The Branding of Arab Muslims after 9/11: Religion as a New Dimension of Differentiation

Abstract

This intriguing thesis examines to what extent the U.S. media have influenced shifting attitudes towards religion as a dimension of differentiation of Muslim Arabs in the United States. It analyzes the framing mechanisms that have been used by New York Times and New York Post when reporting on the religious identity of Arab Muslims in the United States by identifying it as a category of differentiation. In this way, it was possible to determine what textual attitudes these newspapers express towards the Muslim religion, as well as its constructed connection to the minority group of Arab Muslims. Moreover, the study also determines if the NYT and NYP style of reporting on Arab Muslims has changed throughout the last few decades through the process of ‘racialization,’ one of the elements of Islamophobia.