Framing of Muslims and Islam: newspaper coverage in Spain

Spain ranks low among European democracies regarding negative attitudes toward Muslims and Islam. Islamophobia does not appear to be a contentious issue in the Spanish political arena as to the definition of 'us,' even though Moroccans have become the largest migrant community, and even though Spain is currently one of the three major Member States of first entry into the Union from Middle East and North Africa. By conducting a media frame analysis, the aim of this paper is to know whether and to what extent the Spanish large-circulation quality newspapers portray Muslims and Islam as strange, monolithic and problematic. Variations according to ideology and the nature of the events reported are taken into account. This is an empirical and longitudinal study covering an entire year. Conclusions are expected to further contribute to comparative investigations.