A comparative analysis of reporting on Islam between 2018–2020: Characteristics of institutionally and event-driven debates

Abstract

This paper analyses reporting on the topic of Islam in Switzerland from 2018 until the end of 2020. A quantitative content analysis of 715 articles from 10 newspapers in German and French was conducted. Research into framing, agenda building, and attention theory serve as a theoretical basis. We show that “event-driven” and “institutionally driven” debates differ. They can be characterised on two dimensions: range of views (in terms of speakers, issues, issues in different language regions), and communication style (presentation of the position of Muslims and adopted journalistic role performance). In other words, this article shows that the arena is a key driving factor in the shape of a debate. This distinction of debate types provides a deeper understanding of Muslim actors as speakers, and of the role of market pressures in forms of infotainment journalism, and enriches theoretical understanding while providing empirical evidence. Islam as a topic is well suited for analysing public debates because the topic has been present in media coverage for many years, both in connection with political decision making processes (e.g. status of the religious community, integration of migrants, discussion about the ban on veiling) and in connection with current events in which contrasts between the Islamic and Western worlds are thematised (e.g. Islamic fundamentalism, religiously motivated acts of terrorism).