Despite public fear of Islamic radicalization in U.S. prisons, newspaper reports capture the nuanced role of Islam behind bars.

After 2001’s 9/11 attacks, public attitudes towards Muslims worsened, and concern increased about the perceived threat of Islamic radicalization in US prisons. But how has the news media portrayed Muslim prisoners in the US? In new research, which examines news reports over a 25 year period, Janani Umamaheswar finds that despite concerns over radicalization, newspapers tended to be nuanced and balanced in their coverage of Muslim inmates.