Journalists can avoid Islamophobia by being more nuanced and if they are willing to go deeper than just the headlines.

 

• Look at how Islam is practiced around the globe. Yasir Qadhi sees the solution in media professionals not being “one dimensional”. His advice is, “Do not link an ideology directly to a religious understanding or text.” 

• If journalists use Muslim sources for stories that are not about Islam or Muslims, it will help the audience to see the community around them as normal individuals. 

• Learn more about Islamophobia and use the term Islamophobia. 

• Abdul Makik Mujahid, the imam, says: “Connect Islamophobia with anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. Note that Muslims are a target of white supremacists’ hatred. 

• While reporting an incident, humanise the victim. 

• Identify a Muslim when in a positive role like saving lives through the invention of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, for example. 

• Share stories of how Muslims are contributing positively to their communities and countries in and outside of the Muslim world in virtually all fields, from science and business, to arts, entertainment, and sports.” 

• It’s important that those reporting on events involving Islam look at the broad spectrum of Muslims around the world. 

• If journalists are compelled to say “Muslims do X” they had better back it up by research. Often, fewer than 2 percent or 3 percent of Muslims do something which is taken as a broad generalisation for all. 

• If journalists interview multiple people who are actually involved and not interview outsiders, the narratives would be different. Yasir Qadhi finds one of the biggest problems is with “so-called experts. They really are not experts at all. Many of these pundits simply rehash the talking points that, frankly, politicians appreciate. Journalists who peddle to politicians, who are always in sync with the ‘policies of the country’, they’re clearly not engaging in active journalism.” 

• Talking to experts for in-depth analysis and opinion is important but equally significant is your local community. If journalists talk to them about how they perceive their representation in the media, it’s a crude test of gauging the subjects of your story and what they would like to see as well

As the old adage goes, “Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad”. Indeed, word choices are extremely important. Diane Winston has a simple test for journalists every time they report on a story involving Muslims. They should substitute “Christian” or “Buddhist” for Muslim and ask if the sentence is biased. She urges writers to use a Muslim as the anchor character in a story, instead of a Caucasian. It’s important that journalists challenge the longstanding narratives around them, for instance, every single policy of the government is almost never ethical. In the age of populism and post-fact politics, politicians are constantly doing things that are in the best interests of “their people” which could be based on religion, ethnicity, language, race - and will put others at a disadvantage. When covering Muslims, diversity also matters as they come from various ethnic, regional or sectarian backgrounds. So media professionals at the minimum should be aware of basic things such as differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims. With so much around us being calculated and shown to us by algorithms, journalists must be wary of what they say about Islam and Muslims on social media. Newsrooms must add Muslim representation such as reporters and editors to their staff. In the not-so-distant past it was done for women, Black people and other minorities. At the heart of it is a very simple principle, treat Muslims as regular people.