Orientalism and the Australian News Media

In the last decades people of Middle Eastern and the Islamic faith has been stereotyped by medias. Isakkhan describes in his article how the Australian news media deal with this issue. He points out that some authors 'create a climate of fear and paranoia' (2009: 3) through their portray of terrorism and by reducing some people 'to the role of 'folk devil' after the 11 September 2001. The media make a distinction between Oriental people and Western civility, this is not a new phenomenon.

It begun during the colonial period after the Western felt the superiority over the Orient.

Printing in the 16th century

The technology of the printing press allowed to spread political texts like the Turkenkalender: An Urgend Appeal to Chrstendom Against the Turks (1454), where the Turks were describes as enemies. In the next centuries the printing press opened a new market for books, journals and newspapers. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the printing press begun to write about the interests of the empire and published a lot of texts about Orientalism, which deals with the 'others'. 

After the technology of printing arrived in Australia, they concentrate of the image of Asian migration and the natives. In this time the references to Islam and Middle East were very rare because Australia had a long relation to the Islam. But after some time the legislation against Chinese were extended to all coloured people including Muslims. 

After the First World War the Australian press published many stereotypical Orientalist images. Also there was a misunderstanding of jihad and 'holy war'. The press described the jihad as a war against Europe.

In general the idea of the 'other' reaches back to the past and lies in the earlies media texts. It is important that the Australian media manage their history of Orientalism and design a new positive image of the Middle East and Islam.

 

Reference:

Isakhan B. 2009. Orientalism and the Australian News Media. Origins and Questions. In Rane H., J. Ewart and M. Abdalla, Eds., Islam and the Australian News Media. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. Ch. 1, 3-25.

Letterpress: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buchdrucker-1568.png.