Monday 18th May

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Men only Arab Pop Idol
Section: World Today
Written by: ?
Page: 12

Outline: This news brief is about a Middle Eastern music channel which is described as an "Islamic pop video channel". The channel in question is called '4shbab'.

There is mention of the founder of the channel and it states that he "...wants to spread the message that Muslims can be modern, although there will be no women singers as 'our societies are not ready to accept it'." The first part relating to the need for Muslims to be modern isn't actually presented as a quote therefore it may be the case that this is the journalist's narrative.

The total word count of this article is less than 60, in such a short brief a few important messages are conveyed to the reader;

• "...Muslims can be modern...", is the article impying that they aren't?
• "...there will be no women singers...", this reinforces one of the most common stereotypes about Muslims and the Arab World that women are unequal

In summary the reader takes away the following messages from the news brief -Arabs, Muslims, no women. no surprises for guessing that this is given a 'negative' rating

Artice Verdict: Negative

Metro

Article 1
Headline: Rebels capture key town after defection
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 20

Outline: This news brief reports on the civil conflict in Somalia where rebels have taken a key town. The opening line of the article starts with "Islamic rebels yesterday continued their surge..."

The article fails to mention that these "Islamic rebels" are also Somali and that the people that they are fighting against are also Muslim. Instead the article makes it seem as though the "Islamic rebels" are a foreign or an alien force which is threatening the Government of Somalia. This in turn makes Islam look like the threat, which earns this article a negative rating.

Artice Verdict: Negative