Tuesday 7th April

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Unfortunately no copy of today's city edition was available hence no report can be presented for the M.E.N

Metro

Article 1
Headline: US is not at war with Islam
Section: Front page brief
Written by: ?
Page: Front page

Outline: This news brief on the front page is in reference to the speech made by US President Barack Obama on his visit to Turkey. The brief is 7 lines long and leads into a fuller article on page 15. It reports the key highlights of Obama's speech, specifically that this is his 1st visit to a predominantly Muslim nation and that he's calling for closer ties. Judged purely on the content of the brief it's best described as Neutral. the longer article (article 3 below) is written by Joel Taylor but it's unclear whether Taylor has also written this front page brief.

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: 34 die in Baghdad car bomb spree
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 14

Outline: This brief reports car bomb explosions in a district of Baghdad, Iraq. The rationale for the attacks that's presented in the brief suggests that the explosions could have been revenge attacks for a clampdown on "Sunni Arab Militants". These 3 words together portrays an extremely negative view of Sunni Muslims, who make up c.80% of all Muslim people in the World and also of Arab people.

Artice Verdict: Negative

Article 3
Headline: Obama: No war on Islam - US President reaches out to the Muslim World during his trip to Turkey
Section: News
Written by: Joel Taylor
Page: 15

Outline: Following on from the brief this article provides quotes from Obama's speech including one which presents the role os Islam in a positive light - "The Islamic faith has done so much over the centuries to shape the world for the better, including my own country".

Taylor then goes on to add his own narrative to explain Obama's remarks commenting that the speech was being delivered to a "Muslim world that felt America blamed it for the September 11 attacks".

The rest of the article examine Turkey's status vis-a-vis the Iraq war, Nato and application to join the EU.

Overall the artricle sits on the fence and reports the speech in a relatively factual manner, hence is given a neutral rating as it doesn't fill the readers minds with a negative view about Islam.

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 4
Headline: 'Terror' charity leader arrested
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 15

Outline: This article is about the arrest in Bangladesh of the head of a British based charitable organisation, Faisal Mustafa.

Weapons are alleged to have been found at the school set up by Mr Mustafa'a charity Green Crescent Organisation.

It mentions that Mr Mustafa set up an "Islamic School", the mention of this word is enough to give the readers a negative view of Islam as it ties into the commonly reported view in the media of Islamic seminaries, also referred to as 'Madrassahs', being linked to violence.

For that reason this article is given a negative rating.

Artice Verdict: Negative