This paper reports the findings of a research project undertaken in Swaziland (a small kingdom in southern Africa) that interrogates the way in which the press frames Muslims and Islam as a threat to the state and to ordinary people. It begins by analysing three recent stories regarding Muslims:
- The perception that Muslims were to blame for the changing of the Swaziland constitution.
- A report that Muslims were enticing university students to convert to Islam in return for scholarships.
- A public symposium run on the subject of Islam.
It concludes that Swazi newspapers frame Muslims as warlike people who are plotting against the kingdom and who pose a threat to Swazi culture. Islam is also depicted as a religion inferior to Christianity.
By Dr Richard Rooney
