Friday 28th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Muslim and Hindu Unite
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 7

Outline: In light of the atrocities in Mumbai this news brief comments that British Hindu and Muslim groups united to condemn the attacks.

The news brief is presented in a small box at the top of the page which has a coloured background as opposed to white, which helps to give the article more prominence.

At a time when news reports often portray Islam and Muslim in a negative light this was a positive article to be featured in the Metro.

Article Verdict: Positive


Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Commandos kill Mumbai gunmen
Section: News
Written by: Jon Smith
Page: 5

Outline: This article is about the atrocities in Mumbai. The opening paragraph mentions that "suspected Muslim militants stormed ... across the city". This type of language is inflammatory as it implies guilt by association for anyone who happens to be Muslim. To the average reader this phrase will present a negative image of Islam and Muslims.

Article Verdict: Negative

Thursday 27th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Heard about the racist jokes sent by 118 188?
Section: News
Written by: Miles Erwin
Page: 11

Outline: This article is about 2 students, Kameron Abbas and Imran Shah, who used the directory service 118 188 to get jokes, only to be sent racist jokes by text.

The article starts off by saying "A Muslim student was stunned..."

Whilst there's nothing factually wrong with that statement there's absolutely no reason to mention his religious background. If anything he should have been described as an Asian student as the jokes in question were racist and derogatory towards Asian people hence a racial categorisation of Mr Abbas could have grounds for being more relevant to the article.

In summary the article will be marked as negative because there is no need to mention Mr Abbas' religious background in this article, if anything it ends up showing 'another Muslim person complaining'.

Article Verdict: Negative


Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: MEP takes shelter from bullets in basement
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 6

Outline: This story is an account of the unfolding Mumbai terrorist attacks by Sajjad Karim, MEP, who hid in the hotel basement.

The article goes onto give a description of the events as per Mr Karim's testimony. It finishes by saying "He was the first British Muslim elected to Parliament".

The article is a factual description of events and the mention of Mr Karim as the 1st Muslim MEP could be interepreted as a positive portrayal of him.

Article Verdict: Positive

Article 2
Headline: Father cut his sons' throats then tried to burn bodies
Section: News
Written by: Sam Reeves
Page: 18

Outline: This story does not concern Muslims but instead focuses on the tragic murder of 2 innocent young children at the hands of their Father, Ashok Kalyanjee.

The reason for including this is because the murderer is an Asian man yet there is no mention of his religious background anywhere in the article, despite taking up three quarters of page 18. This is how reporting should be done so that the people are presented with facts about the story not the religious background of the person, which may lead to prejudiced opinions amongst readers against a particular group.

Quite often we see Muslim people being identified on the basis of their religion, I have reported several articles in the past where people have been identified in the article in Muslims when there is no need to do so.

There is no ranking for this article as it's not applicable however it's listed here to give readers an example of how stories about Non-Muslim Asians are reported

Article Verdict: N/A

Wednesday 26th November

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Pioneers on Mission to Kuwait - Break free of kitchen sink, Muslim women told
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 20

Outline: This article is about the trip of Manchester Councillor Maryam Khan and Fatima Mahmoud of the British Muslim Heritage to Kuwait at the invitation of the Government there to talk about women's rights.

The actual event itself is positive but the way its been reported is negative as the caption above the photo accompanying the article makes reference to Muslim women in some way being tied to the kitchen sink. The opening line of the article states "Two pioneering women...." this is a missed opportunity to highlight the fact that the two pioneering women are in fact Muslim pioneering women.

Quite often we see Muslims identified in situations where a negative story needs to be told, why can't the same be true when there is a positive news to report?

Article Verdict: Negative

Tuesday 25th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Barclays funding gets the nod
Section: Metro Business
Written by: ?
Page: 48

Outline: This article is about the sale of a third of Barclays Bank to investors from the Middle East. The best caption to sum up this article is "making a mountain out of a mole hill". This is because of the writer's attempt to magnify the opposition by Barclays shareholders to the deal. The words used are "More than one in ten voters...opposed or abstained from plans" so in plain english this would be written as 'more than 10%. This doesn't represent significant opposition to the plan at all but rather the fact that just under 90% approved the deal. Why then is the writer trying to paint a different picture to the readers, does he or she have an objection to a third of Barclays in the hands of Arab investors, who knows?

In summary this is an article which attempts to portray a distorted view of how the shareholders actually voted hence it's been given a negative rating.

Article Verdict: Negative


Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Barclays shareholders back £7bn Middle East deal
Section: Business
Written by: ?
Page: 5

Outline: This reports on the same story as the Metro however is complete contrast as it acknowledges that the proposed deal was approved by shareholders. It refers to the investors as "Abu Dhabi royalty" and mentions the fact that one of the investors, Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is owner of Manchester City. This helps to paint the investors in a positive light as Manchester City is a popular football team with locals of Manchester.

The article also provides more detail on the percentage of shareholders in favour of the deal (80%) but also makes reference to those opposed to the deal.

Overall the article provides a balanced view of the details involved in the proposed deal and does not attempt to cast any personal opinions on the deal thus it's given a positive rating.

Article Verdict: Positive

Wednesday 12th November

Nil return from both newspapers today

Monday 10th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Fight the fatwas 'with free speech'
Section: News
Written by: Jo Steele
Page: 14

Outline: This article talks about a report issued by the Centre for Social Cohesion, an organisation that has a reputation for its Islamophobic rhetoric, and its Director Douglas Murraywho has in the past delivered a vile anti-Muslim speech.

It quotes Murray talking about allowing Muslims the freedom to express themselves free from fear of reprisals by fellow Muslims who Jo Steele describes as "Militants".

What's interesting is that the "Muslims" that Murray is seeking protection for are in fact considered by mainstream Muslima and in some cases by the individuals themselves to actually be outside of the fold of Islam e.g. Maryam Namazie (Head of Council of Ex-Muslims), Salman Rushdie and Ibn Warraq (author of "Why I am not a Muslim") to name a few of these so-called Muslims.

Whilst Murray can be excused as he clearly has an Islamophobic agenda, it's Jo Steele who should perhaps be provided adequate training so that a more balanced article can be presented to the readers where some of Murray's less cohesive views towards Muslims can be exposed.

I have provided a photo of the article as the online edition of Metro features a different story on page 14, in case you think that this is fabricated.

Without doubt this article is negative as it's one sided and does not highlight the repulsive views held by Murray which should invalidate any contributions made by him to the cause of social cohesion.

Steele should have made reference to another fatwa which would have had far more credibility, this example shows India's largest Muslim Seminary issuing a fatwa condemning terrorism.

Article Verdict: Negative

Article 2
Headline: Attacks fear as bombers given burial
Section: News
Written by: Jo Steele
Page: 21

Outline: This story is about the execution of 3 men in Indonesia for their part in the Bali bombings. Steele opens the article by describing them as "Three Islamist militants", the opening line sets the tone for the reader as they are immediately told of a link between militancy and Islam.

The article presents a negative view of Islam and Muslims and is the 2nd such article by Steele in today's Metro.

Article Verdict: Negative

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Church can't belive hymn ban
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 6

Outline: At first glance one may be forgiven for thinking that this story will most likely be about a hymn ban imposed out of fear of offending Muslims. This is because the tabloid Media has previously used such ludicrous and sensationalist headlines in relation to Islam and Muslims.

However, this article is actually about a ban imposed on the phrase 'singing from the same hymn sheet' by Salisbury Town Hall.

Not Surprisingly this is an extremely brief story at just 49 words long. It features none of the subjective and inflammatory narrative that often accompanies similar stories about bans where Muslims are involved.

If anything this is a perfect example of the negative media bias that exists against Islam and Muslims in the UK.

Article Verdict: Negative

Thursday 6th November

Nil return from both newspapers today

Wednesday 5th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: A Grin and a Prayer
Section: Photo
Written by: ?
Page: 7

Outline: This photo shows Prince Charles on a visit to a religious School in Indonesia described in the caption as an "Islamic school". The caption describes him as offering a "light hearted prayer" whilst on a trip to promote "inter-faith" dialogue.

The photo features smiling schoolgirls in the background and can be termed as a nice bit of PR for both the School and HRH Prince Charles, albeit with the use of a cheesy strapline across the top of the photo

Article Verdict: Positive

Tuesday 4th November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Doctor is banned over gay letter slur
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 11

Outline: This story is a follow up article to one reported in the Metro on Tuesday 28th October by Fred Attewill about comments made by Dr Muhammad Siddiq. In that particular story the headline used was "Muslim GP: Gays 'prey on society'".

This time the headline is less sensationalist and doesn't present any leading indicators as to the identity or ethnic/religious background of the Doctor. Like the previous article though it does start off by introducing the Doctor as "the head of the Islamic Medical Association..." and says that he "..was suspended".

There are far fewer column inches used to report this story this time round and there is no reference to any other incident related to Dr Siddiq, which Attewill did highlight in his original article.

In summary this article is less sensationalist and sticks to the facts, although it does leave out Dr Siddiq's comment in defence of his position which were featured in the last article. It is a significant improvement on Attewill's original piece although the identity of the journalist is not known in this particular case.

Article Verdict: Neutral

Metro

Article 2
Headline: "Palestine:"
Section: Metro World
Written by: ?
Page: 14

Outline: This brief is part of a section, which reports various news stories from around the World where the names of countries are given followed by a short news story from that country. This particular story is reporting on comments made by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about prospects for a peace deal before the end of the year.

The key thing here is that Palestine is recognised as a sovereign entity by being referred to as "Palestine" rather than "Palestinian Territories" etc. Mahmoud Abbas is referred to as "the President" and reference is made to "...Jewish settlements on the Occupied West Bank... ". There is also mention of "divisions among Palestinians" but no part is mentioned by name.

This is a positive article as it presents readers with factual terms vis a vis Palestine and there is an attempt to treat Palestine as a nation state with an head of state rather than just a territory. By mentioning the "Occupied West Bank" also helps readers to understand the fact that

Article Verdict: Positive

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Terror suspect's 'film' claim
Section: News
Written by: Nicola Dowling
Page: 5

Outline: This article is a follow up to one written previously by Nicola Dowling on Tuesday 21st October about the trial of Habib Ahmed and Rangzieb Ahmed, both of who are accused of terrorism related offences.

As in her previous article, Dowling reports this story in a factual manner without referring to any of defendants' ethnic/religious background.

Article Verdict: Neutral

Monday 3rd November

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Arab money 'on the way to help IMF'
Section: News
Written by: Joel Taylor
Page: 16

Outline: This article is about Gordon Brown's meetings with the leaders of the Gulf states to request that they inject cash into the IMF.

The striking thing about this article is the headline and the classification of the prospective Gulf funds as "Arab money". Is it really necessary to classify it as such? Absolutely not. I guess Joel Taylor was aiming to create the image of 'ethnic money/funds'.

However this is not the main problem with the article. Contained within this story is a sub-article that reports on Gordon Brown's visit to a rehab facility in Saudi Arabia for former terrorist suspects which is described as a 'de-radicalisation' centre.

It states that the PM "shook hands" with the patients who both spent time in Guantanamo Bay and are described in the article as having "al-Qaida links". Taylor doesn't elaborate what these alleged links are, probably beause he can't.

In fact the reality is that none of the patients at this rehab centre have been charged with any offence and all have been released. The rehab centre is proof that Saudi Arabia is taking steps, long demanded for by the right-wing and the Neo-Con establishment, to tackle extremism.

That message however is lost on Taylor.

Article Verdict: Negative

Article 2
Headline: Muslim sues Met after being told to fry bacon
Section: News
Written by: Fred Attewill
Page: 29

Outline: One week after writing an article with the headline "Muslim GP..." Fred Attewill writes about Hasanali Khoja, a chef who is suing the Met for religious dicrimination because "it refused to guarantee that he would not have to handle pork".

Whilst in his last article Attewill was considerate enough to stick the the title "GP" to the headline, in this particular case the headline simply uses the word "Muslim..." this is another example of where the term lacks any humanity.

If it was necessary to identify this person by his faith, is it really asking too much to ask that he be referred to as a Muslim Chef or Muslim man?

However I don't think that the term Muslim should be used at all. After all, in Friday's articles there was a story about boxer Amir Khan, despite being Muslim he wasn't referred to as Muslim so why is the tag used when there's a negative story to report?

Article Verdict: Negative

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Horror goes on for bomb family
Section: News
Written by: Fay Schlesinger
Page: 15

Outline: In Friday's articles I picked up coverage by the MEN and Metro of the bomb attacks in the Indian state of Assam. I mentioned how neither article used the word "terror" or one of it's derivatives to describe the atrocities in Gauhati and how it would be interesting to contrast the articles with similar reports about atrocities involving Muslims or Muslim countries.

This article provides us with the comparison. It's a report about a man who survived the bombings at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh in 2005. The opening paragraph mentions "A Father and son who survived the Sharm El Sheikh terror bombs..."

Unfortunately the difference in the reporting styles and language between what happened in Assam and Egypt is clear to see.


For failing to maintain consistency in reporting terrorism this article has to marked down as negative.

Article Verdict: Negative

Friday 31st October

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: 30 people are killed as blasts rock India
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 12

Outline: This story is about the deadly blasts in the Indian city of Gauhati in the state of Assam. Whilst this is clearly a terrorist incident, there is no mention of the "T" word anywhere in the article. The closest we get is the use of the word "militant" and reference is made to "separatists".

I've flagged this article because it will be interesting to contrast this with reports of explosions carried out elsewhere in the World i.e. in Muslim countries to see how reporting styles differ.

If I were to allocate a verdict on this particular piece I'd have to say that it's neutral because it sticks to reporting the facts of this tragic incident without referring to any one particular ethnic/religious group.

Article Verdict: Neutral

Metro


Article 1
Headline: Dozens killed in bomb attacks
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 25

Outline: This is the Metro's take on the bomb attacks in the Indian state of Assam. In this article the perpetrators are referred to as "militant sepratist groups" similar to the way they were reported in the Manchester Evening News article.

There is no mention of the perpetrators religious beliefs nor of their ethnicity. Based purely on the article this is a neutral story as it sticks to the facts.

Article Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: Mother held girl captive for 8yrs
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 15

Outline: This artcile is about a Woman who kept her daughter locked up for 8 years. This incident took place in Japan but the article doesn't refer to the Woman as Japanese nor does it make any other sort of religious affiliation.

It's a factual article and will be marked as neutral. However the reason for flagging this is to provide us with an example, which we can compare with should a similar story emerge involving Muslim individuals to see how the reporting styles differ.

Article Verdict: Neutral

Article 3
Headline: Tough test: Khan
Section: Sport Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 52

Outline: This story is about Boxer Amir Khan's comeback fight after his defeat last month. The article does not refer to Khan as Muslim but sticks to a mainly factual description of the upcoming fight as well as stats for the contender.

The reason for flagging this article is that positive stories about Muslims seldom refer to the individuals by their faith whereas negative stories almost always highlight their religious identity just like in the example of the "Muslim GP" from Tuesday's Metro.

Based purely on the content this article will be marked as neutral however in light of other reporting about Muslims by the Metro such as the GP story above it does highlight editorial bias against Muslims by the paper.

Article Verdict: Neutral