Moslem Arab Portrayal in the Australian Press and in School Textbooks

This paper surveys the overall characterization of Moslem Arabs and their culture as reflected by the press and in social science textbooks. Four widely circulated Melbourne newspapers and 15 of the most commonly used social science school textbooks formed the basis of content analysis. It has been found that the portrayal of Moslem Arabs was predominantly negative, involving overstatements, baseless charges and evaluative perceptions.