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2017 ; 12
(3
): e0174606
Nephropedia Template TP
PLoS One
2017[]; 12
(3
): e0174606
PMID28362823
show ga
News coverage of Islamic extremism is reigniting debates about the media's role
in promoting prejudice toward Muslims. Psychological theories of media-induced
prejudice date to the 1950's, and find support from controlled experiments.
However, national-scale studies of media effects on Muslim prejudice are lacking.
Orthogonal research investigating media-induced prejudice toward immigrants has
failed to establish any link. Moreover, it has been found that people interpret
the news in ways that confirm pre-existing attitudes, suggesting that media
induced Muslim prejudice in liberal democracies is unlikely. Here, we test the
association between news exposure and anti-Muslim prejudice in a diverse national
sample from one of the world's most tolerant societies, where media effects are
least likely to hold (N = 16,584, New Zealand). In support of media-induced
Islamophobia, results show that greater news exposure is associated with both
increased anger and reduced warmth toward Muslims. Additionally, the relationship
between media exposure and anti-Muslim prejudice does not reliably vary with
political ideology, supporting claims that it is widespread representations of
Muslims in the news, rather than partisan media biases, that drives anti-Muslim
prejudice.
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