Page - 124 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Souley Hassane | Mainstream Media vs. Ethnic Minority Media 124 title pages of magazines indicated profound ideological problems. The reaction of Oumma.com corresponded precisely to the avalanche of articles from the dominant press.2 There was much direct confrontation on both sides. This is a continuous, direct and massive confrontation, in which the implication of politicians, media, intellectuals and experts has given rise to especially lengthy media coverage and deepened the schism between the identities of French people of the Muslim faith and those of the “others”. Apart from the question of the necessity of such a law, this political and media consensus should be examined in its own right. I find the apparent unanimity on this issue troubling because the motivations of the various groups are not one and the same. The convergence between racists and anti- Arabs of the extreme right and Republican secularists is alarming and shows that French society is taking a dangerous turn in terms of its views of minorities. The disastrous media coverage of 9/11 has made this all possible. Furthermore, sensationalism is becoming ever more salient in news reporting. Xenophobic phraseology is used to stage the news and make events “worthy” of media coverage. 3.2 Phraseology in the media On October 24, 2004, the director of the magazine Le Point openly declared on Channel LCI: “I am slightly Islamophobic. I’m not embarrassed to admit it. […] I have the right, I think (and I am not alone in this country), to say that Islam, (and I specify Islam, I’m not even speaking of Islamists) as a religion has about it a certain irrationality […] which does in fact make me Islamophobic […] There is no reason, under the pretext of tolerance, to lower oneself to the 2 Yahya Michot, “Le voile jaune”, November 3, 2003; Eric Vandorpe, “Suspension d’un an sans salaire pour une fonctionnaire voile!”, November 18, 2003; Felwine Sarr, “Le port du voile: un rapport à sa propre corporalité”, December 18, 2003; Francis Moury, “La question du voile dans l’Islam et le monde moderne”, December 29, 2003; Liliane Bénard, “Des valeurs universelles et du voile…”, September 22, 2003; Noureddine Aoussat, “Affaire du voile: Le Cheikh Tantaoui d’Al-Azhar désavoué par les autres savants de cette institution”, January 1, 2004; Eric Vandorpe, “Retour sur le rapport Stasi et ses dérives islamophobes”, January 18, 2004; Zine El Abiddine Omar, “La symbolique du combat de la République contre le foulard”, January 31, 2004; Asma Lamrabet, “Au-delà du voile…”, February 2, 2004; Françoise Lorcerie, “L’affaire du voile sous le projecteur de la science politique: une analyse renouvelée de l’affaire en France et de son écho à l’étranger”, July 5, 2005; Pierre Tévanian, “L’affaire du voile, deux ans après: un consensus lourd de conséquences”, March 15, 2006 (All these articles come from Oumma.com).