Introduction

How are different minorities portrayed in the media? This book uses a comparative design to analyze the reporting on Jews and Judaism in the Western context and on Muslims and Islam in the Western context between 2010 and 2019 on the part of two superregional German newspapers. In this introductory chapter, we first discuss how different kinds of outgroup discrimination and racisms are on the rise as a reaction to a perceived lack of predefined points of orientation. Next, we elaborate on the situation of Jews and of Muslims in relation to Germans and outline the sociopolitical context. Thereafter we discuss the role of the media and previous research on the media portrayal of different groups. We continue by elaborating on the theoretical and practical relevance of this study. This chapter closes with a short outlook on the different chapters.