to being Pro-Western or Pro-American.

In a column in the Telegraph titled ―Can Barack Obama‘s Soothing Rhetoric Douse The

Muslim Militant‘s Flames?‖ Con Coughlin writes:

―…But try telling that to the mullahs in Iran, or the leadership of the

Taliban and al-Qaeda, or the millions of other Muslims who have no

desire to be dissuaded from their visceral hatred of the West and all that it

stands for.

Before Mr Obama had even had the chance to deliver his speech,

extremists were lining up to denounce the US…‖ (Telegraph, 04/06/09)

In an article in the Arab News titled ―Peace and Prosperity in Palestine‖, Micheal Mylrea

associates extremism to anti-Western sentiments when he writes:

―In the absence of change, Israel‘s occupation of Palestinian lands will

continue to be a rallying cry for extremism and anti-Western sentiment in

the region.‖ (Arab News, 18/09/09)

In the Indian daily, The Times of India, this trend takes a slightly different shade, in that anti-

India sentiments and activities by Pakistani ‗terrorist‘ groups are defined as extremism. The

title of the column itself makes this clear: ―Pakistan Has Done Little To Bring Anti-India

Extremists To Book‖. The article goes on:

1

―If Islamabad is serious about honouring its stated commitment to

flushing out extremists of all shades from its territory, why does it stop

short of taking action against anti-India groups, which continue to find

safe haven across the border?‖ (Times of India, 08/09/09)

The Times of India however also shows signs of the same trend of defining anti-Americanism

as extremism. For example, one column titled ―Drain Pakistan‘s Tribal Swaps‖ describes the

Taliban as ―men who adore Osama bin Laden and abhor the U.S. and its allies‖. In another

description it goes on:

―The TTP activities also blew the lid off their so-called striving for a

Shariat system after zealots went on a killing spree in and outside FATA.

Till then, the militants had managed to impose a strict social code in some

of the tribal areas, which called for whipping, amputating the hands and

legs of thieves and murderers and restricting the education of girls.‖

(Times of India, 06/09/09)

Such practices are described in another article of the Times of India ―Public Opinion Surveys

Reveal Pakistan‘s Identity Crisis‖ (Times of India, 17/08/09) as ―the al-Qaeda/Taliban brand

of fundamentalism‖. The Telegraph uses phrases like the ―Taliban‘s medieval repression‖

and ―Taliban guerillas‖ (Telegraph, 05/05/09)

In another instance of indirect definition, an article in the Times of India titled ―GenX

Grooves To Sufism‖ (Times of India, 28/06/09) describes Sufism as tolerant, having the

―right interpretation of the Quran, rejection of fanaticism and the way it embraces

modernity‖, then it goes onto say ―Sufis neither condemn unveiled women nor censure

modern means of entertainment‖. In this way, the article defines fanaticism as condemning

unveiled women and censuring modern means of entertainment.

Since the time period was continuous and not spread over different periods of the year, most

of the articles and columns from the Malaysian newspaper The Star focused on the same

incident which involved a derogatory and intolerant protest by Muslims against the building

of a Hindu temple in an area. Therefore, most articles of The Star were found to define

extremism in the context of intolerance of minorities and ethnic and racial disharmony.

Speaking about the same protest, known as the cow-head protest, one article in The Star

titled ―Use Your Head, Not Your Heart‖ described the extremist protesters as ―hot-headed

people who invoke God‘s name with no understanding of tolerance and peace.‖ (The Star,

06/09/09). Another article, ―The War Against Imaginary Enemies‖ in The Star described the

extremists as ―anyone who exploits race and religion and inflame public sentiment for

narrow sectarian interests.‖

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An article titled ―Folly Is A Turkish Delight!‖ in Hurriyet Daily News also links extremism

to intolerance, speaking about a bizarre mix of ethnic and religious conservatism that has

emerged ―with a clear majority of Turks, according to one study, refusing to have atheist,

Jewish, Christian and American neighbors.‖ (Hurriyet Daily News, 09/07/09)

In the context of discussions on the Middle East crisis, the uncompromising stance of both

governments is described as ‗extremist‘ or ‗hardline‘, although the more common trend in

articles from Western nations was to use these terms in relation to the Palestinians than the

Israelis. In an article titled ―Hallucinatory States‖ picked up from some syndicated services

by both Daily News Egypt and Hurriyet Daily News, the writer writes:

―Under immense pressure from the United States, however, Israel‘s hard-

line Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went against his own

convictions and his Likud party‘s platform and, for the first time,

grudgingly and conditionally accepted the eventual emergence of an

independent Palestinian state.

Similarly, on the other side of the divide, Hamas‘s charter also rejects the

existence of a Jewish state, but the extremist Islamist party has modified

its rejectionist stance since it came to power by offering Israel tacit

recognition and a 10-year truce if it withdraws to the pre-1967 borders.‖

(Daily News Egypt, 28/08/09)

However, what is worth noting in the above example is the use of the term ‗hardline‘ for the

Israeli government and the more loaded term of ‗extremist‘ for the Palestinian party.

The Canberra Times also uses a similar definition in its editorial titled ―Israel‘s Response To

The Audacity Of Hope‖ (Canberra Times, 12/09/09) when it speaks about the religious and

Zionist extremists in Israel who are against any sort of peace settlement with Palestine. In

another article of the Canberra Times, ―Drop Rose-Coloured Views To Lift Gaza Peace

Hopes‖ the phenomenon of extremism or militancy is described as being ―uncompromising

and anti-Semitic‖. (Canberra Times, 09/09/09). Another article of the same newspaper titled

―Struggle To Find Democracy‖ (Canberra Times, 29/06/09) speaking about Iran makes

mention of ―a virulent hatred of Jews that may have been an attribute of the clerical regime‖

and the ―baggage of Third World radicalism with which the mullahs had been indoctrinated

early in the Khomeini period‖.

An article in the Hurriyet Daily News titled ―Radicals Are Sucking Up The Air‖ (Hurriyet

Daily News, 04/09/09), gives a slightly new definition and context to ‗radicals‘. The article

calls TV and radio hosts who are ―partisan foot soldiers or protectors of certain groups or

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movements‖ and those using ―the most degrading slams while describing intellectuals and

policy makers with whom they disagree‖ as ―radical TV and radio hosts‖.

Vocabulary used opposing to the concept of extremism:

One method of defining terms and of assigning desired meanings to them is the method of

juxtaposing different terms and concepts against each other to assign meanings by way of

defining the opposite concept. Terms, words and vocabulary used opposing to a term or

concept are significant indicators of the definition of that term. Examining opposing words

and concepts and juxtaposed words is also used as a method of understanding the definition

or portrayal of a concept in a text.

This method was therefore adopted in order to understand the press definition of the concept

of extremism. Research question 3 was formed with this idea in mind. The results of the

quantitative analysis were summarised in Table 5.2.

It was found that the highest used word in the sample opposing to the concept of extremism

was ‗Moderation/Moderate‘ with use in a total of 21 articles out of 108 (19.4%). The second

most popularly used term or conception in this context was ‗Pro-West/Pro-

American/Western/ American‘ (17.6%). This further strengthens the finding about the trend

discussed above of the press associating extremism to being anti-America or anti-West and

moderation to being Pro-West or Pro-America. This conception was used the highest in the

Telegraph, with its use found in 8 out of 12 articles.

Of further interest is the fact that the third highest used term in this context was ‗Secular/

Secularism/Secularist‘ constituting 15.7% of the sample. Other terms and concepts used

opposing to the concept of extremism included ‗Liberal/Open‘ (12.03%), ‗Democracy/

Democratic‘ (12.03%), ‗Modern/Modernity/Modernism/Modernist‘ (10.2%), ‗Education/

Educated‘ (10.2%), ‗Tolerant/Tolerance‘ (9.6%), ‗Progressive‘ (3.7%) and ‗Centrist‘ (0.9%).

The Star in an article ―Malaysia‘s Winning Formula‖ (The Star, 31/07/09) describes

moderates as those who transcend race and religion.

The technique of juxtaposing words to give the opposite concept the desired meaning may be

subtle, but its use was found in the articles and more often in articles from the New York

Times. The column ―The Losers Hang On‖ (New York Times, 26/07/09) juxtaposed the word

radical against ―pro-Americans‖, ―Muslim modernists‖ and ―Arab moderates‖, implying that

radicals are always anti-American, traditional Muslims and Arabs with extremist views. This

paragraph of the same article speaking about two competing visions in the Muslim world

gives a clearer definition:

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―Sadat argued that the future should bury the past and that Arabs and

Muslims should build their future based on peace with Israel, integration

with the West and embracing modernity. Khomeini argued that the past

should bury the future and that Persians and Muslims should build their

future on hostility to Israel, isolation from the West and subordinating

modernity to a puritanical Islam.‖ (New York Times, 26/07/09)

This, by way of juxtaposing, implies that ―peace with Israel‖, ―integration with the West‖

and ―embracing modernity‖ signify ‗moderation‘, while ―hostility to Israel‖, ―isolation from

the West‖ and ―subordinating modernity to a puritanical Islam‖ signify ‗extremism‘ and are

therefore disliked. Anyone who disagrees with Israel‘s policies and existence, rejects

Westernisation and subscribes to a ‗puritanical‘ or orthodox version of Islam would therefore

be an extremist by this definition. And it is no surprise then, that a majority of the Muslims

across the world would fall in that category.

The article further elaborates this definition:

―In Iraq‘s elections last January, nationalist and moderate Muslim parties

defeated the sectarian, radical religious parties, while in Lebanon, a pro-

Western coalition defeated one led by Hezbollah…

The only way to really dry up their support, though, is for the Arab and

Muslim modernists to actually implement better ideas by producing less

corrupt and more consensual governance, with better schools, more

economic opportunities and a vision of Islam that is perceived as

authentic yet embracing of modernity.‖ (New York Times, 26/07/09)

Here again, in addition to juxtaposing ―nationalist and moderate Muslim parties‖ against

―sectarian, radical religious parties‖ and ―Pro-Western coalition‖ against an implied

extremist one, the article perpetuates the same definition of extremists being anti-West and

moderates being pro-West. The article also proposes spreading a vision of Islam that is

―perceived (italics added) as authentic yet embracing of modernity‖.

In an article in the Telegraph ―We Need To Confront Islamist Extremists, Not Conciliate

Them‖ (Telegraph, 12/09/09), speaking about traditional Muslims in the town of Beeston

which produced suicide bombers, the writer writes: ―When I visit America, I see Muslims

who are free, vibrant, dynamic, and fully American.‖ ―Fully American‖ here is juxtaposed

against the concept of extremism and traditional Muslims.

Often in the sampled articles, ‗Democracy/Democratic‘ is also often juxtaposed against

extremism to show that being democratic is being moderate. Does that mean countries that

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have any other system of governance besides the Western-style democracy are extremists,

and by association, terrorists? That is perhaps the reason why any groups that call for an

Islamic system of governance in the form of the Caliphate are always branded as extremists

in the media.

Speaking about the rise of extremism and terrorism in Pakistan, a column ―Terror Creeps

Into the Heartland‖ in the New York Times states that ―One reason is that America hasn‘t

stood up for its own values in Pakistan. Instead of supporting democracy, we cold-shouldered

the lawyers‘ movement, which was the best hope for democracy and civil society.‖ (New

York Times, 23/07/09)

Another column by Thomas Friedman titled ―Teacher Can We Leave Now? No‖ (New York

Times, 19/07/09) speaks of how the ―war on terrorism‖ is all about ―a war of ideas within

Islam—a war between religious zealots who glorify martyrdom and want to keep Islam

untouched by modernity and isolated from other faiths, with its women disempowered, and

those who want to embrace modernity, open Islam to new ideas and empower Muslim

women as much as men.‖ The article then praises efforts to establish ―secular‖ schools in the

tribal areas of Pakistan. This again indirectly defines moderation as secular.

In yet another column titled ―The Virtual Mosque‖, Friedman uses another contrast-building

technique to describe extremism:

―Watching events unfolding in Tehran raises three intriguing questions

for me: Is Facebook to Iran‘s Moderate Revolution what the mosque was

to Iran‘s Islamic Revolution? Is Twitter to Iranian moderates what

muezzins were to Iranian mullahs?‖ (New York Times, 27/06/09)

One can notice the use of ‗Islamic‘ in place of ‗moderate‘ in the contrast-building, and the

use of ‗mullahs‘ in place of ‗moderates‘, thus implying that ‗Islamic‘ is opposed to

‗moderate‘ and that ‗mullahs‘ (a term used for Islamic scholars) too cannot be ‗moderate‘.

Furthermore, the write-up uses the phrase ―more secular forces of moderation‖, thus

implying that moderation is secular.

In another column, Friedman again speaks about Islamist groups in different countries

overplaying their hands by imposing religious lifestyles or by dragging their societies into

confrontations the people didn‘t want, and then as a contrast writes: ―But for the first time in

a long time, the forces for decency, democracy and pluralism have a little wind at their

backs.‖ This juxtaposes Islamists against ―decency, democracy and pluralism‖.

Telegraph‟s article titled ―We Need To Confront Islamist Extremists, Not Conciliate Them‖

speaks of how ―politicians send a confused message of wanting to uproot extremism, but

courting the most illiberal and anti-secular organisations‖ (Telegraph, 12/09/09). This implies

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that extremism is illiberal and anti-secular, thus anyone who is anti-secular is an extremist.

Here again, there is a need for the press to be cautious.

An article in the Times of India titled ―Whose Side Are We On?‖ (Times of India, 09/09/09)

speaks of three opposing groups in Pakistan: the fundamentalists who ―see themselves as the

guardians of the Pakistani state and the true representatives of the Islamic Republic‖, ―the

rising middle class which wants modernisation but equates it with neither westernisation nor

Islamisation‖ and the third ―small, almost inconsequential section of westernised, ‗liberated‘

men and women‖. This juxtaposing explains how the fundamentalists are anti-modern, anti-

western and anti-liberal.

Indirect Linkage: Use of the terms „Islam/Islamic‟ and „Muslim‟:

When words like extremism are used in conjunction with words like Islam or Islamic or

Muslim and Muslim organisations, it serves the function of creating an association between

the two in the readers‘ minds, even if the article does not directly link the two. Repeated

mentioning of two phenomenon together creates an association between them such that both

are seen to be linked. Categorisation method (C) measures this linkage. It measures how

many of the sampled articles use the terms ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ and ‗Muslim‘.

The use of the term ‗Islam/Islamic/ Islamist‘ was found in 72 out of 108 articles making up

66.7% of the sample. The use of ‗Muslim‘ was found in 56 of the 108 articles constituting

51.85% of the sample. Daily News Egypt was found to use ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ in 11 out

of 12 articles and ‗Muslim‘ in 8 out of 12. The New York Times and Canberra Times used

‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ in 75% cases each. The Star used ‗Muslim‘ in 75% cases.

The article of the Telegraph ―We Need To Confront Islamist Extremists, Not Conciliate

Them‖ demonstrates how this linkage is used:

―Organised hatred, separatism, and extremism and Muslim organisations

were present in Britain's cities and campuses long before July 7, often

cloaked in the guise of moderation. But very few people understood the

complexities of extremist ideology, while many politicians had Muslim

constituents they did not want to upset.‖ (Telegraph, 12/09/09)

The use of words like Islamic and Islamist in conjunction with extremism, or generally

within the broader discussion on extremism, was also very frequent in the articles. The

following example illustrates this:

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―Against all odds and predictions, regimes in the Middle East have

survived both the failures of pan-Arab nationalism and the challenges of

Islamic extremism. Nor are the concerns that terrorist attacks can force

the oil industry to its knees very plausible.‖ (Daily News Egypt,

07/09/09)

Countries that feature in discussions on extremism and terrorism:

Categorisation method (E) was adopted in order to explore which countries feature in

discussions on extremism and terrorism. It was found that the country that was mentioned in

most articles of the sample was Pakistan with its mention found in 25 out of 108 articles

constituting 23.5% of the sample. The reason for this, however, was that most of Dawn‟s

articles (10) were about Pakistan itself. Also, 9 of Times of India‟s articles were about

Pakistan. This explains the reason for the highest occurrence being of Pakistan in the sample.

The second highest featured region was the Middle East with 15.74% of the articles

mentioning it. Iran also featured in many discussions on extremism, making up 7.41% of the

sample. The ‗clerical regime‘ of Iran, the Islamic Revolution, the Islamist politicians etc were

often labelled as extremist.

The rejectionist stance of Palestinians to the existence of Israel is also another concept found

to be defined as extremism in the media. Surprisingly, one finds this definition even in the

Egyptian daily, Daily News Egypt and the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News in the article

―Hallucinatory States‖ which was picked up by both from some syndicated service:

―Similarly, on the other side of the divide, Hamas‘s charter also rejects

the existence of a Jewish state, but the extremist Islamist party has

modified its rejectionist stance since it came to power by offering Israel

tacit recognition and a 10-year truce if it withdraws to the pre-1967

borders.‖ (Daily News Egypt, 28/08/09)

In an article following a different definition from the norm, ―Iran‘s N-Threat Meant To

Divert Attention‖ (Arab News, 30/09/09), the writer calls the Israeli government of

Netanyahu as extremist.

Another article of the Arab News titled ―Mideast Peace: What US Should Do‖, also attributes

extremism to the Middle East dispute, however, without linking it to only one side of the

divide. It says that a peaceful and just solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is necessary

not only for the Israelis and Palestinians but also for the world as it will reduce the level of

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terrorism. It says that the settlement is ―crucial in the battle against extremists to whom the

violent, intractable dispute is a potential recruiting tool.‖ (Arab News, 19/09/09)

Times of India was found to have most of its articles discussing extremism in any form in the

context of Pakistan. 9 of its 12 articles were about Pakistan. There was a trend in Indian

articles of opposing the army and holding it responsible for having nurtured terrorism and

extremism. In one article titled ―Something In Common‖, the writer quotes President Asif

Ali Zardari: ―Pakistani president Asif Zardari has admitted that ―militants and extremists

were created and nurtured in the country as a policy to achieve some short term political

objectives‖ and speaking of how ―the Taliban obtained safe haven in Pakistan with the full

connivance of the army, which made jihadi groups its instruments‖ (Times of India,

14/07/09)

Direct Linkage: Association of extremism to Islam and Muslims

Even a cursory reading of the sampled articles reveals that there is a lot of association of the

phenomenon of extremism to Islam. A more thorough analysis confirms this. The hypothesis

(Extremism will be talked about majority of the time in relation to Islam and Muslims) was

formulated to test just that.

It was found that 70 of the 108 articles associated extremism and terrorism to the religion of

Islam, making up 64.81% of the sample. This included articles that spoke about ‗Islamic

extremism‘, ‗Islamists‘, ‗Jihadis‘, ‗Mullahs‘ etc or the Islamic religion, teachings and

ideology leading to extremism.

The Star in an article titled ―Not Easy To Be Rid Of This Thorn‖, for example, describing a

conservative political party and its leader mentions how he was ―accused of promoting

Islamic values‖ (The Star, 29/09/09)

Discussing the concept of secularism and theocracy in Turkey, an article of the Hurriyet

Daily News titled ―Theocratic Democracy (I)‖ speaks about how the Religious Affairs

Directorate of the country has been playing a crucial role of blocking a ―possible Islamist

fundamentalist threat.‖ (Hurriyet Daily News, 23/06/09)

While the conception of ‗Islamist‘ was often found to be in use to portray extremists and

hardliners, an article in the Arab News used it in a different manner in an article picked from

the Associated Press titled ―Al-Qaeda Death A Blow To Somali Terror Group‖ when it said:

―Bin Laden has urged Somalis to overthrow their new moderate Islamist president and to

support jihadists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine and Iraq.‖ (Arab News, 18/09/09)

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Articles also often show a tendency to associate extremism to particular versions of Islam or

use terminologies which have significance in defining religious rules and schools of thought

etc. The use of ‗Salafist‘ was often found. An article in the New York Times, for example,

spoke about the ―ultra-conservative Salafi ideology‖ being an extremist ideology (New York

Times, 03/07/09). Another example is from the article ―Middle East Oil Realism‖ in Daily

News Egypt:

―The real threat is not that a radical Saudi Arabia might cease exporting

oil, but that it would continue doing so even if the country turned radical.

Billions of petrodollars would then become the financial firepower behind

global Wahhabi designs.‖ (Daily News Egypt, 07/09/09).

The linkage of Wahhabi8 to radicalism, immediately links radicalism to being inherent in the

teachings of Islam or the version of Islam known as Wahhabism.

Very few articles associated extremism to any other religion (only 3 out of 108). 35 articles

(32.41%) did not associate extremism to any religion or were part of the alternative discourse

speaking against the stereotypes and the linkage of extremism to Islam or any religion at all.

An article in Arab News titled ―How Israel‘s Nuclear Arsenal Endangers Us All‖ in a

description very different from the rest of the articles in the sample, associates extremism to

Jews and Zionists and calls the use of nuclear arsenal an extremist act:

―As the source of the duplicity that induced the US to war becomes

known, Americans will insist on accountability. Zionist fanatics may

choose another course. A modern-day Masada is a nuclear possibility.

With their vast arsenal (estimates range from 200 to 400 warheads), these

religious extremists could preempt accountability by creating chaos

worldwide while affixing blame on ―Islamo‖ fascists in an attempt to

keep their victim status plausibly intact.‖ (Arab News, 18/09/09)

There were also found to be some articles which used the alternative discourse and although

they did speak about Islam, it was done to show how Islam‘s teachings are against extremism

or how it is wrong to stereotype extremism and militancy to one religion. An article in Dawn

titled, ―Fundamentalism: what is it?‖ (04/09/09) can be taken to be part of this alternative

discourse which seeks to understand the term fundamentalism instead of just using it as it is

in the dominant discourse. This article for instance, quoted another scholar, Fredrick M.

Denny, who states: ―In recent years it has become popular to refer to conservative militant

8 Wahhabi refers to a particular school of thought or movement in Islam that emphasised on following orthodox

practices.

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Muslims as fundamentalists. The name does not quite apply when taken at its original

meaning.‖

An article in Arab News titled ―Right Wing Groups Target U.K. Muslims‖ also follows an

alternative discourse. It speaks about extremism in another context i.e. Islamophobia, the hate

and extremism of the other group against Muslims. It further states:

―Recent events have also highlighted that it is not only government

policies that encouraged treating Muslims as a ―suspect community‖

tarnished by the acts of a few extremists; but rather there has also been

growing collusion between American neoconservatives and the far right

in stirring up hatred of Muslims through the media.‖ (Arab News,

30/09/09)

Within this article, one can see a particular emphasis on discussing context and causes:

―As the whole community continues to be held responsible for the acts of

a few, very little has been done to counter the alienation Muslims have

been subjected to and this could be one of the reasons for extremist ideas.

Today a whole generation of Muslim youth has grown up in the era of the

―War on Terror‖ where they feel their community has been demonized

and their religion vilified.‖ (Arab News, 30/09/09)

There is also special emphasis on providing an alternative discourse:

―there is also a desperation here revealing the extent to which the

conspirators may have felt persecuted. Otherwise, why would young men

with everything to live for contemplate death — and let's not go with

Western notions that they want to go to heaven where they will be served

in every way by beautiful virgins.‖ (Arab News, 30/09/09)

Another article of the Arab News that follows the alternative discourse is ―Beyond The Two

State Solution‖ which looks at both sides of the divide and does not just label one group as

extremists/radicals:

―The demise of the peace process, the one that was launched in Madrid,

negotiated in Oslo and celebrated in the White House Rose Garden is

dead. It is foolish to believe otherwise. This is good news for the radicals

on both sides of the divide. The Israelis began their systematic

dismantling of the peace process right after the assassination of Yitzhak

Rabin in 1995 by a Zionist zealot.‖ (Arab News, 30/09/09)

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Yet another article of the Arab News following an alternative discourse titled ―The Perpetual

Grief Over 9/11‖ attributes extremism and terrorism to anger and emphasises the context. It

states:

―Anger, when it becomes protracted and multifaceted, is at risk of

inspiring extremism and justifying terror. But there are other facets to be

examined when political violence is to be scrutinized. 9/11 cannot be

divorced from surrounding events, preceding tragedies or subsequent

ones. By doing so, one undermines the seriousness of the tragedy.‖ (Arab

News, 16/09/09)

Most articles from the Arab News followed an alternative discourse, emphasising on the

contexts and causes and not labelling only Muslims as extremists. Even when extremism was

associated to Islamic concepts it was done so calling for a need to propagate correct Islamic

teachings that forbid such acts of terror.

An article of the Canberra Times titled ―Terrorists Or Tomorrow‘s Allies?‖ follows an

alternative discourse and speaks about how the formation of Israel and the role of the Israeli

Defence Force in the Gaza invasion in early January 2009 is not portrayed as terrorism in the

Western media today. It also emphasises on the need to address the causes of terrorism:

―We have been railroaded by the needs of the terrorism industry, which

has fuelled apprehension and fear, when what is required is a more

sophisticated understanding of the causes of terrorism. Dealing with

poverty, racism, the disproportionate distribution of power, abuse of

power and the debilitating effect of corruption would enable the causes of

terrorism to be addressed before violence is embraced as a course of

action against injustice.‖ (Canberra Times, 01/09/09)

An article of Daily News Egypt titled ―Treating Al-Qaeda‖ spoke of how Saudi Prince

Muhammad ―has also established a rehabilitation program that seeks to de-program the

jihadis from their radical beliefs through a course of study that teaches that Islam requires

obedience to a Muslim ruler‖ (Daily News Egypt, 27/09/09).

Karim (2002) speaks of how the terrorist acts carried out by groups like Al-Qaeda cannot be

described as ―Islamic‖ since these actions do not constitute part of the essential metaphysical,

religious, or spiritual dimension of the faith. ―They cannot even be considered expressions of

―Muslim terrorism‖ if this were to be posited as an essential feature of Islam. Nevertheless,

the individuals who profess Islam and carry out terrorist acts could be viewed as ―Muslim

terrorists‖—one would then similarly refer to ―Christian terrorists,‖ ―Jewish terrorists,‖

―Hindu terrorists‖ and ―Buddhist terrorists.‖ Distinguishing between the dimensions helps to

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identify the ideological application of Islamic terminology in Northern and Muslim

discourses. Sadly, the uninformed use of the terms related to Islam is endemic in the

transnational media.‖ (Karim, 2002)

Hypothesis H: Extremism will be talked about majority of the time in relation to Islam

and Muslims, was therefore proved.

Association of extremism to religious adherence, symbols and education:

Research Question 6 (How much is extremism being linked to religious adherence,

symbolism and education?) was formulated after observing emerging trends in the Pakistani

media and subsequently the global press too after undertaking this study.

15.74% of the sampled articles were found to associate extremism to religiosity, religious

adherence, symbols and education etc (refer to the Methodology chapter for a detailed

definition of this category). 27.78% of the sampled articles linked extremism to religiosity as

above as well other concepts like attitudes, mindsets, political stance, violence etc. Articles

that linked extremism to violence, attitudes, political stance, mindsets etc made up a majority

of the sample coming down to 61 articles (56.48%).

However, although articles part of category (iii) ―Other concepts‖ formed a majority, it was

noted that 47 (17+30) i.e. 43.5% of the articles linked extremism one way or the other to

religiosity and religious adherence, either alone or along with other concepts. That is a large

figure and it shows that there is a growing trend in the media of associating extremism to

religiosity, religious adherence, education, symbols and lifestyles etc. The instances of

association of extremism to violence have already been discussed under the first heading,

here I examine specific instances of association of extremism to religiosity, religious

adherence, symbols, laws, education etc.

An article in the Times of India titled ―Partners In Proliferation‖ for example, speaks of how

the ―fundamentalist General Zia-ul Haq ushered in a new generation of more religiously

oriented officers‖ (Times of India, 25/09/09), thus implying that being ‗religiously oriented‘

is being ‗fundamentalist‘.

In the Telegraph for instance, the article ―We Need To Confront Islamist Extremists, Not

Conciliate Them‖ in speaking about growing Muslim extremism in Britain says ―it is painful

to see children dressed in Saudi-style clothing – girls covered in black, boys in white robes.

Teachers dare not question it – but what's religious about an infant covering her hair?‖

(Telegraph, 12/09/09)

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Another article in the Daily News Egypt titled ―Hamas Takes On The Radicals‖ speaks of

how many young men in Gaza have become ―increasingly radicalised. Pakistani-style dress

has become common, as is the long hair that is thought to resemble the style of the Prophet

Mohammad.‖ In addition to this, however, the article also mentions violence against ‗law

breakers‘ being on the rise, the bombing of internet cafes, burning down of institutions with

Christian affiliations, attacks on foreign schools and assaults on wedding parties. But the

linking of these phenomena with the dress and the label of radical serves to create a

stereotype and a narrow definition of ‗radical‘.

An article in The Star, ―A Heavy Crown For Pakatan‖ speaks of a conservative politician

who is ―not entirely loved for his hardline policies like banning the sale of beer in Muslim-

majority areas, banning foreign artistes and closing down massage parlours.‖ (The Star,

23/09/09). Similarly, in an editorial titled ―Just Say No To All Thought Of Liqour Bans‖ the

description is:

―When extremism reigns, it pours garbage. Seldom is this more so than

when political extremism comes in pseudo-religious garb…

Malaysians may wonder what else might follow: bans on pork and pork

products, several types of clothing, other religious practices, and

whatever else a fevered imagination might concoct…

…Despite adorning themselves with symbols of religiosity, extremists

betray a lack of confidence in fellow Muslims not to consume alcohol.‖

(The Star, 13/09/09)

By linking extremism with bans on pork, several types of clothing and other religious

practices and saying that extremists adorn ―themselves with symbols of religiosity‖, the

article in effect brands certain groups and people as extremists.

An article of Daily News Egypt titled ―Islam Within Islam‖ further demonstrates this trend. It

speaks about salvaging the humanism and equality of original Islam from the Islam of anti-

modernism and fundamentalism that evolved from conflict with the outside world. And how

does it define fundamentalism? It speaks of the ―secular and mainstream Islam of the 1970s

being replaced by a deep commitment to political Islam.‖ It further states:

―The Arab and Muslim worlds of the 1950s and 1960s had a forward-

looking attitude with an eagerness to modernize. Trends in education, art,

music, theatre and dress could be characterized as progressive…A quick

look at how Arab, Persian and other Muslim women of the 1960s and

1970s dressed in the Middle East reveals that few wore the hijab and even

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fewer donned an abaya. In the 1960s in Baghdad, Beirut, Cairo,

Damascus, Kuwait and Tehran, short skirts — even miniskirts — were

the fashion of the day. Male and female swimmers occupied some of the

same public beaches in Kuwait and other parts of the region‖ (Daily

News Egypt, 17/09/09)

It then speaks about how the June 1967 war delivered ―a crippling blow to Arab secular

nationalists‖ and how it led to the rise of Islamic forces and how after 1967 many politicians

and leaders ―took refuge in orthodox religion‖. It also speaks about how the 1979 Iranian

Revolution ―factored prominently in the revival of Islamic traditionalism.‖ It then states:

―The Muslim world today stands at a crossroads. An orthodox

interpretation of Islam continues to prevail with a strong tilt toward

political Islam. In addition, an undercurrent of a new movement in the

Arab world seeks freedom of choice and a renewal of the aborted

liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s.‖ (Daily News Egypt, 17/09/09)

This shows a growing trend of associating extremism to outward symbols of religion

particularly dress as well to ‗Islamic traditionalism‘, as if to say anyone wearing traditional

clothing or the hijab is an ‗extremist‘, while someone wearing a mini-skirt is a ‗moderate‘.

An article of the Canberra Times takes a slightly more sensible stand on the matter. It quotes

an Afghan activist saying: ―No government should legislate what can and cannot be worn.

Australia would be just as bad as Islamic fundamentalist groups and governments if it

dictated what clothing is socially acceptable.‖ And it also quotes President Obama as saying:

―[I]t is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practising

religion as they see fit, for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should

wear…We can‘t disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretense of liberalism.‖

(Canberra Times, 11/07/09)

An article in the Daily News Egypt titled ―The Tragedy of The Left‘s Discourse on Iran (Part

1)‖ speaking about some writers writing on Iran states: ―He is right if he means the majority

of Iranians are Muslim and Shia, but it is wrong to assume that all are religious and share the

same obscurantist fundamentalist version as those in power. He also fails to recognise the

existence of a large number of secular people in Iran, one of the highest percentages among

Muslim-majority countries.‖ (Daily News Egypt, 08/09/09). The phrase ―all are religious and

share the same obscurantist fundamentalist version as those in power‖ seems to imply

indirectly that being religious amounts to being ―obscurantist‖ and ―fundamentalist‖, in other

words, extremists.

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Islamic education, especially those of madrassahs, is often linked to extremism as it is shown

as the base for indoctrination to extremist ideologies. A column in Dawn titled ―And Now

The Barber Touch‖ uses this association:

―Strangely, no one talks about the obscurantism the public-school system

itself disseminates. In fact the National Education Policy 2009 (NEP) was

delayed by several weeks to enable its authors to insert a whole new

chapter on Islamic education. This injection of a massive dose of

ideology — a legacy of President Ziaul Haq‘s Islamisation era — may

not go down well with the task force as it has not with the liberal-minded

section of Pakistani society.‖ (Dawn, 30/09/09)

Another column in Dawn titled ―Overhauling Education‖ (Dawn, 25/09/09) says that

madrassahs are responsible for producing a radicalised segment of society that is not capable

of either acquiring gainful employment or pursuing higher education. Another article in

Dawn titled ―Recipe For Obscurantism‖ speaking about the new education policy which

proposes for teachers from madrassahs to teach Islamiat and Arabic in public schools says

―the proposal opens the way for a tidal wave of mullahs bringing their obscurantism,

sectarianism and militancy into our classrooms.‖ (Dawn, 20/09/09)

Groups calling for implementation of Islamic law or Shariah or for an Islamic system of

governance in the form of the Caliphate, are also often labelled as extremists and radicals.

Speaking about a particular ‗radical‘ group that has appeared in the Gaza Strip by the name

‗The Warriors of God‘, the article ―Hamas Takes On the Radicals‖, states:

―The Warriors of God demands a pure form of Islamic practice

throughout the Gaza Strip, including the implementation of Sharia

religious law and a rejection of democracy. Indeed, the confrontation at

the mosque followed the declaration of an Islamic Caliphate in Gaza, a

flagrant rejection of Hamas‘s authority‖ (Daily News Egypt, 24/08/09).

An article of the Canberra Times also uses a similar association. Speaking about ‗radical‘

groups in Indonesia it states: ―The objective of these groups is simple, and dangerous. It's the

return of the Caliphate, a fundamental Muslim state run by Sharia law across the

archipelago‖ (Canberra Times, 21/07/09)

As is evident, extremism and its variants were highly discussed issues and have acquired

various ideographic qualities that are influenced by popular political discourse. A qualitative

analysis revealed more about how the terms extremism and its other variations are being

framed and defined in the media.

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Cross-national analysis summary:

Studying the newspapers of various countries gave an opportunity to understand the stance of

the press of these countries on different issues related to the topic of research. Here, I briefly

summarise the analysis that emerged from the study of each of the newspapers that were part

of the sample:

New York Times (U.S.A): The articles of the New York Times were most in line with the

dominant discourse described in the beginning of the study. The most frequently used term

was ‗extremism‘ itself. It also used the word ‗moderate‘ and ‗democracy‘ in many instances

as concepts opposed to the concept of extremism. The qualitative analysis revealed that

although the term ‗Pro-West‘ was used in less articles to speak of an opposing concept to

extremism, the concept of extremists being anti-West and anti-America and moderates being

Pro-West and integrated with the West etc was highly used. The New York Times had one of

the highest uses of the term ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ and ‗Muslim‘. The conception of

‗Democracy‘ was often used as opposed to the concept of extremism. It often spoke about

extremism in the context of Iran. 10 of its articles associated extremism to the religion of

Islam—the highest compared to other newspapers. New York Times also had the highest

instance of associating extremism to religiosity or religious adherence, symbols and

education.

Telegraph (U.K): In the Telegraph, conceptions like ‗Islamist‘ were in high use, and that

was one of the highest used terms in the Telegraph. The use of the terms

‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ and ‗Muslim‘ however were also in high use. Therefore, by the use

of concepts, one found a high number of articles associating extremism to Islam. The ‗Pro-

West‘ concept was in high use as a concept opposed to the concept of extremism. It often

spoke about extremism and terrorism within the local context of the U.K and also in the

Pakistani context as Britain and Pakistan featured in an equal number of articles. There were

also a few articles that associated extremism to religiosity.

Dawn (Pakistan): Many of Dawn‘s articles spoke about extremism and terrorism within the

Pakistani context. The highest used terms were ‗Terrorist/Terror/Terrorism‘ and

‗Militant/Militancy‘. It also used the terms ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ and ‗Muslim‘ in the

articles although use was lower than the other newspapers except for Times of India in which

it was lower than that. Most of its articles also associated extremism to the religion of Islam.

There were however, lower instances of associating extremism to religiosity in the sampled

articles of Dawn.

Times of India (India): Most of Times of India‟s articles were about Pakistan and extremism

and terrorism within its context. The highest used term was ‗Extremist/Extremism‘ and

‗Terrorism/Terrorist/Terror‘. Most of its articles also associated extremism to Islam by means

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of using concepts like jihad, Salafi etc although fewer of its articles used the terms ‗Islam‘

and ‗Muslim‘ and fewer still associated extremism to religiosity and religious adherence.

The Star (Malaysia): Since articles were from the same time period, most of The Star‟s

articles concentrated on the same issue of an intolerant and violent protest against the

building of a Hindu temple. Thus, the theme of most articles was about intolerance of

minorities and racial disharmony within Malaysia itself. The highest used term in it was

‗Extremism/Extremist‘, while ‗Moderate/Moderation‘ was often used opposed to extremism.

Use of the term ‗Islam‘ and ‗Muslim‘ was also high. Most of its articles also associated

extremism to Islam, while there were a few articles that associated extremism to religiosity

and religious adherence.

Arab News (Saudi Arabia): Arab News was the newspaper that had the lowest number of

articles associating extremism to Islam, and the highest number of articles that followed an

alternative discourse. The term the Arab News used in most of its articles was

‗Extremism/Extremist‘. Although the use of ‗Islam‘ and ‗Muslim‘ was high, it was often part

of the alternative discourse. Most articles in the Arab News spoke of extremism in the context

of the Middle East, but the articles were not slanted and instead looked at extremists on both

sides of the divide. There were even fewer articles that associated extremism to religiosity or

religious adherence, none associated extremism to it alone, while 3 associated extremism to

religiosity along with violence and other concepts.

Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey): Hurriyet Daily News had high instances of use of the term

‗Extremism/Extremist‘ and ‗Radical/Radicalism‘. There were some instances of use of the

conception ‗Secular/Secularism‘ as opposed to the concept of extremism. Most of its articles

were within the context of Turkey itself. But there were instances of extremism being

associated to religiosity and religious adherence.

Daily News Egypt (Egypt): Although one wouldn‘t have expected such a high association

of extremism to Islam and religiosity in the newspaper of a Muslim country, Daily News

Egypt was found to have high instances of use of the terms ‗Islam‘ and ‗Muslim‘ and high

instances of linkage of extremism to religiosity along with other concepts. The reason may be

that most of its articles were picked up from syndicated international news services and there

were rarely any independent articles. Most of its articles focused on the Middle East.

Canberra Times (Australia): Canberra Times although had a high use of the terms ‗Islam‘

and ‗Muslim‘ and a high association of extremism to the religion of Islam, it still had

relatively low association of extremism to religiosity and religious adherence. There were

also some instances of alternative discourse in Canberra Times. It had high use of the term

‗Terrorist/Terror/Terrorism‘ and many of its articles associated extremism to violence. A

majority of its articles focused on the Middle East.

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Summary of the findings:

The research found that extremism is a widely used term today and that there is a loaded

vocabulary that is used in discussions on extremism. In brief, the findings were:

‗Extremism/Extremist‘ was the most highly used term in the complete sample. Terms

like ‗Terrorism/Terrorist/Terror‘, ‗Radical/Radicalism‘, ‗Militant/Militancy‘,

‗Islamist/Islamism/Islamisation‘, ‗Jihadi/Jihadist‘ were other frequently used terms

Many cases of associating extremism to being anti-West and moderation to being pro-

West were found

Terms and concepts like ‗Moderate/Moderation‘, ‗Pro-West‘, ‗Secular/Secularism‘,

‗Liberal/Open‘, ‗Democracy/Democratic‘, ‗Modernity/Modernism‘ etc were part of

the vocabulary found to be used as opposed to the concept of extremism.

Indirect linkage by use of the terms ‗Islam/Islamic/Islamist‘ and ‗Muslim‘ in articles

that spoke about extremism was found to be high

Pakistan, Middle East, Malaysia and Iran were found to be prominent in discussions

on extremism and terrorism, though Pakistan and Malaysia obtained most of their

numbers from mention in their own country‘s newspapers

The hypothesis was found to be proved. Extremism was talked about majority of the

time in relation to Islam and Muslims

A growing trend of associating extremism to religious adherence, symbols, lifestyles

and education was found

Conclusion

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The study, therefore found that extremism is often being framed in the context of religion,

although it is spoken about in other contexts as well. A variety of loaded terminology is

being used to describe extremism and to speak of concepts opposing to it. Extremism has

become a term of popular political discourse often used to label certain groups and people for

various political interests. It has acquired an abusive connotation and groups and individuals

who are labelled as ‗extremist‘ or other variants are viewed with suspicion and highly

disliked. As such, one would expect careful use of the term and its variants by the media.

However, the term is found to be used liberally and majority of the time in association to

Islam and Muslims. A growing trend of associating extremism to religiosity and religious

adherence, lifestyles and education was also noted.

There is a need for the media to be cautious in the use of these terms and to avoid

stereotyping and associating extremism to the kind of examples that have been found,

namely, religiosity and religious adherence, Islam and Muslims, being opposed to the

policies of the West, and in short, to anything that differs from the Western way of life. Each

community, nation and religion has its own practices, its own political stands and its own

views and opinions. To label groups and individuals as extremist just because they are

different is not acceptable. There is a need for the media to be careful in use of these terms,

especially since today, they have come to be so closely associated with terrorism and can

very easily trigger security concerns and hysteria against the groups being labelled as such.

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Suggestions and Recommendations

Although a considerable amount of research has been done on examining how the media are

framing terrorism, there is a need for more research into how the media are framing and

defining extremism. This study attempted to do just that. However, the results are far from

comprehensive and there is need for a larger scale study on the topic with a larger and more

representative sample.

It would also be interesting to study how these terms were used and defined in the past and

how they are used now after September 11. Such a study would reveal much about the

changing definitions in the context of shifting global and political scenarios. A wider sample

from all regions of the world would also lend further significance to the results and offer a

deeper perspective. A study focused on the Pakistani media‘s definition of these terms would

also be another interesting research. Examining the content of television and the internet on

the same topic is another area of study that would yield other results.

Another study could also explore how these definitions in the media are influencing public

perception of extremism and extremists.

As a student carrying out research as part of my Masters Thesis at the Department of Mass

Communication, University of Karachi, I would suggest that the library should subscribe to

international newspapers as well as research journals to provide the needed resources for

quality research. The department should also subscribe to online research journal websites so

that students can access the latest journals for relevant researches through the web. More

systematic training should also be given to students on how to write a research paper and on

how to quantify and tabulate results. A more systematic method of research involving choice

of topic and a proposal paper in the first semester of final year and subsequent thesis on

approval of the proposal paper in the next semester would be very helpful in preparing

students beforehand for the final thesis.

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