Talk to us, not for us The perspective of Norwegian Muslims of immigrant background on inclusion and representation of their community in the Norwegian mainstream media

Abstract

In the last century the world has seen more movement of people than any other time in human history. This has brought about a wave where societies, especially in Western Europe are becoming more and more multicultural. Despite scepticism, multiculturalism has endured and become a requirement for well-functioning democracies that protect the rights of their citizens. Free and inclusive media are important tenets of a healthy multicultural society. In this thesis, I examine the role of the Norwegian mainstream media to explore whether it is sensitive to and is representative of a minority section of the Norwegian society—Norwegian Muslims with immigrant background. From the perspectives of the members of the community, I document the types of portrayals and stories that are present in the media today to answer whether or not they are representative of and sensitive to the Norwegian Muslim community. This paper describes the challenges, victories and weakness of the Norwegian mainstream media in their representation and in the inclusion of Muslim voices. I explore the reasons behind the types of representations that are present today, and discuss whether those portrayal of Norwegian Muslims with immigrant background rightly justifies the path Norway is taking towards multiculturalism