Exploring the Othering Discourse in the Australian Press

Abstract

Recent research has revealed that the ‘othering’ discourse regarding Islam and Muslims has been increased significantly in the international media. Findings of the latest research provide considerable evidence that Islam and Muslims have been constructed and portrayed in a predominantly stereotypical and problematic way wherein they have been Othered by the Western media. This research paper is set to explore the existence of ‘othering’ discourse in the editorial coverage of Islam and Muslims-them by the two nominated Australian newspapers during January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016. This study has incorporated lexicalization and ideological square strategies within the CDA paradigm proposed by Van Dijk to analyze the editorials published on Islam and Muslims in The Age and The Australian. The results have confirmed that both the newspapers have Othered Islam and Muslims in their editorial contents quite explicitly thus produced the ‘Othering’ discourse during the period under study.