REVIEW: Distortions of imperialism afflict media view of Islam

Review of Dog Whistle Politics and Journalism: Reporting Arabic and Muslim People in Sydney newspapers, by Peter Manning

Abstract

For journalists in New Zealand bemused by the apparent paranoia in Australia over the issue of 'boat people' in the wake of the international incident on the high seas off the northwestern coast involving the Norwegian freighter Tampa. Peter Manning's damning monograph clears much of the fog. Through two years of textual analysis, he has laid bare how Australia's discourse of fear came to be focused on some 4000 people on board leaky boats, seeking asylum without visas.