Example communications dissertation topic 7:

Representations of British Muslim clerics within the British press in the wake of the July 7th 2005 bombings.

Evaluating journalistic practices, racial stereotyping and issues of potential scaremongering, this dissertation looks at the representation of British Muslim clerics within the British press subsequent to the 7/7 bombings in London. In so doing this study makes explicit reference to the differences deployed within tabloid newspapers at a national level and those in the provinces. Accordingly, with regard to both editorial footage and photographs accompanying stories, and utilising discourse analysis, the thesis contrasts the seeming fascination of elements of the national press with the hook of Abu Hamza al-Misri (which appeared to be a focal point for issues of Muslim identity and faith) with the coverage and approach adopted in local newspapers in Bradford and Halifax.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Green, L. and Kabir, N. (2007). ‘What the British papers said on the first anniversary of the London bombing’. The Proceedings of the Australian New Zealand Communication Association Conference, 5-7th July 2007, La Trobe University, Melbourne.
• Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: Media representations and British Muslims. London: I.B. Tauris.
• Wood, C. and Finlay, W.M.L. (2008). ‘British National Party representations of Muslims in the month after the London bombings: Homogeneity, threat, and the conspiracy tradition’, British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 47(4), pp. 707-726.