Stop Islamophobia & Racism in the Media
A Channel 4-backed Cardiff University study found that “4 of the 5 most common discourses used about Muslims in the British press” from 2000-8 “associate Islam/Muslims with threats, problems or in opposition to dominant British values.” Former tabloid reporters confirm that editors force journalists to fabricate news denigrating Muslims and immigrants.
This undermines cohesion, alienates minorities, and fuels violence. The last decade has seen an exponential rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, including violent assaults – and 1 in 3 Britons agree the media is “whipping up a climate of fear of Islam in the UK”.
We the undersigned insist that Islamophobia and racism in the British media are an unacceptable affront to democratic principles and British values. We demand that the press be held accountable for irresponsible reporting which demonises faith and ethnic communities wholesale.