An independent poll carried out by Consumer PI has claimed that the vast majority of British Muslims perceive the three mainstream TV news channels (BBC, ITV and Sky) to be biased against their religion when reporting current affairs. The TV channels’ reporting of terror cases, news pieces on Iraq and Afghanistan and coverage of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings have been cited as examples of anti-Muslim bias. Furthermore, British Muslims believe that other topical issues such as the Israeli raid on the flotilla, it’s continued occupation of, and raids into, Palestinian territories, the dropping of terror cases by the police as well as positive stories about Islam generally are either not given enough prominence or simply not covered.
The poll also found that British Muslims were offended by some of the terminology used in news reports.
Terms such as ‘jihadist’ or ‘moderate Muslims’ are often used in the wrong context or in a generalised manner, indicating there was a severe lack of understanding of Muslim communities on the part of news reporters.
Many believe this type of reporting does play some part in fanning the flames of extremism. Shakir Ahmed, Director of Passion Islam Media said: “The reporting by the mainstream TV news channels of stories concerning Muslims is at times unbalanced, ill-informed and sensationalist. I would expect this type of coverage in the tabloid press, not from respected news organisations at the BBC, ITV or Sky. However, this is not entirely surprising since these three news channels employ very few reporters who follow the Islamic faith and who would truly understand the Muslim communities and their culture and practices.
Worryingly, the perception by some British Muslims of an unjust Islamophobic mainstream media may well fuel radicalism.”
Asian Image
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Newsnews archives This page is updated almost every day with items from regular news sources. If you have an item for the news page please send it to us at news@icare.to . Your news has to be in English. If you have any relevant URL's (webaddresses) where more info about the news you send us can be found, please send those too. Don't forget to add the country where the newsitem originates. For news about Hate Crime, please visit our ICARE HATE CRIME NEWS. Headlines 8 July, 2011 * ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION NATIONWIDE PROBLEM - MEDVEDEV (Russia) * BULGARIA'S SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS GAY RIGHTS, RULES AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA * 'NEWS CHANNELS BIASED AGAINST ISLAM' CLAIMS SURVEY (uk) * MEP SAJJAD KARIM CALLS POLICE AFTER FAMILY HOME 'TARGETED BY FAR RIGHT ACTIVISTS' (uk) * AGE OVERTAKES RACE DISCRIMINATION IN TRIBUNAL CASES (uk) * ALMOST 2,000 CHILDREN ARE REPORTED FOR 'HATE CRIMES' (uk) * PUPILS AND TEACHERS 'SHOW RACISM' (uk) * DER UNTERGANG: BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY DECLARES WAR... ON ITSELF (uk) * COMMON EU POLICY NEEDED ON MIGRATION (Cyprus) * POLISH LEADER RAISES ALARM ABOUT 'NEW' EUROSCEPTICISM * SOUTH AFRICA FAILS TO STOP RISE IN XENOPHOBIA * MUSLIM-JEWISH PARLEY SEEKS 'PLATFORM FOR DIALOGUE' Headlines 1 July, 2011 * ROMANIAN PLAN TO WALL OFF ROMA STIRS PROTESTS * OF SKINHEADS AND JIHADISTS (Ireland) * BILL TO BLACKLIST FOREIGNERS 'FAIR': RUSSIA'S LAVROV * HIGH COURT LIGHTENS UP ON EXTREMISM CASES (Russia) * REPORT: HATE CRIME DECLINES IN SWEDEN * SWEDISH POLICE BACKTRACK ON 'ETHNIC' PROFILING * NORWAY ‘CHERRY PICKS’ LIBYAN REFUGEES * PLAN FOR FOREIGN CRIMINAL EXPULSIONS HITS IMPASSE (Switzerland) * KOSOVO FM: PARTITION WOULD "OPEN GATES OF HELL" * KOSOVO MUSLIMS STEP UP MOSQUE PROTESTS * MINISTER APOLOGISES TO ROMA GYPSY FAMILY FOR POLICE BRUTALITY (Serbia) * POLAND COMPLAINS TO VATICAN OVER PRIEST'S REMARKS * A BURKA CONFLICTS WITH GOOD MANNERS, LIKE PUBLIC NUDITY, SAYS MINISTER (Netherlands) * FEAR OF FOREIGNERS 'UNDERSTANDABLE', SAYS VERHAGEN (Netherlands) * EUROPEAN JEWISH GROUPS VOW TO FIGHT DUTCH SLAUGHTER BAN (Netherlands) * DUTCH LAWMAKERS VOTE ON RITUAL ANIMAL SLAUGHTER * COURT: FRENCH TAX OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES HINDERS RIGHTS (France) * MARINE LE PEN: IS THIS THE MOST DANGEROUS WOMAN IN FRANCE? * FAR-RIGHT AUSTRIAN PARTY AMBIVALENT ON HITLER DEBATE * FAR-RIGHT POLITICAL LEADER WILL BE MOCKED, RIDICULED AT GAY PRIDE (uk) * SCHOLAR'S RESEARCH SHOWS NORTHERN IRELAND ANTI-RACISM POLICIES ARE FLAWED * SEVEN ANTI-FACISTS FACE JAIL FOR AN ATTACK ON TWO 'NAZIS' (uk) * NEO NAZI BOMBER LOSES SENTENCING APPEAL(uk) * SURPRISE POLL SHOWS WIDESPREAD MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR GAY RIGHTS (uk) * 'RACISM' STILL RIFE IN BIRMINGHAM - IMPACTS CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY, SAYS PANEL (uk) * ALEX SALMOND'S FORCED CLIMBDOWN OVER HIS FOOTBALL HATE-CRIME BILL MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO SAVE IT (uk) * SHEDDING LIGHT ON RACISM IN MALTA * REPORT WARNS OF NEO-NAZIS DISGUISED AS BOY NEXT DOOR (Germany) * REPORT: NEO-NAZI VIOLENCE UP IN EASTERN GERMANY * ARSON AND STABBINGS IN BERLIN AS EXTREMIST GROUPS CLASH (Germany) * 16 INJURED IN ARSON ATTACK ON TURKISH CAFE IN GERMANY * NEW BOOK REVEALS SECRET MEANING OF NEO-NAZI CODES (Germany) * GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER URGES MUSLIMS TO COMBAT MILITANCY (Germany) * POLITICIANS USING ANTI-ROMA RHETORIC ARE SPREADING HATE (opinion) * POLICE INVESTIGATE 'ANTI-SEMITIC' GRAFFITI (Czech Rep.) * TOWN FINES ORGANISERS OF PROTEST AGAINST ULTRA RIGHTISTS (Czech Rep.) * ACTIVISTS DEMAND CHILD ADOPTIONS FOR HOMOSEXUALS (Czech Rep.) * NUMBER OF EVENTS STAGED BY FAR RIGHT DROPPED LAST YEAR IN CZECH REP. * ABUSE OF LEGAL VISA POLICY MOST PRESSING IMMIGRATION ISSUE (Czech Rep.) * CZECHS PASS DECADE OF ROMA INCLUSION CHAIRMANSHIP TO MACEDONIA * EUROPE ROMA CZ LAUNCHES PROJECT TO SUPPORT VICTIMS OF HATE VIOLENCE (Press release) * POLICE PREVENT CLASH BETWEEN EXTREMISTS, ROMANIES IN CZECH TOWN * DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MUSLIMS AT ALL-TIME HIGH IN BELGIUM * GAYS, POLICE OUTFOX FAR RIGHT (Hungary) * WEDDING PLANS BLOOM AS NY LEGALIZES GAY MARRIAGE (usa) * FOURTH OIC ANNUAL REPORT ON ISLAMOPHOBIA RELEASED (world) THE WILDERS TRIAL IN THE NETHERLANDS * IS THIS THE DEATH OF DUTCH MULTICULTURALISM? * GEERT WILDERS, A VOLTAIRE FOR OUR TIMES? (Netherlands, opinion) * LEGALISING RACISM? (Netherlands, opinion) * TWO STANDARDS FOR HATE SPEECH (editorial, the Toronto Star) * GEERT WILDERS AND DUTCH DEMOCRACY (Netherlands) * BELITTLING ISLAM IN THE DUTCH WILDERNESS – ONLY A POLITICIAN’S JOB (Netherlands) * WILDERS FOUND NOT GUILTY OF INCITING HATRED, BUT IS 'ON THE EDGE' (Netherlands) * VERDICT SET FOR DUTCH ANTI-ISLAM LAWMAKER * DUTCH ANTI-ISLAM LAWMAKER WILDERS FACES JUDGEMENT Headlines 24 June, 2011 * AMNESTY SLATES ROMANIA OVER ROMA HOUSING * GOVERNMENT'S GESTURES TO FAR-RIGHT ALLY POISON DANISH ATMOSPHERE (Denmark) * FREE SPEECH -TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY- (Denmark) * TURKEY IGNORING ANTI-LGBT DISCRIMINATION SAYS AMNESTY * 'SEX ASSAULT' POLITICIAN BLAMES FAR-RIGHT PLOT (France) * BULGARIA SENTENCED IN STRASBOURG FOR DISCRIMINATING AGAINST 2 RUSSIANS * HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL IN THESSALONIKI, GREECE, DESECRATED * HITLER 'STILL HONORARY CITIZEN IN HIS HOMETOWN' (Austria) * NEVER AGAIN GIVEN UEFA-BACKED AWARD (Poland) * PRIEST KNOWN FOR EXTREME VIEWS INVITED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BY MEPs (Poland) * WOMEN PLAYING BIGGER ROLE AMONG FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS (Germany) * GERMANY'S LEFT PARTY FACES CHARGES OF ANTI-SEMITISM * ERRC URGES END TO POLICE PROFILING OF EU ROMA IN DENMARK * FESTIVAL TO COMBAT DISCRIMINATION TOWARD ROMA BOTTLE COLLECTORS (Denmark) * CZECH NEO-NAZIS POST GUERRILLA ‘HARDBASS’ DANCE ATTACKS ON YOUTUBE * OSCE HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF CALLS FOR END SEGREGATION & DISCRIMINATION ROMA CHILDREN IN CZECH SCHOOLS * MASKED NEO-NAZIS MARCH BY TORCHLIGHT AS A PROVOCATION IN CZECH TOWN OF KRUPKA * HUNDREDS ATTEND COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONY FOR LEŽÁKY (Czech Rep.) * POLICE 'FAIL' DISABLED PEOPLE SUFFERING HATE CRIME (uk) * EDL THUG ABUSED OLD MEN (uk) * MINISTER: SHORTER PARENTAL LEAVE FOR IMMIGRANTS (Sweden) * RUSSIA 2018 PLEDGES TO FIGHT RACISM AFTER BANANA THROWN AT ROBERTO CARLOS * NEW ANTI-NAZI COALITION (Russia) * ST PETERSBURG BANS SLAVIC GAY PRIDE PARADE BUT OKs ANTI- GAY RALLY (Russia) * ACTIVIST NIKOLAI ALEKSEYEV SUGGESTS RUSSIANS NOT INTERESTED IN GAY RIGHTS (Russia) * AUSTRIAN HOMOSEXUALS ARRESTED IN HUNGARY * GAY PRIDE RALLIES HELD ACROSS BALKANS * CROATIAN CAPITAL GEARS UP FOR GAY PRIDE PARADE AFTER EARLIER VIOLENCE * BULGARIA'S SOFIA PRIDE GAY PARADE GOES SMOOTHLY, ONLY 'FAMILY NGO' PROTESTS * BULGARIA'S 4TH SOFIA PRIDE GAY PARADE GUARDED BY HUNDREDS OF POLICEMEN * EU AGREES TO REFORM INTERNAL BORDER RULES * EU SUMMIT ENDORSES LIMITED TIGHTENING OF SCHENGEN SYSTEM * COUNCIL OF EUROPE LAUNCHES PROBE INTO MIGRANT DROWNINGS Headlines 17 June, 2011 * LEADERSHIP NEEDED ON RIGHTS (Italy) * POLICE ATTACKS THE OFFICE OF THE INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND DEMOCRACY (Azerbaijan) * MIGRANTS TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES (Netherlands) * DUTCH GROUP TO BURN HILL'S BOOK OF NEGROES (Netherlands) * DUTCH JEWS, MUSLIMS APPEAL RITUAL SLAUGHTER PLAN * YOUTH PARTY FIGHTS FOR THE RIGHTS OF WHITES (Denmark) * HACKERS EXPOSE NEO-NAZI PARTY SUPPORTERS (Germany) * RIGHT EXTREMISTS SQUABBLE OVER A CROSSWORD PUZZLE (Germany) * NEO-NAZI LEADER GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR ASSAULTING POLICE (Hungary) * THE EXTEND AND THE LIMITS OF XENOPHOBIA IN FRANCE (opinion) * FRENCH PARLIAMENT REJECTS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL * 2 RUSSIAN NEO-NAZI LEADERS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR KILLINGS OF NON-RUSSIANS * FAR-RIGHT COULD PUSH SWEDEN INTO CRISIS * PARENTAL LEAVE 'TRAPS' IMMIGRANTS AT HOME (Sweden) * SWEDISH KIDS INVITED TO NEO-NAZI SUMMER CAMP (Sweden) * OPINION POLL POINTS TO DISCRIMINATION IN MONTENEGRO * JOBS ADS ARE OFTEN DISCRIMINATORY, OMBUDSMAN SAYS (Czech Rep.) * CZECH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT SAYS EXTENSION OF CUSTODY FOR NEO-NAZI LEADER VIOLATED HER RIGHTS (Czech Rep.) * CATHOLIC PRIESTS PROTEST AGAINST ULTRA-RIGHT PARTY IN KRNOV (Czech Rep.) * TURKEY FEELS RACIAL TENSIONS AS FLOOD OF SYRIAN REFUGEES GOES ON * SOCIAL MEDIA'S INFLUENCE ON ‘HATE CRIME' (Turkey) * MUSLIMS SAY BULGARIA PLAGUED WITH ISLAMOPHOBIA, VOW TO DEFEND THEMSELVES (Bulgaria) * SOFIA MOSQUE WARDEN ASSAULTED, BEATEN - CHIEF MUFTI (Bulgaria) * POLICE PROBE FAR-RIGHT LINKS TO 'POISON PACKAGES' AT MOSQUES (uk) * UK LIBERAL MUSLIMS LAUNCHED JIHAD AGAINST VIOLENCE * SCHOOL'S REFUSAL TO LET BOY WEAR CORNROW BRAIDS IS RULED RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (uk) * TOUGHER LAWS FOR FOOTBALL HATE CRIMES (uk) * RELIGIOUS HATE CRIME SOARS (uk) * ‘CAGED’ EDL LEADER VOWS TO RETURN TO DEWSBURY IN THOUSANDS (uk) * MUSLIMS CALL FOR ACTION AGAINST HATE CRIMES (uk) * PRIDE'S SUCCESSFUL MARCH (Slovakia) * EURO 2012 FRONTLINE IN BATTLE WITH RACISM (Poland/Ukraine) * WARSAW CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH FARE EURO 2012 ACTIVITIES (Poland) * RACISM STILL RIPE IN THE MEDIA (Poland, editorial NPE) * ITALY AGAINST THE JEWS * ANTI-GAY PROTESTERS CHARGED AFTER SPLIT PARADE VIOLENCE (Croatia) * VIOLENCE MARS CROATIAN GAY PRIDE PARADE * TURKEY PM WARNS OF DUTCH RADICALISM (Netherlands) * POPE WANTS GYPSIES INTEGRATED INTO SOCIETY * HOW TO AVOID A MULTICULTURAL CHERNOBYL? (opinion) * EU AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (FRA) LAUNCHES ITS ANNUAL REPORT (press release) * UN GROUP BACKS GAY RIGHTS FOR THE 1ST TIME EVER * STRUCTURAL DISCRIMINATION, A COMMON THREAD BETWEEN THE ROMA AND THE VICTIMS OF CASTE SYSTEMS Headlines 8 July, 2011 ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION NATIONWIDE PROBLEM - MEDVEDEV (Russia) 5/7/2011- Ethnic discrimination is a problem facing not only certain Russian regions, but the entire country, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday. "We have problems with this," the president said, speaking during a Human Rights Council meeting in Nalchik, the capital of the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria.“I mean the situation in general, not just in a certain republic or a certain territory, in the Caucasus or in central Moscow." Harmonizing inter-ethnic relations within the country is a complicated task, but it should be addressed, he said, adding that developing national media should be a major goal for local governments. "We are trying to deal with it now in order for every ethnic group to have its own media, internet resources, as well as other opportunities that every people should have," Medvedev said. He also stressed the importance of providing "equal access to municipal service positions" for representatives of different ethnic groups. Promoting negative historical stereotypes that show certain ethnic groups in a bad light is "absolutely unacceptable, dangerous and may create horrible problems," the president added. The Russian capital saw its worst race-related riots for almost a decade in December last year, when a 5,000-strong crowd of nationalists and football hooligans clashed with police near the Kremlin walls. The rioters were protesting police negligence over the killing of a 28-year-old Muscovite football fan in a brawl with migrants from Russia's North Caucasus region earlier in the year. Smaller race-hate disturbances took place afterwards in Moscow and other Russian cities. Medvedev called the disorder a threat to the "stability" of the Russian state and has urged police to clamp down on nationalists. The president also proposed banning those charged with extremism from taking up state positions. © RIA Novosti up BULGARIA'S SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS GAY RIGHTS, RULES AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA 4/7/2011- Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court has rejected an appeal by the head of the Municipal Council in the city of Pazardzhik over a gay rights case, confirming it was a case of discrimination based on sexual orientation. The gay rights scandal in the southern city of Pazardzhik erupted in the spring and summer of 2010 when Stefan Yanev, a local prosecutor, defended a municipal ordinance of the Pazardzhik Municipality that banned the displays of sexuality in public, which was clearly directed at gays. This led Bulgarian gay rights youth NGO "LGBT in Action" to appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council in order to receive an apology from the notorious prosecutor involved in anti-gay policies. Gay rights activists appealed the ordinance to the local Prosecutor's Office; this resulted in Yanev issuing a position in which he upheld the notorious regulation, and even went as far as publishing his own musings on human sexuality ridiculed by the media as a "treatise" - in which hee compared homosexuality, bisexuality, and heterosexuality with pedophilia, zoophilia, gerontophilia, necrophilia, and fetishism, as he considers all of those forms of sexual orientation. Subsequently, the problematic ordinance was repealed by the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office in Sofia. Monday's ruling by the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court is based on an appeal by the Chair of the City Council in Pazardzhik Georgi Yordanov, which asked for the repeal of a ruling of the Commission for Protection from Discrimination. The Commission ruled in May 2010 against the municipal ordinance of the Pazardzhik Municipality that banned the displays of sexuality in public, which stirred the scandal in the first place. According to the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court, however, the Pazardzhik City Council has committed direct discrimination based on sexual orientation against the residents and visitors of the city who are not heterosexual. "The specific ordinance studied by the Commission contains discriminatory attitude against the sexual orientation of persons who are not heterosexual. It is inadmissible that the ordinance of the local authority would defend the negative, subjective perception that has formed with its members," the three judges from the SAC ruled. The scandal with the anti-gay initiatives in Pazardzhik grew in the fall of 2010 when the Bulgarian Orthodox Bishop of Plovdiv Nikolay, known for his radical views, presented Yanev and Pazardzhik Mayor Todor Popov with the highest order of the Plovdiv Bishopric styling them "defenders of Christian values," and calling homosexuality "travesty" and "debauchery" among other similar terms. The LGBT in Action NGO backed by another NGO, Free Internet Society, have declared that their appeal to the Supreme Judicial Council for an apology from Prosecutor Yanev was in response to the fact that he accepted the medal handed to him by Bishop Nikolay. The gay rights activists defined this act "not just as a violation of fundamental human rights but also as blatant lack of knowledge about the Bulgarian legislation." Monday's ruling of the Bulgarian Supreme Administrative Court, the highest-ranking institution that can issue a legally-binding ruling in Bulgaria, is now believed to have settled the legal side of the case in Pazardzhik, ruling agianst discrimination based on sexual orientation. © Novinite up 'NEWS CHANNELS BIASED AGAINST ISLAM' CLAIMS SURVEY (uk)
