NEWSPAPER : ONE IN 5 BRITONS WILL BE ETHNICS

THE FACTS:

• The one in 5 ‘fact’ is taken from a study from the University of Leeds, which suggests that the proportion of Black, Asian and other ethnic minorities will increase from 8% of the population to 20% by 2051.

• This is an estimate by the university and estimates often turn out to be inaccurate, for example in the 1960s it was estimated that the British population would by 76 million by the year 2000 and this was off target by 16 million.

• One of the authors of the study, Professor Phillip Rees, has admitted that it is only an estimate, saying ‘It is impossible to predict exactly how people will into, out of and within the country…as all of these trends are influenced by a whole range of factors.’

ETHNICS: What does the mean when it uses this word? At the beginning of the article, the Daily Express uses ‘ethnic’ to mean anyone that is NOT white and NOT born in Britain, however at the end of the article it’s used to include people who ARE white but were NOT born in Britain. This is really confusing and misleading for the reader.

We ALL have an ethnicity and can ALL be described as ethnic.

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: SWAN BAKE: ASYLUM SEEKERS STEAL THE QUEEN’S BIRDS FOR BARBEQUES

THE FACTS:

• Members of the public rang newspaper to tell them about this story. They were in a London park and saw a couple of people having a barbeque. They thought that these people might be Eastern European, which the newspaper then changed to say that they were Asylum Seekers. The people were cooking meat on the barbeque and the members of the public had suspicions that it might be swan meat. (All Swans in the UK are owned by the Queen, which is why they are called the ‘Queen’s Birds’ in the )

• There is no evidence that these people were Eastern European and/or Asylum Seekers, or that they were cooking swan meat.

• The Sun had to retract the story after other members of the public complained about its accuracy. This retraction was printed on page 41 of the newspaper. It said ‘While numerous members of the public alleged that the swans were being killed and eaten by people they believed to be Eastern European, nobody has been arrested in relation to these offences and we accept that it is not therefore possible to conclude whether or not the suspects were indeed asylum-seekers.’

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: ‘AL-QAEDA’ MASSACRE - NORWAY’S 9/11

THE FACTS:

• On 22 July 2011, Anders Breivik bombed the government buildings in Oslo in Norway, which resulted in eight deaths. He then carried out a mass shooting at a camp of the Workers’ Youth League of the Labour Party on the island of Utøya where he killed 69 people.

• The following day The Sun printed this headline, jumping to the conclusion that the killings had been carried out by someone working for Al-Qaeda; the Muslim extremist group responsible for the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks.

• The Sun was not the only newspaper who assumed that attacks were carried out by Muslim Extremists; the did this too.

• It turned out that Anders Breivik is a right-wing extremist with a hatred of Muslims and Islam. His main motive for killing so many people was to try and rid Europe of Muslims. He is a Christian and has claimed that he has links with, and the support of, the (EDL).

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: MUSLIMS TELL BRITISH: GO TO HELL!

THE FACTS:

• On 3rd November 2010 the case of the attempted murder of Stephen Timms MP was in court for sentencing. A man, who had been influenced by information he read on extremist websites, attempted to murder Stephen and was sentenced to life with a minimum of 15 years.

• The headline refers to three Muslim members of the public who turned up at court because they agreed with the extremist views of the man. They protested about the sentencing outside the court before leaving peacefully.

• There is no evidence that these people actually told the ‘British’ to ‘go to hell’ or that they had any signs with this written on.

• It is difficult to get the exact details of the story because different versions were printed in different . The Daily Star suggests that two of the men were inside court before being thrown out to be joined by another man, The Sun suggests that all three were inside before being thrown out, and the Daily Mail doesn’t mention where the men came from.

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES: MUSLIM SICKOS’ MADDIE KIDNAP SHOCK

THE FACTS:

• The ‘Maddie’ who is referred to in the headline is Madeline McCann. She was kidnapped from her hotel room while on holiday with her family in Portugal on 3rd May 2007.

• The Daily Star reported that there were two people having a conversation in an internet chat room. They were talking about the disappearance of Madeline McCann and one person asked the other if they thought Maddie’s parents might have played a part in her disappearance. The other person said yes. That is the whole story behind this headline.

• There is no mention of how the Daily Star knew that these two people were Muslim or how they were in any way connected to Maddie’s disappearance other than talking about it over the internet. At the time a lot of people were suspicious of the parents’ involvement in Maddie’s kidnap. In fact her parents were questioned by Portuguese police about their daughter’s disappearance.