The London Blasts: Media Review

DAY 56: 1 September 2005

Contents

MUSLIM STUDENTS ATTITUDES IN LINE WITH BRITISH PUBLIC

Student realism, In line with British public, Telegraph anomaly, FOSIS Conference

SNIPPETS

Ken Clarke, Islamic Reform, Asian Isolation, Iraq-New Orleans

MUSLIM STUDENTS ATTITUDES IN LINE WITH BRITISH PUBLIC

STUDENT REALISM

Almost all Muslim students polled recently by the Federation of Student Islamic Societies (FOSIS) are unhappy with British foreign policy towards the Middle East, and two-thirds believe that it contributed to the London bombings, reports the Telegraph. No other newspaper has reported this finding, which was reported on Radio 4's Today programme yesterday at 7.24am (Today is listened to by everyone in British politics).

'Wakkas Khan, the president of the federation, which represents 90,000 Muslim students, said: "The Prime Minister's continuing refusal to accept that his decisions could have led to such extreme consequences does nothing to appease the Muslim community, and on the contrary, seems to be causing more resentment amongst young Muslims".'

' "It is important now for Mr Blair to accept that foreign policy is a serious concern and to start to do something about it rather than being seen to brush it aside." '

 

IN LINE WITH BRITISH PUBLIC

Curiously, this poll result has not been placed in context either by FOSIS or by the Telegraph or by the BBC. Another demonstration of the power of the media in erasing uncomfortable facts from history - by self-censorship rather than Government control.

It is hardly a secret that there have been two opinion polls on this topic amongst the general public. These polls both show that 'young (academic) British Muslim opinion' is entirely in line with the British people as a whole:

The Guardian reported on 19 July, '33% of Britons think the prime minister bears "a lot" of responsibility for the London bombings and a further 31% "a little".' 'Only 28% of voters agree with the government that Iraq and the London bombings are not connected.'

On 25 July, the Daily Mirror reported, '23 per cent said the war was the main reason for the London bombings. Another 62 per cent believe that while Iraq was not the principle cause, it did contribute to the reasons behind the atrocities. Just 12 per cent said there was no real link.'

So the Guardian found two-thirds of the British people placed some responsibility on the Prime Minister for the bombings, and the Mirror found 85 per cent of the British people placed some responsibility on the Prime Minister for the bombings.

It appears that British Muslim students are rather generous to the Prime Minister, compared to the public as a whole.

THE TELEGRAPH ANOMALY

Why did the Telegraph report this story (and no one else)? It may be partly because the headline 'Muslim students lay the blame on No 10' feeds into right-wing racist perceptions of 'immigrant communities' (the neighbouring story is '80 pc of population growth under Blair "is from immigration" '). They (not white, not Christian) don't face up to their own problems, and blame the (white, Christian) Government for everything.

It may be partly because the Telegraph readership is thought to be so right-wing that they can be trusted to absorb such information without untoward reactions.

It may be partly because the Telegraph is just a more honest and professional newspaper in some respects than the 'liberal' newspapers who decided not to cover this story.

It may have something to do with the press of disaster news at the moment - but if the Telegraph could squeeze this in, and as a substantial 15 paragraph story, not a news in brief, then it is hard to see why it should be impossible for the other papers.

Whatever the reason, we have seen this Telegraph anomaly before, in relation to the JTAC warning, among other stories - and in other significant cases also, notably the 'bin Laden extradition' story.

THE FOSIS CONFERENCE

The story is bigger than the opinion poll. FOSIS actually held a big-name conference in London yesterday, attended by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, Government ministers and media commentators. One of the elements of the poll was the unanimity amongst the students polled that national and local coverage of Islam and Muslims is appalling.

No doubt the association saw this as an opportunity to lobby decision makers and opinion formers, and to try to reach the media (the media have pretty much declined to cooperate on this). It is also without doubt that the Government saw the conference as part of its strategy to co-opt Muslim organizations, a strategy set out in the Young Muslims and Extremism report.

SNIPPETS

KEN CLARKE - OPEN REALIST?

Reports in today's newspapers confirm that Conservative leadership candidate and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke is to launch his campaign with a speech attacking the Iraq war. What remains to be seen is whether, as predicted in some reports earlier, Mr Clarke will link the ongoing war to the heightened risk of terrorism. He has said that he will discuss Iraq not in terms of the past, but the future:

'I am not going to address it on the basis "I told you so"... What we have to address is what we do now.' (Guardian, page 2)

This doesn't mean calling for immediate withdrawal.

How extraordinary that the public figure most likely to re-open the debate on the connection between British foreign policy and the threat of domestic terrorism is a Thatcher Cabinet member.

In any event, Mr Clarke's intervention creates an opportunity for the British anti-war movement to raise issues with the public - and with parts of the public that have not been tapped before.

ISLAMIC REFORM AND ASIAN ISOLATION

Two important pieces in the papers today (there have been lots we haven't managed to include in recent Media Reviews). Ziauddin Sardar, who is always worth reading, has a piece in the Guardian entitled, 'Reform is Islam's best kept secret'. Several papers have reports on the social isolation of British Asians 'as severe as that experienced in the black ghettoes of divided American cities like Miami and Chicago'. The Telegraph, following its right-wing racist anti-immigrant agenda, put the story on the front page, with an anti-immigrant angle on it.

FIRST DAY OF NATIONAL MOURNING IN IRAQ

In the wake of two major disasters, the challenge for editors is dealing with them both in a balanced way. The Independent leads with Iraq on the front page - 'In Iraq, a man-made disaster' - and follows with a similar full-page story on Hurricane Katrina on page 3 entitled, 'In America, a natural disaster'. The Times, like the Independent in 'compact' or tabloid format, the Guardian and the FT (in the larger broadsheet format), have all decided to balance text on the disaster in New Orleans (left hand side) with the same poignant picture from the Baghdad stampede which has cost hundreds of lives (right hand side). The Times carries stories of survivors of the stampede. The Telegraph puts New Orleans on the front page, and the Baghdad stampede on page 4.

JNV welcomes feedback.