User:Rhea Mehta/sandbox

In 2015, the ENAR (European Network Against Racism) conducted research and found that Muslim women are often portrayed as a suppressed group by the media. According to the reports, wearing a hijab, or any religious clothing is depicted as a form of violation of women’s rights by news agencies which puts Islam as a religion under a negative light. Through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, Muslim women are often targets of abuse, sexist insults and hate speeches. According to the reports, in 2015, 90% of the victims of Islamophobic incidents in Netherlands that were reported to Meld Islamophobia were Muslim women. The report also mentions that 64% of the British public receives information about Islam through mass media which may explain why the public displays feelings of hostility towards the Muslim Community, particularly the women.

According to the "European Islamophobia Report 2018," released by the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) in the Anadolu Agency newsletter, news media coverage in Europe, have minimal news that favour Muslim Groups. According to research carried out by the City University in London, only 0.5% of journalists in the UK are Muslim, and thus the underrepresentation of Muslim Journalists could be a crucial reason behind the lack of positive news coverage with regards to Muslim Communities. Moreover, the report also mentioned that the Islamophobic language used in hate speeches by politicians could also impact the representation of Muslims in the minds of the Europeans.

An article by Jan Kovar in the UNYP Newsletter (University of New York in Prague), states that during the course of the migration crisis in Europe (2013-2016), Muslim migrants were portrayed as a security threat to the country in 77% and 67% of news stories by agencies in Czech and in Slovak respectively due to which their community experienced antagonism.

Miqdaad Versi of ‘The Independent’ filed a complaint when the ‘Daily Star’, published a headline stating, “UK mosques fundraising for terror” as it was misleading for the public. Following this, the newspaper clarified its error claiming that the UK mosques were actually “not involved in any way”.