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"Islamophobia" in the Media – the Missing Pieces

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"Islamophobia" in the Media – The Missing Pieces Written evidence submitted to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia By Islam Surveyed 2 December 2013 1 Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Conclusions 3.0 UK-Based Media This section lists over 350 news reports and articles covering Islam and Muslims published by UK-based media between January and November 2013. Links to all the complete original news reports and articles are given at: http://islamsurveyed.blogspot.co.uk/p/islamophobia-in-media- missing-pieces.html 4.0 English Language Media Based Outside the UK This section does the same for English language media based outside the UK. It has over 320 news reports and articles over the same period. 5.0 The Media This lists the media covered in sections 3.0 and 4.0 and summarises the number of news reports and articles from each source 2 1.0 Introduction A great many words are written about the media's coverage of Islam and Muslims and how it causes "Islamophobia". A recent example is a submission to the APPG, " Islamophobia in the Media: evidence to the APPG on Islamophobia, 16 October 2013 ". It gives a high level view quoting lots of statistics but offers only a handful of examples (13) of what the media is actually reporting and saying and how it is saying it. The examples are highly selective, only "indicative" of a sector of the press well known for its sensational headlines. And, we are told "an overwhelmingly negative picture where threat, otherness, fear and danger posed or caused by Muslims and Islam underpins a considerable majority of the media's coverage." The aim of this submission is to provide the missing pieces. ● What exactly are the media saying about Islam and Muslims and how are they saying it? It excludes coverage of the wars in Afghanistan and Syria, other ongoing conflicts largely involving Muslims, the Israeli-Palestinian problem, and terrorism (1) , with a few exceptions that throw some light on the "Islamophobia" problem. It also excludes strongly cultural issues such as FGM and honour killings. It is concerned with: Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices, Education and Knowledge, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Halal, Integration, Multiculturalism, Islamophobia, Organisations, Reform, the pronouncements of Islamic Scholars, Sharia, Violence and Islam, Women and Islam. 3 2.0 Conclusions (1) The Same Picture, Left, Right and Centre The media coverage of Islam and Muslims showing the religion and its followers in a very negative light is common to all media. It is not just the "sensational" press, the Daily Star, The Sun, the Daily Express, the 13 examples so very prominently displayed in "Islamophobia in the Media: evidence to the APPG on Islamophobia, 16 October 2013." Media well known for publishing what Muslims themselves have to say and presenting what they see as positive aspects of Islam, are as bad (or as good) as the rest in bearing "negative" news. They include The Guardian (2), The Independent, the BBC (3) , and The Huffington Post UK (4). (2) Not Just the UK Similar negative coverage is found in the non-British English language media around the world. (3) What Readers Think Readers' comments are now a much bigger part of the published picture. Most publications have an electronic version enabling readers to relate their experiences, provide information and express their views. The extracts shown of typical and high scoring readers' comments reinforce the negative picture. Most of them are by educated readers of the quality press (2) . (4) The Islamophobia analysis "industry" is not helping Authors of reports such as " Islamophobia in the Media: evidence to the APPG on Islamophobia, 16 October 2013" continually complain about this negative coverage saying, for example, it is: " .... likely to provoke and increase feelings of insecurity, suspicion and anxiety amongst non-Muslims. Likely to provoke feelings of insecurity, vulnerability and alienation amongst Muslims, and in this way to weaken the Government's measures to reduce and prevent extremism". One suspects the solution they have in mind is along the lines the message is so bad the best thing is to shoot the messenger, or at least make him shut up. 4 They fail to address the fact the overwhelming majority of news stories and articles are an accurate and fair reflection of reality.(5) And, there is no evidence to suggest large numbers of favourable stories about Islam and Muslims are being ignored. (6) The simple truth is a great many Muslims inspired by Islam as they see it do and say a great number of things from the trivial to the very important that annoy, puzzle or repulse most non-Muslims and consequently they are reported by the media. It is all there: ● Gender inequality ● Segregation ● Subversion of English law by sharia tribunals ● Special treatment (veils (2) , more religious school holidays, halal slaughter, separate halal menus, prayer rooms, beards for schoolboys, etc.) ● Under-age marriage ● Polygamy ● Homophobia ● Cruel and violent punishments ● Blood money ● Supremacism ● Suppression of free speech (often by threat of violence) ● Punishment including death for apostasy, and ● Persecution of religious minorities .... The problem has very little to do with the media and a lot to do with Islam and Muslims. 5 Notes Note (1) Proportion of News to do with Terrorism According to the Cardiff School of Journalism study “The Representation of British Muslims in the National Print News Media 2000-2008” the prominence of "news hooks" in 2008 was as follows: Terrorism 27%, Other 73% Other included: religious cultural issues 32%, Muslim extremism 10%, politics & public affairs 8%, immigration & asylum 2%, violence & attacks against Muslims 1%, Islamophobia 1%, social unrest & community relations 2%, other 16% Note (2) The Guardian and the views of its readers In fact, articles on contentious issues by Muslims or in defence of the Islamic viewpoint in The Guardian regularly get a large majority of hostile or critical responses from Guardian readers. See "What Guardian Readers Think of the Muslim Veil": http://islamsurveyed.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/what-guardian-readers-think-of- muslim.html Note (3) The BBC The care the BBC takes is shown in its headline "Girl, 14, pregnant after Pakistan forced marriage, judge says" for a news report published on the 5 November. The Daily Star had no qualms about mentioning Muslims and ran with the headline "British Muslim girl of aged 14 was forced to marry her husband at gunpoint". This headline possibly better reflects reality (and the public interest) following the ITV investigation that found an alarming number of British imams were willing to perform marriage ceremonies for underage Muslim girls. See news reports p22-23. Note (4) The Huffington Post UK A Muslim journalist, Mehdi Hasan, is the political director of The Huffington Post UK. He has expressed strong Islamic views that others have found offensive, likening non-believers to cattle, for example. Dr Chris Allen, the author of " Islamophobia in the Media: evidence to the APPG on Islamophobia, 16 October 2013 ", blogs for The Huffington Post UK. Note (5) The Leveson Report Lord Leveson says ".... it is important that stories .... are accurate, and not calculated to exacerbate community divisions or increase resentment. ..... the majority of the Press appear to discharge this responsibility with care... ." [Emphasis added] 6 Note (6) Even some Muslims .... Some negative stories have a positive side. There are a few, only a few, modern-minded Muslims who are prepared speak out against backward Islamic practices. This is nicely represented by an item in The Independent on the 6 November. "Stop dithering and ban the burka - When will the British establishment bite the bullet and ban the burka? .... For too long a misinformed British public has been swayed by .... Muslim apologists .... that female face-masking is a religious requirement, a free personal choice, or a woman’s prerogative to maintain public anonymity. None of these spurious assertions pass critical scrutiny." This is part of a letter from Dr T Hargey, Director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford. He will now, of course, be fiercely criticised by the backward looking Muslim establishment, the Islamists, and the Muslim apologists. Dr Hargey should have written to The Sun ! He might have got the support and publicity he deserves For further information about "Islam Surveyed" see: http://islamsurveyed.blogspot.co.uk/ 7 3.0 UK-Based Media This section lists over 350 news reports and articles covering Islam and Muslims published by UK-based media between January and November 2013. In each case you have the title, a brief representative or telling extract, the name of the publication, and the publication date. Where available and especially relevant a typical comment by a reader is given. Links to all the complete original news reports and articles are available. See page 2. November 2013 Police called to school protest over religious workshop The 45-strong rally followed uproar last week when parents were warned their children would have a racial discrimination note recorded against them if they failed to attend the workshop. -- Express & Star, 28 November Thousands of bottles of beer smashed in sharia crackdown in Nigeria About 240,000 bottles of beer have been shattered by an earthmover .... Alcohol is banned under sharia law, imposed in the city in 2001, but authorities had turned a blind eye to its consumption in hotels and the Sabon Gari Christian quarter. -- The Guardian, 28 November Stoning will not be brought back, says Afghan president Afghanistan's government has backed away from a proposal to reintroduce public stoning as a punishment for adultery after the leak of a draft law stirred up a storm of international condemnation.
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