Manchester Evening News (City Edition)
Nil Return
Metro
Article 1
Headline: 'Terrorists' linked to Air France Crash
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 7
Outline: This news brief featured on the bottom of page 7 in a very small box with the headline highlighted in orange font. It is placed next to a story about the shooting at a Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. It is only 52 words long.
In these limited number of words the news brief mentions that 2 of the passengers on board Air France flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic "...had names linked to terrorism..." It goes onto say that "...they were also on a highly classified list of radical Muslims considered a threat to France..."
As it happens the deceased men who are accused of being terrorists were in fact cleared but even before that the labelling of them as "terrorists" in the headline was premature and irresponsible. There also wasn't any need to make reference to their religious background. For these reasons this news brief is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 2
Headline: Iran election ends in bitter war of words
Section: News
Written by: Miles Erwin
Page: 12
Outline: This article is about the Iranian Presidential Elections and is featured towards the top of page 12. It shares the page with an advertisement and the 'World Digest' section.
Miles Erwin focuses on remarks made by incumbent President Ahmedinejad about his opponents particularly Mir Hossein Mousavi who is described by Erwin as a "pro-reform challenger".
Erwin describes the mood amongst the people and how they are gearing up for the election. One key paragraph featured in the article states that the results of the election "...will have little impact on Iran's key policies, which are dictated by the ruling Islamic clerics".
The choice of words is important as the "Islamic clerics" referred to by Erwin are in fact members of the Guardian Council which is a constitutionally mandated body designed to maintain the political integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Referring to them as simply "Islamic clerics" is misleading as it presents them as only acting in a religious capacity whereas they have a political role.
Erwin then goes on to describe President Ahmedinejad as a "...troublesome figure..." who questioned "...the holocaust and called for Israel's demise". This last point is worth flagging as it is one of the most commonly told lies that appears to be recycled by any journalist or personality critical of Iran's President. It refers to a speech where it is incorrectly alleged that President Ahmedinejad was 'Israel wiped off the map'.
This has been exposed as a fabrication by many Persian language experts and even by the Pro-Israel media monitoring organisation MEMRI. The actual text of the speech shows that President Ahmedinejad's words were referring to the regime that is occupying Jerusalem i.e. the Israeli Regime, he wished for this to be wiped from the pages of history. This is interpreted simply as President Ahmedinejad wanting to see 'regime change' in Israel much like Bush wanted to see in Iraq. This hardly justifies the false interpretation attributed by Erwin to President Ahmedinejad.
False reporting and misleading commentary earn Erwin's article a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 3
Headline: Shoe bomber goes on a hunger strike
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12
Outline: This news brief is about Richard Reid who was dubbed the 'shoe bomber' after an alleged failed attempt to blow up an airliner. The news brief is featured in the World Digest section which is immediately below the story about the Iranian elections.
It talks about Reid being on hunger strike in protest at the guards allegedly stopping him from "...practicing Islam."
In the next sentence he is described as "The British Muslim was convicted of trying to blow up an American Airlines jet in 2001". The relevance of mentioning his religious background in this closing sentence needs to be questioned, it would have sufficed to simply state that he was on hunger strike because he felt he was being stopped from practicing his religious duties as a Muslim. There was no need to then say that the "British Muslim" tried to commit this crime, an alternative would have been to say "Reid was convicted of..."
Considering the negative associations implied by this news brief between Muslims and acts of terrorism this article is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 4
Headline: Car bomb leaves at least 28 dead
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12
Outline: This news brief is featured immediately below the story about Richard Reid.
As one can deduce from the headline the story is about a car bomb, it happened in Iraq and the blame is attributed by the article to "Sunni Muslim Militants..." who it is claimed "...have carried out several bombings in the Shia south".
There is absoutely no need to refer to religious backgrounds in this news brief and certainly no need to highlight the sectarian divide in Iraq.
This article is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Nil Return
Metro
Article 1
Headline: 'Terrorists' linked to Air France Crash
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 7
Outline: This news brief featured on the bottom of page 7 in a very small box with the headline highlighted in orange font. It is placed next to a story about the shooting at a Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington. It is only 52 words long.
In these limited number of words the news brief mentions that 2 of the passengers on board Air France flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic "...had names linked to terrorism..." It goes onto say that "...they were also on a highly classified list of radical Muslims considered a threat to France..."
As it happens the deceased men who are accused of being terrorists were in fact cleared but even before that the labelling of them as "terrorists" in the headline was premature and irresponsible. There also wasn't any need to make reference to their religious background. For these reasons this news brief is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 2
Headline: Iran election ends in bitter war of words
Section: News
Written by: Miles Erwin
Page: 12
Outline: This article is about the Iranian Presidential Elections and is featured towards the top of page 12. It shares the page with an advertisement and the 'World Digest' section.
Miles Erwin focuses on remarks made by incumbent President Ahmedinejad about his opponents particularly Mir Hossein Mousavi who is described by Erwin as a "pro-reform challenger".
Erwin describes the mood amongst the people and how they are gearing up for the election. One key paragraph featured in the article states that the results of the election "...will have little impact on Iran's key policies, which are dictated by the ruling Islamic clerics".
The choice of words is important as the "Islamic clerics" referred to by Erwin are in fact members of the Guardian Council which is a constitutionally mandated body designed to maintain the political integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Referring to them as simply "Islamic clerics" is misleading as it presents them as only acting in a religious capacity whereas they have a political role.
Erwin then goes on to describe President Ahmedinejad as a "...troublesome figure..." who questioned "...the holocaust and called for Israel's demise". This last point is worth flagging as it is one of the most commonly told lies that appears to be recycled by any journalist or personality critical of Iran's President. It refers to a speech where it is incorrectly alleged that President Ahmedinejad was 'Israel wiped off the map'.
This has been exposed as a fabrication by many Persian language experts and even by the Pro-Israel media monitoring organisation MEMRI. The actual text of the speech shows that President Ahmedinejad's words were referring to the regime that is occupying Jerusalem i.e. the Israeli Regime, he wished for this to be wiped from the pages of history. This is interpreted simply as President Ahmedinejad wanting to see 'regime change' in Israel much like Bush wanted to see in Iraq. This hardly justifies the false interpretation attributed by Erwin to President Ahmedinejad.
False reporting and misleading commentary earn Erwin's article a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 3
Headline: Shoe bomber goes on a hunger strike
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12
Outline: This news brief is about Richard Reid who was dubbed the 'shoe bomber' after an alleged failed attempt to blow up an airliner. The news brief is featured in the World Digest section which is immediately below the story about the Iranian elections.
It talks about Reid being on hunger strike in protest at the guards allegedly stopping him from "...practicing Islam."
In the next sentence he is described as "The British Muslim was convicted of trying to blow up an American Airlines jet in 2001". The relevance of mentioning his religious background in this closing sentence needs to be questioned, it would have sufficed to simply state that he was on hunger strike because he felt he was being stopped from practicing his religious duties as a Muslim. There was no need to then say that the "British Muslim" tried to commit this crime, an alternative would have been to say "Reid was convicted of..."
Considering the negative associations implied by this news brief between Muslims and acts of terrorism this article is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
Article 4
Headline: Car bomb leaves at least 28 dead
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12
Outline: This news brief is featured immediately below the story about Richard Reid.
As one can deduce from the headline the story is about a car bomb, it happened in Iraq and the blame is attributed by the article to "Sunni Muslim Militants..." who it is claimed "...have carried out several bombings in the Shia south".
There is absoutely no need to refer to religious backgrounds in this news brief and certainly no need to highlight the sectarian divide in Iraq.
This article is given a 'Negative' rating.
Article Verdict: Negative
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