Dog whistle' journalism and Muslim Australians since 2001

Scott Poynting, Greg Noble

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

    Abstract

    Dog-whistle politics' was much discussed around the 2001 federal election campaign in which the Howard government used the 'Tampa crisis' and September 11 to appeal successfully to popular xenophobia and insecurities. The notion involves sending a sharp message which, like a dog whistle inaudible to humans, calls clearly to those intended, and goes unheard by others. This article argues that this sort of ideological manoeuvre has been abetted by an analogous process in the tabloid press, in which ostensibly liberal, reasonable stories speak at the 'inaudible' level to those whose insecurity and ignorance leaves them susceptible to populist claims that their relaxed and comfortable past has been stolen away by cosmopolitan, 'politically correct' elites and the 'multicultural industry'. Three examples are analysed: the stories of the women's gym and the halal hamburgers in Western Sydney, and that of the Muslim man threatened with dismissal from his Sydney North Shore professional job for praying in his lunch hour. Each was originally run as a 'good news story' or as sympathetic to Muslim protagonists, but provoked a backlash which generated extended 'news' and comment — much of it racist — and irresponsibly exacerbating community tensions.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages9
    JournalMedia International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy
    Publication statusPublished - 2003

    Keywords

    • Australia
    • Journalism
    • Mass media and race relations
    • Muslims
    • Press and politics
    • Race relations

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