Improving media relations: A view from The Muslim News

By Ahmed Versi

London, 27 Nov. 1998 -- There isn't a day that goes by without seeing shrieking headlines in news print against Islam or Muslims. Muslims respond in various ways. They either write a letter to the Editor or just do nothing. Rarely, do we contact the Editor directly to discuss the offending news item. However, recently, one Muslim organisation took the latter approach.

In September, The Express, ran a front-page Islamophobic headline, 'Moslem plot to bomb London'. It implied that Muslims in Britain were involved in the plot to bomb London. The news item in question was about the raids and subsequent arrest of seven Muslims from the Middle East who were residing in Britain.

The allegation in the news item was that they were intending to carry out bombings in London targeting American institutions. However, until now, no evidence has been found to support such allegations. All were released without charge (one was re-arrested after the US requested extradition to the US - Britain is still waiting for the 'evidence' from the USA).

When The Express published the offending headline, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) immediately contacted the newspaper and as a result an apology was published in the Editorial column on the following day, September 25. The Editorial accepted that "it is wrong to suggest all Moslems (sic) are Islamic extremists (sic) linked to Osama bin Laden". It concluded: "It was not our intention to cause offence to the Moslem (sic) community. We're sorry."

However, the Editorial still used the adjective "Islamic extremists". It never uses equivalent terms "Christian extremists" when it reports or comments on the terrorism perpetuated by Christians in Northern Ireland or in Bosnia or Kosova.

The MCB then sought a face-to-face meeting with the Editor of The Express, Rosie Boycott, to convey the Muslim community's concerns over the stereotypical and unfair media coverage of Muslims, and also to commend the paper for acknowledging the error of judgement that had been made.

A meeting was held on October 8, with Ms Boycott and the Deputy Editor, Chris Blackhurst. The MCB was represented by Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General of the MCB, and two members of the MCB's Media Committee, Dr AbdurRahim Khan and Jamil Sherif.

Ms Boycott told the MCB members that newspapers such as hers needed to create an office culture of 'thinking twice' before publishing stories that tarnishes the image and reputation of a community. The MCB delegation told her that headlines such as the ones published by them had a wider impact. They said there were incidents of harassment faced by Muslims in Britain following The Express's sensationalist headline.

During the meeting Ms Boycott and Mr Blackhurst offered many ideas on how their newspaper and the Muslim community could benefit from this experience and move forward. In particular, the paper needed points of contact within the community. In the longer term, more Muslim journalists were required in news room and editorial teams, they suggested.

The MCB's Media Committee is meeting Editors and journalists of all the main papers in its campaign for fairer coverage.