91% of articles in newspapers about Muslims are negative
By admin on Nov 14, 2007 in International
A “torrent” of negative stories has been revealed by a study of the portrayal of Muslims and Islam in the British media, according to a report today.
Research into one week’s news coverage showed that 91% of articles in national newspapers about Muslims were negative.
London mayor Ken Livingstone, who commissioned the study, said the findings were a “damning indictment” on the media and he urged editors and programme makers to review the way they portray Muslims.
“The overall picture presented by the media is that Islam is profoundly different from and a threat to the West,” he said.
“There is a scale of imbalance which no fair-minded person would think is right.”
Only 4% of the 352 articles studied last year were positive, he said.
Mr Livingstone told his weekly news conference that the findings showed a “hostile and scaremongering attitude” among the national media towards Islam and likened the coverage to the way the Left was attacked by national newspapers in the early 1980s.
“The charge is that there are virtually no positive or balanced images of Islam being portrayed,” he said.
“I think there is a demonisation of Islam going on which damages community relations and creates alarm among Muslims.”
Among the examples highlighted in the study was a report which claimed that Christmas was being banned in one area because it offended Muslims, which researchers said was “inaccurate and alarmist”.
The report said that Muslims in Britain were depicted as a threat to traditional British values.
Alternative world views or opinions were not mentioned and facts were frequently distorted, exaggerated or over-simplified, said the report.
The researchers said that the coverage weakened government attempts to reduce and prevent extremism.
A separate opinion poll published by Mr Livingstone today showed that Muslims in London were more likely to feel “British” in their attitudes than other members of the community.
More Muslims were proud of their local area compared with other members of the public.
Source: 24dash.com
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21 Comment(s)
By nick on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
Important note found in the Private Eye, study carried out on the week of half a dozen terror arrests & trials. The authors themselves admited to the Eye that they’d picked the most extreme week, but justified it by saying that if it gets the message out, it can only be a good thing. Lies & propaganda stink of shit where ever you find them.
By seeker on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
Maybe that’s because such allegations are true. Islam is a threat to civilization, freedom, and humanity. Just try to openly criticize it, ridicule it, or condemn it. It is an evil ideology, a racist, nazi-like religious ideology spawned by a false prophet informed by demons.
By Tom on Dec 3, 2007 | Reply
Can we honestly say they aren’t giving us a good reason?
By Robin on Dec 4, 2007 | Reply
When a whole nation of Moslems starts demanding the head of a teacher for allowing a teddy bear to be named Muhammed then huge press coverage is sure to ensue.
Most of the problem is that Islam is fundamentally at odds with Western society. I bet over 90% of articles in Moslem newspapers are negative towards Christians - In fact I bet it’s closer to 100%.
Seems fair enough to me.
By oot on Dec 4, 2007 | Reply
Well that’s because they’re religious extremists with civil rights records from the Stone Age.
I used to be liberal, but I’m starting to believe that muslim countries should be de-industrialized. If they want to behave in a despicable way, and practice insane dogmas, then by all means let them, but they shouldn’t expect to be involved in the world economy.
By Mohamed on Dec 4, 2007 | Reply
Nothing new here the westren media’s coverage of Muslims has always been negative. Thats why you get Islamophobics believeing stuff like ISlam is evil. Ignorance is your worst enemy not Islam.
By atworld on Dec 4, 2007 | Reply
This is not just happening in Britain but also in the U.S.
Surprisingly, the people who advocate anti-Islamic sentiments are quite ignorant about Islam and Muslims and in many cases, their own faiths. Those who claim false prophet or bet that Islam is negative about Christianity are living in the Amazons! Christians and Jews living in “Islamic” countries enjoy better freedoms than Muslims themselves. In Morocco, if a Muslim insults a Jew, s/he’s imprisoned. Christians also occupy he best positions in he booming parts of the Middle East (UAE, QATAR, etc.) and only the above people who commented negatively because of their narrow-minded views, resort to such rhetoric.
ATW
By ubidubi on Dec 7, 2007 | Reply
fecking muslims, going out of their way to be offended. there is not a single word in the koran about the ‘proper use of the prophet’s name’. Bunch of childish gits.
By wannabedesi on Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
As stated, religious people who demand the life of a school teacher for calling a teddy bear Mohammed are not exactly Mother Theresa material, and do not warrant a positive image in the media.
I’m pretty sure that during WW2 91% of the articles about Hitler, Germany, and Japan were negative, and I’m pretty sure they had a good reason for it too. After all Germany was waging holocaust against the world, and Japan was first to attack us. Oddly enough no one complained about it, and they don’t complain about it today. Why? Because Germany and Japan deserved the negative media.
Why is it so difficult for us to see that people who strap bombs to themselves and blow up shopping malls in the name of Allah deserve negative media? Is it because we’re afraid they’ll get medieval on our asses if they’re portrayed in a negative light?
By Doug on Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
The report that 91% of the coverage for Muslims is negative, comes as quite a shock to me. I would have thought it much higher.
In the past 10-12 years…what has Islam/Muslims done that is positive? They can’t even get “positively” mad at the Muslims that have “trashed and hijacked” their religion.
Where is the outrage from these people? The call for death to a woman for naming a teddy bear Mohammed…but stand by silently while innocent people are killed by Muslim suicide bombers virtually every day.
I understand that they feel we should respect their religion. But what I’ve seen of it…really really sucks. Why don’t they get out there and show us how positive it is by totally denouncing and demanding that Osama and his world thugs be eliminated?
If a Baptist Minister trained a bunch of followers to run around and kill innocent civilians…I guarantee you that there would be a huge uproar from the Baptists and they would be doing everything they could to find him and jail him.
When Muslims start taking that kind of action for the respect wanted for their religion…I’ll be the first to say something positive. Until then…the Muslim way of life and their reputation, sucks!!
By Doug on Dec 13, 2007 | Reply
Ignorance is quite simply the “lack of knowledge”. Our feelings and opinions are coming from the actions and words we are seeing and hearing from the Muslim community.
When they start showing us something positive…it’s possible we could change our view?
Do Muslims have missionaries that go to other countries and help with food, clothing, medicine, shelter and such? Do they build hospitals for those less fortunate to get health care? Do they send money to Nations that need to fight poverty? Do they build shelters for the homeless? These are positive things that we see from the Christian community every day.
From the Muslim community…all we see and hear is hatred of infidels, violence and murder.
By Donald on Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
Seems the propoganda is working, if the comments above are anything to go by.
I particualrly enjoyed the second comment from ’seeker’: “Just try to openly criticize it, ridicule it, or condemn it. It is an evil ideology, a racist, nazi-like religious ideology spawned by a false prophet informed by demons.”
So he’s saying you can’t openly criticize Islam, then goes on to do exactly that?
You racists should make an effort to educate yourselves. Idiots.
By alioop on Jan 6, 2008 | Reply
The poll with its 91% figure proves nothing whatsoever. News per se is negative news (”Man bites dog”). A fair person will see that there are in fact a huge number of religion-inspired murders coming from Islamists, both in the West and Muslim-majority countries. Wahhabist/Salafist-inspired dogma is behind the slayings, beheadings, death-threats and honour-killings rampant among these self-appointed defenders of Islam. The silly teddy-bear crisis is one more embarassment that does irreparable harm to the idea that Muslims are “tolerant”. If Muslims do not speak out against such foolishness and condemn in the strongest terms every murder in the name of Mohammed, the rest of the world has the right to assume “silence means approval.”
By alioop on Jan 6, 2008 | Reply
By the way, there is no conspiracy by Western media against the poor Muslims. The Western media’s sacred cow is freedom of the press. If Muslims think they can infringe that in any way, the press will relentlessly go after them. The Western media will never accept anyone telling them what may think, say or print. Muslims will have to grow up and learn to reason rigorously like adults. Making a death threat or calling “racist” is a sign you realize you don’t have a reasonable argument. Don’t count on the fact that all Westerners are “ignorant” of Islam either. You won’t win an argument by name-calling. Many know more about the Koran and Hadiths than you do, old son.
By greaterawareness on Mar 2, 2008 | Reply
Adolf Hitler once said, “As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice”. Truth and justice…is this the reasom why he had six million Jews slaughtered? And why, must I ask, did fellow Christians stand silently on the sidelines while all this happened?
My point is, Christianity as well as Islam have decent fundamental values and beleifs. However, the original message is often distorted by extremists of the faith such as Hilter or Osama. These are individuals who use voilent means as justification of their religion, much to the dismay of fellow believers.
My only request is that we do not judge all people of Muslim faith as being “evil”. Most Muslims, afterall, do not represent the actions portrayed by the few extremists presented in the media.
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