In this thesis, I explore relationships between journalists and Muslim sources in Glasgow, Scotland in a qualitative, ethnographically informed manner. My primary contribution in the research is to justify applying media production analysis to a field of research that has been dominated by content analysis. Since the popularisation of Islamophobia and especially the 9/11 attacks, journalists have taken a greater interest in Muslims in non-Muslim-majority contexts, such as Britain. Scholarship of this coverage has consistently concluded that journalists represent Muslims in a negative, essentialising manner. My research asks new questions of the topic, investigating the process of making news representations rather than the product. I identified the journalist-source relationship as the site to examine what informs news texts. I interviewed thirty participants and observed newsroom and community group environments, and I reflexively and transparently incorporated my prior experience as a journalist in Canada. Participants discussed their normative boundaries for accepting and using the label “Muslim” in news texts. “Relevance” was a common but vague response; my results show an emphasis on religious or subjective identification for journalists to use the term, whereas sources reported their belief that its usage was more indiscriminate, applied negatively and out of proportion to other groups. In terms of their conceptions of the “other,” journalists easily conflated ethnicity and race with religion for Muslims, and sources tended to describe anonymous “journalists” rather than specific individuals and their practices. I then analysed the points of contact through which these relationships were enacted, including press releases, direct contact, and social media. This analysis includes a case study of one Muslim group’s media relations, studying internal and external dynamics as its members positioned themselves in Glasgow’s news ecosystem. Participants described their uses of the other: as sources, for comment, clarification, and contacts; as journalists, for coverage and capital. Trust and reciprocity are features that participants identified as important for an effective relationship though often absent from their interactions. I show more reciprocally enacted relationships than content analysis reveals. Though these interactions are not always apparent in published texts, they nonetheless contribute to representations of Muslims more varied than the prevailing literature suggests. Glasgow emerges as a distinctive location in the context of Britain, deserving of further study. The mechanics of the journalist-source relationship can be used comparatively to assess whether, why, and how journalists report on particular groups.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-222). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Typescript. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-281).

Thesis (D.R.E.)--Faraston Theological Seminary, 1995. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-176).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-166). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Nucci and Turiel (1993) have demonstrated that conservative Christians and Jews judge moral issues in terms of justice, rights, and human welfare considerations, and do not solely rely on religious precepts in their moral reasoning. The purpose of this study was to examine whether Turkish Muslims' moral reasoning is also relatively independent of religious prescriptions. Using Turiel's (1983) Domain Theory, the study investigated similarities and differences in the reasoning of more religious and less religious Turks on a variety of moral issues addressed by the Qur'an (a father forcing his daughter to marry someone without her express approval, abortion, homosexuality, adultery, testifying falsely in court, polygamy). The study also investigated whether Turkish Muslims associate harmful and unjust behaviors [e.g., violating others' rights, hurting others (physically or psychologically)], which are considered grave sins in Islam (5:8) (Hashmi, 2002), with God's most severe punishment. The study included 49 less religious Turkish students (20 males 29 females) and 49 more religious Turkish students (23 males 26 females), 18 years of age or older. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire containing six stories. Results were analyzed using a combination of Chi-Square and ANOVA techniques. Findings largely supported the proposition of Domain Theory (Turiel, 1983) that all individuals use moral reasoning that is in part based on justice and rights concerns, even highly religious individuals. The reasoning of more religious participants was mixed between moral and religious concerns. Moral concerns dominated their reasoning when considering forcing a daughter to marry or polygamy, while religious considerations dominated their reasoning for the issue of homosexuality only. The majority of less religious participants judged the issues in terms of justice, rights, and human welfare considerations, rather than on religious precepts. Also, the majority of all participants indicated that God punishes most those who violate others' rights and who harm others. This suggests that Turkish Muslims consistently value principles of justice, rights and welfare when considering moral issues, regardless of religious orientation. / text

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, The Australian Centre, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 239-257).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Columbia University, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 275-286).

Thesis (D. Miss.)--Western Seminary, Portland, OR, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 270-281).

Univ., Diss.--London, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [308]-317) and index.