DAR AL HARB - U.K.: A NEW REPORT BEARING THE TITLE "BRITISH MOSLEMS' EXPECTATIONS OF GOVERNMENT", THE BRITISH MEDIA & MUSLIM REPRESENTATION, ETC...

Media rife with anti-Muslim prejudice
by Asiya Khanom

THE VAST MAJORITY of Muslims believe the national media is Islamophobic, a new report has found.

An overwhelming 86% of Muslims surveyed by the Islamic Human Rights Commission considered daily newspapers and TV news to be biased.

The report found the media lacked scope when dealing with matters concerning Islam and Muslims. Words such as ‘terrorism’, ‘hijack’, ‘bombings’ and ‘extremism’ are manipulated in generating a public perception that the Muslims are somehow related to these attacks.

The authors have called for a fairer and freer representation of Muslims in the media. The report also showed when analyzing the news channels on the 7/7 bombings they largely concentrated on the subject of ‘loyalty.’

The fact that bombers were of British origin gave rise to suspicion of extremist tendencies amongst British Muslims who could potentially be a threat.

The report asks for new laws that would safeguard Muslim and minority interests from media abuse and for a legislation that would monitor the activities of the media in giving a more balanced news report.

Arzu Merali: Media is a hostile environment for Muslims

The IHRC that carried out the report interviewed over a thousand Muslims from all over the UK in giving their opinion on the media’s depiction of Muslims.

The dominant perception of Muslims is that the media portrays them and their religion in an ‘inaccurate’ and ‘derogatory’ manner.

One of the findings of the report showed that the media’s portrayal of Muslims was psychologically damaging, particularly to those who faced Islamophobic abuse in daily life.

The Muslims interviewed felt they could not complain about their distress because they would face alienation. However, those who did complain failed to get any response from the media.

...

Pertinent Links:

1) Media rife with anti-Muslim prejudice

2) The Report (PDF file)