SHAFAQNA-“Muslims get unfair treatment in the UK printed press,” the press watchdog said.
The departing chief of the Independent Press Standards Organisation told the Financial Times that the portrayal of Muslims in British newspapers had been the most difficult issue faced since the inception of IPSO in 2014.
“I speak for myself, but I have a suspicion that [Muslims] are from time to time written about in a way that [newspapers] would simply not write about Jews or Roman Catholics,” said Alan Moses, who is standing down after five years as chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
IPSO is due to publish guidelines for journalists early in 2020, following criticism from a Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on Islamophobia, where it was concluded that IPSO was not doing enough to tackle the issue, citing inflammatory and inaccurate writing about Muslims.
According to Islam21c, Sir Alan Moses, who is stepping down as chairman of IPSO, acknowledged the problem, commenting:
However, any such guidelines will only be voluntary and are therefore not likely to be followed by those with an Islamophobic agenda. Reacting to the mere talk of proposed guidelines, newspapers such as The Telegraph branded them a threat to free speech, a charge dismissed by IPSO as “groundless”.
Although the organisation can force its membership of over one thousand British newspapers to publish corrections and pay fines for serious breaches, their impact has been fairly limited as they seek to “avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference” in the name of free speech. This was emphasised only a few days earlier when Sir Alan said:
“But what we have to acknowledge is that, in striking the right balance in this country, there is no right not to be offended.”