On 15th June, MCB’s Secretary General, Dr. Shuja Shafi, and Assistant Secretary General, Miqdaad Versi, met with Sir Alan Moses, the Chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, and other staff at IPSO. The purpose of the meeting was to share concerns raised by Muslim communities, as start of an ongoing conversation.
The MCB raised concerns about terminology used in the media, the application of Lord Leveson’s recommendations within the Editor’s Code (especially with regards to clause 12 and its applicability to groups), the usage of quotation marks within headlines, the types of images used to represent Muslims in newspapers, the time taken for a complaint to be resolved and headlines used within social media.
A range of headlines which do not meet the highest professional standards expected of the media were shared with IPSO, noting that most of them do not fall under IPSO’s jurisdiction based on the current interpretation and rules within the Editor’s Code:
“Muslims send death threats to teachers”
“Muslims are not like us, race equality chief says”
“Call for national debate on Muslim sex grooming”
“Imam beaten to death in sex grooming town”
“Hundreds more UK Muslims choose jihad than army”
“Young Muslims fuel huge rise in Sharia marriage”
“Rise in Muslim birthrate as families feel British”
“Muslims send death threats to teachers” – inaccurate but also clause 12
“Koran encourages rape: how Isis fighters justify making sex slaves of girls” -> “Isis uses Koran to justify rape”
“Islam threat to Christians”
“Muslims ‘silent on terror’”
“Extremist toured UK mosques to preach jihad”
“Muslims attack Nice waitress for serving alcohol”
“’Tis the season of bombers and Uber drivers who haven’t eaten for 20 hours – welcome to the Midsummer madness of Ramadan”
“UK Muslims helping jihadis”
“The ‘swarm’ on our streets”
“Warning on ‘UK Muslim ghettos’”
“Sharia lessons for pupils, six”
“Carnage in Mecca: At least 87 killed and 185 injured after giant crane ‘operated by Bin Laden firm’ collapses on Grand Mosque during freak lightening storm on anniversary of 9/11 attacks”
“’Don’t call me a white b***h! Shocking moment ‘racist’ Muslim women face off with white women in vicious confrontation on a London train”
“’Muslim convert’ beheads woman”
“Muslim law is here in Britain”
“Now Muslims demand: Give us full Sharia Law”
“Muslims force pool cover-up”
“How these Muslims are repaying our hospitality”
“Muslims tell British: go to hell!”
“Muslim law is here in Britain”
“Now Muslims get their own laws in Britain”
“Muslims tell us how to run our schools”
“Muslim schools ban our culture”
“Muslim only public loos”
“Muslim thugs age just 12 in knife attack on Brit schoolboy”
“BBC put Muslims before you”
“Muslim thugs burn poppies”
Whilst recognising the nature of sensationalism within the media, there was an acknowledgement that such headlines do not live up to the high professional standards expected. However, complainants currently have no recourse in these cases. It was also discussed how the current penalties of corrections have not acted as a deterrent to ongoing breaches of the Code, and that, as of yet, there has not been a single financial penalty imposed.
There were no solutions to the concerns raised and the MCB will therefore continue to make representations on these issues to IPSO, and work with newspaper editors where possible, to move towards a fairer portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the media.