The ‘us and them’ tactic
Minority Thought has written a stellar post today exploding the front page of today's Express:
Rather than leading with the story at hand, the sentencing of Choudhry to "life" imprisonment, the Express has chosen to focus on the deranged rantings of a few nutcases in a courtroom instead. Both the Daily Mail and The Sun have also gone with this angle, but neither has chosen to put it across in as brazen a way as the Express.
That there are Muslim extremists who say such things is beyond a doubt. However, the Express' decision to make this the key focus of the story, along with the language used in the headline, is an attempt to imply that these shouts are in some way an expression of what every Muslims thinks about the British.
Can you imagine, for example, what the Express would have done if the men who broke into shouts of "Go to hell, Britain" were Christians? Would the Express have replaced "Muslims" with "Christians" in the headline? Would they even have mentioned it so prominently in the first place?
I doubt it.
The Express sees Muslims as a homogeneous mass that is in complete agreement with the ramshackle fanatics at its fringes. The headline is a dog-whistle signal for the idea that "Muslims" disapprove of "us British".
The splash in question
has a heritage that goes back a while with Richard Desmond's newspapers. You can see its ancestry here:
and this really isn't an accident. This isn't a case of 'Oh, we just need to get slightly shorter words into the headline' or anything like that. No, this is all on purpose, every word there because it was meant to be there.
And the message is clear. Muslims are not us. Muslims are not you. Muslims are not British. Beyond that, Muslims are just one great big homogenous lump of humanity, which 'we' - nice, white Express and Star-reading folk - should probably be afraid of. You can see that clearer with this kind of thing:
You might say, oh well the headline doesn't mean all Muslims, does it? It just means some - the kind of people who'd put a minaret up the top of Nelson's Column - rather than all. But I think, looking at the pattern and the messages from the front pages, the agenda is pretty clear. The message is a simple (and simplistic) one: there are Muslims, and then there are the rest of us. And what kind of people are Muslims? Time and again, what image is used to portray Muslims in a tabloid - a smiling child? A man in western clothes going about his daily business? Er, not quite. This is the classic you see time and time again (this time from the Mail, but the Express love it too):
I don't think that's particularly true, or particularly helpful. It could be the case, I suppose, that 99.9% of Express and Star readers aren't Muslims - I wouldn't be surprised, given what turns up in the paper - but I don't think that's the point, either. The 'us and them' tactic serves to draw up battle lines, to create division where there might not be a great deal, to taint all followers of a faith with the characteristics of the most extreme end of the scale.
Funny thing is, as I was looking through the Express website to research this story, I found this:
I wonder where on earth those negative views of Islam have been coming from, and why so many people might associate Islam with terrorism?
See also - Tabloid Watch: The Express, the Star and angry mobs
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November 4th, 2010 - 13:19
Excellent and right on the money as always. This is utterly appalling and it’s clear that the people at the Express/Mail/Star all know exactly what they are doing.
There seems to be a lot of people online that find the antics of these papers to be vile and dangerous, but why on earth isn’t it getting any attention in the ‘proper’ media, rather than only in the blogosphere (I hate that word)?
Fair enough, the likes of Sky News and Desmond’s Channel 5 aren’t going to report on it, but you’d have thought the likes of the Guardian and the Independent would have something to say in the matter, or are they afraid of appearing as left wing looney nut jobs who want the Qur’an, health and safety and sex education taught to all 4 year olds by militant lesbians as part of the National Curriculum?
November 4th, 2010 - 20:08
I think tabloid response stories are seen as ‘too easy’ by the broadsheets, but I’m not so sure it is too easy. Maybe they think they’ll come across as a bit snooty or sneering over their rivals, and maybe people just don’t want to delve too deeply for fear of who they might have to work for one day. Some does go on, but not a huge amount.
November 7th, 2010 - 21:08
Well the big problem there is – we could have something against this in the Guardian/Observer/Independent but who would that message reach – wouldnt really be the idiots that read rags like the mail and express, nevermind sun or star readers (if you could call those “reading”)
November 4th, 2010 - 13:38
i really hate that caption ‘ a race apart ‘
and i get the impression from that photo that permission wasn’t really gained, hence the women swearing and the other ducking her head. but of course, the impression is given of hostility towards the good ole daily mail, invading women’s privacy.
November 5th, 2010 - 01:48
Appropriately enough, that photo was also used on a BNP campaign leaflet some time ago.
November 4th, 2010 - 13:48
Probably not a story I should be looking for humour in, but I do like the way the lady on the right of the ‘no-go area’ photo is trying to hide her face from the photographer despite it already being completely hidden.
November 4th, 2010 - 20:42
Looks as if it has been Photoshop’d. Note the white lining around the women.
November 4th, 2010 - 14:20
This stuff really is disgusting. I recently visited the German History Museum in Berlin and a lot of this is frighteningly similar to the anti-jew propaganda in the 1930s German newspapers.
The only saving grace is that this isn’t state controlled.
November 7th, 2010 - 16:36
>You might say, oh well the headline doesn’t mean all Muslims, does it?
That’s a key one imo. We get it everywhere .. oh .. “Lefties”, “Tories”, “Right Whingers”, “feminists”, and so one … and so on … and so one.
November 7th, 2010 - 21:36
I am bored with with this muslim bashing, really. I am a muslim woman who goes about her business without a headscarf, enjoy good company in pubs, occassionally braved the Saturday night crowd in Glasgow and pay (a lot) in taxes. I represent the vast majority of muslims in the UK. However, to the British public the likes of me can’t be a muslim because I do not conform to the niqab clad images of the Sun/ Express / Star and the Daily Malevolent. I dare say these people created bogeymen and spooked themselves silly.
November 8th, 2010 - 14:41
Dear Annoyed of Edinburgh – good for you!
But you think the ‘likes of you can’t be a muslim…’ – either that or you can’t be British (cos you’re from one of these funny foreign religions – don’t forget that Christianity is British innit). I was told ‘you’re not a feminist’ by a man looking me up and down in that way they do that makes you want to get the full Niqab job. Because I don’t look like his stereotype of a feminist.
Break all the stereotype rules I say!
November 9th, 2010 - 02:44
Regardless of my religious/cultural views I think I’d probably stick two fingers up at a DM/Express reporter/photographer who tried to take my photo and shove it on their hateful rag!