Monday 20th 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: No prosecution in model's death fall
Section: home digest
Written by: ?
Page: 4

Outline: This news brief is about the death of a model, Sahar Daftary, in Manchester who fell from a building in the city's Salford Quays area. It mentions that the late Ms Daftary's ex-lover Rashid Jamil will not be prosecuted depsite being questioned.

The article does not state the ethnic or religious background of either person and is factual thus is given a 'neutral' rating.

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: Father 'didn't try to sell' his Slumdog girl
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 7

Outline: This article is about allegations that the father of one of the child actors of the blockbuster movie Slumdog Millionnaire tried to sell her to an undercover News of the World Team.

The actor in question is Rubina Ali and her father is mentioned by his name Rafiq Qureshi. The article mentions Mr Qureshi refuting the allegations against him.

It does not mention the religious background of either Mr Qureshi or his daughter thus is given a 'neutral' rating.

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 3
Headline: Two more states pull out of racism summit
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12

Outline: This is anews brief about the recently held 'Durban II' conference in Geneva.

The first thing wrong with this brief is the headline which refers to it as a "racism summit" implying perhaps that this a pro-racism summit when in fact it was a meeting convened to tackle racism. Whilst the body of the text does mention "anti-racism meeting" the headline has already set the scene in the readers minds and if they chose just to glance at the page rather than read each article then the words "racism summit" are more legible than "anti-racism meeting" which is buried in the text

The brief mentions that Holland and Australia pulled out of the summit and the rationale presented is out of fear of the summit being used to attack Israel and the West. It mentions that the Dutch Foreign Minister pulled out because of a fear of "Islamic states (trying) to ban religious defamation".

The brief is poorly written and the implication that Israel may be attacked at the conference makes readers seem that perhaps bullying is involved of poor Israel without presenting the context of the criticism of Israel i.e. that Non-Jewish people are denied certain rights in Israel such as not being able to live in Settlements illegally constructed on occupied Palestinian Land.

Artice Verdict: Negative

Friday 17th April

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Nil Return

Metro

Nil Return

Thursday 16th April

Manchester Evening News (City Edition)

Article 1
Headline: Police get more time to quiz terror suspects
Section: North-West today
Written by: ?
Page: 2

Outline: This is a factual news brief that informs readers that Police have been given more time to interview 11 suspects that were arrested last week.

It mentiond that the nationality of all but one of the suspects are Pakistani Nationals and on student visas. It presents the Police justification for carrying out the arrest by stating the Police belief that an attack was imminent.

Aside from the mention of their nationalities there is no mention of their religious backgrounds hence this article is given a 'neutral' rating

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: Religions break down barriers to join the fight against malaria
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 21

Outline: This article is about a fundraising event being organised to support World Malaria Day by representatives of various faith groups.

The article mentions the organiser, Francis Asante Boadu, and informs readers that he's pastor of Manchester Christian Fellowship. It then also mentions the other religious groups that will represented at the event, this includes "...Jewish, Hindu and Muslim communities..."

The article helps show readers that the different groups are working together for a common good and by mentioning each religious group it presents that particular religion in a positive light hence this is given a 'positive' rating.

Artice Verdict: Positive

Article 3
Headline: Furnishing the rebirth of Iraq
Section: Business International
Written by: Sheryl Moore
Page: 4

Outline: This article is about a Bolton based firm called Furnitureinfashion.net which is headed up by Asad Shamim.

It mentions how Mr Shamim has successfully set up his business and lists some of the high profile customers for his furniture business as well as detailing the turnover of his firm.

It's a complimentary piece which presents a very positive image of the firm and also states how it has managed to secure international orders in Iraq through the internet and how it is now well known in that country.

The religious background of Mr Shamim is not mentioned nor is his ethnic background. Whilst the article is positive and celebrates the success of a Muslim business person it is unlikely to present a positive view of Islam or Muslims in the readers' minds as it fails explicitly mention Islam. Thus, a 'neutral' rating seems to be most suitable for this article

Artice Verdict: Neutral


Metro

Article 1
Headline: Women in 'rape' protest stoned
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 18

Outline: This news brief is about a law that has been passed in Afghanistan, according to which a husband is allowed to have intercourse with his wife every 4 days unless she is ill or intercourse would harm her.

The incident that the news brief is talking about is a protest where women had stones thrown at them for protesting against the law outside a Mosque alleging that it legalises martital rape. The brief mentions that the people throwing stones were men and were shouting "Death to the slaves of Christians".

By mentioning that this protest took place outside a Mosque immediately makes readers associate this new Afghan law with Islam perhaps even portraying the new law as being passed by a religious decree despite the fact that Afghanistan doesn not have a Government that rules according to Islamic law. Consequently this article will create a very negative image of Islam. and the inclusion of slogans shouted at the women will no doubt accentuate that feeling. A 'negative' rating is awarded

Artice Verdict: Negative

Notice to our visitors

News analyses of articles from Thursday 16th April and Friday 17th April will be posted over the weekend. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Wednesday 15th 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: 9 years for urine spraying chemist
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 11

Outline: This article is about Sahnoun Daifallah who was jailed for spraying his urine and faeces in supermarkets and other places.

The article presents the details of the acts committed by Daifallah as well as a face shot of him. It lists the various locations that he contaminated.

It refers to him as "The Algerian" but does not make reference to his religious background.

It's a fairly factual piece and because of that is given a 'neutral' rating

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: Marrying minors is to be regulated
Section: World Digest
Written by: ?
Page: 12

Outline: This is a news brief and relates to a recent ruling delivered by a court in Saudi Arabia where an 8 year old girl's marriage to a man 50 years was senior was approved on the condition that he would not have sex with her till she reaches puberty. The article mentions that off the back of this Saudi Arabia has taken the decision to regulate marriage involving minors.

Stories like this are almost guaranteed to leave people with a negative viewpoint about Islam. Although the word "Islam" isn't explicitly mentioned, people are likely to equate Saudi Arabia with Islam and thus their viewpoint will be negative.

Artice Verdict: Negative

Tuesday 14th 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: Families defend 'terror' pair
Section: News
Written by: ?
Page: 11

Outline: This article occupies a sizeable chunk of page 11 complete with a large photo and one thing that is striking is the absence of the author's name.

The story is related to the 'anti-terror' raids carried out last week. Up until now coverage of this story has focused on the fact that all those detained are Pakistani Nationals and that some were students. This article puts a human face on the story by featuring a photo of a Parent of one of the arrested men, student Mohammad Ramzan as well as statements by relatives of another detained suspect, Abdul Wahab Khan.

The featured in the article clearly shows the grief on the face of Mr Ramzan's father Haji Hazrat Ali. The article focuses on the families' testimonials which plead the suspects' innocence. It mentions where Mr Ramzan and Mr Khan were studying and what course Mr Khan was enrolled on. Also noteworthy is the fact that Mr Ramzan and Mr Khan are both referred to with the use of the "Mr" title. The closing sentence of the article mentions that both suspects are from the Pakistani city of Dera Ismail Khan.

It appears to be a fairly balanced article which is presenting the other side of the story in an objective manner, its only let down is the headline which refers to both Mr Ramzan and Mr Khan as "terror pair". This is misleading and inaccurate as they are still suspects whereas the headline seems to have convicted them already.

However after much consideration I am giving this article a neutral rating based on the content of the article.

Artice Verdict: Neutral

Article 2
Headline: A vicious circle explored
Section: Metro life - Arts & Entertainment
Written by: Claire Allfree
Page: 26 & 27

Outline: This is a review of a play, The Great Game, put together by Nicolas Kent & Paul Bhattacharjee at the Tricycle Theatre. The Great Game tells the story of Afghanistan from 1842 when the British marched on Jalalabad to the present day.

One of the things that stands out in this review is the fact that Claire Alfree presents previous British involvement in Afghanistan's internal affairs, a fact that is unlikely to be known amongst the masses.

She even pins part of the blame on Afghanistan's current problems on Britian, whom she says has used Afghanistan as a "political pawn". This is refreshing to hear as all too often the image presented to the masses is that Afghanistan's problems are of it's own doing driven by ideology etc.

She goes further to make a bold statement that there should've been a single homeland for the pashtuns rather than being divided in 2 by the "British imposed" Durand line, which drew the border between Afghanistan and British India at the time, which is now Pakistan.

I've given the article a positive rating because it presents the readers with facts that they are unlikely to be familiar with. These facts brings to light the negative involvement by the British in the region and presents the theory that the problems that exist in that part of the World may be a legacy of this involvement.

Artice Verdict: Positive

Monday 13th April

On account of Easter Monday there are no news reports for today