Centre for Media Monitoring | Muslim Council of Britain

Academics and specialists across the world recognise that mainstream media reporting of Islam and Muslims is contributing to an atmosphere of rising hostility towards Muslims in Britain. Centre for Media Monitoring’s (CfMM) own findings reveal a serious problem in the way that British media reports about Islam and Muslims. Analysing over 10,000 articles and broadcast clips referring to Muslims and Islam in the period of Q4 2018, we found that:

59% of all articles associated Muslims with negative behaviour
37% of articles in right-leaning and religious publications were categorised with the most negative rating of “very biased”
Over a third of all articles misrepresented or generalised about Muslims
Terrorism was the most common theme

Our Aim

To promote fair, accurate and responsible reporting of Islam and Muslims. We do this in the following ways:

1) Evidence

We create an evidence base of how Islam and Muslims are reported in the national broadcast and print media by monitoring and analysing online articles and broadcast content daily.

2) Insight

We develop insights on potential areas of improvement through evidence-based analyses, reports, guidelines and submissions to enquiries and consultations.

3) Engagement

We advocate change through constructive engagement with the media, policy makers and regulators.

4) Empowerment

We develop capacity and empower communities to positively engage with the media and change the narrative.

To find out more about this project you can also visit the official CfMM website.

Testimonials

“What’s uniquely impressive about CfMM is not only its powerful and insightful research, but also its ability to bring in the leaders across all sections of the media, hold them to account and constructively work together to improve the reporting of Islam and Muslims. This is unprecedented and testament to the brilliant work of the CfMM team.” Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

“Organisations like CfMM provide a really useful service not only to the Muslim community but to the media in this country.” Alistair Bunkall, Security Correspondent, Sky News.

“This report is incredibly important. We need to read and inwardly digest it and be very wary of how we as journalists behave.” Jon Snow, Presenter Channel 4 News

“To have this document is a really solid and credible piece of research to not only contribute but perhaps even change the conversation.” Rohit Kachroo, Security Editor, ITN

“The work of the Centre for Media Monitoring is so important because their community training helps Muslims like me to make a difference.” Isobel Birden, Retired Nurse, Cardiff

“To be able to handle media queries, to address complaints in a challenging world is really fantastic.” Bilkisu Savage, Federation of Muslim Womens’ Associations

“When we are represented in a certain way in the media, CfMM’s training shows us how to respond. The mock interviews were particularly helpful and allowed us to gain an insight into how interviews are conducted.” Afsana Salik, Masters Student, Islamic Studies

Further information on all the achievements and projects of CfMM since 2019 can be found on the official CfMM website.

The Centre for Media Monitoring was established in 2018, with the official launch event and the publishing of its first quarterly report on the “State of Media Reporting about Islam and Muslims” in Parliament on 9th July 2019. Read more about the launch here.

Since then, CfMM has analysed over 60,000 online articles and broadcast clips. We have also:

Produced two more ground-breaking reports: “How The British Media Reports Muslims & Islam” & “British Media’s Coverage of Muslims & Islam (2018-2020)” as well as a special report “Media Reporting on Palestine 2021”
Engaged with over 1000 journalists, editors, regulators and policy makers
Trained 100’s of Muslim individuals and organisations on how to engage with the media
Delivered masterclasses to students of journalism at all the top universities
Held successful “Meet The Media Events” between community organisations and media professionals

To find out more about this project you can also visit the official CfMM website

How can you help

1. Donate

You can support us in our work to submit and follow up on complaints, monitor and report on unfair stories, hold the media to account, and empower Muslim communities to take action by donating here.

2. Volunteer

If you are interested in getting involved in the project, please sign up and join the team. The MCB is a volunteer led organization, we need you to make change.

3. Follow and Share

Make a difference with the MCB this Ramadan by helping us tackle Islamophobia in the media and work for fair, unbiased and accurate reporting on Islam and Muslims.

£25 could contribute towards subscription fees to national newspapers and running costs for bespoke media monitoring tools

£50 could provide a webinar on Islamophobia in the Media event teaching people how to look out for problematic media coverage and what action to take, a hard copy of “How the British Media Reports on Terrorism”, help pay for volunteers’ expenses & training

£100 could provide 1-hour online workshop on Media Interview Skills, a hard copy of “How the British Media Reports on Terrorism”

£250 could provide exclusive access to an invite-only media roundtable event, a Meet the Media event & a hard copy of “How the British Media Reports on Terrorism”, cover the costs of organizing a Round Table and Meet the Media and Report Launch event