LSE - Small Logo
LSE - Small Logo

Charlie Beckett

October 17th, 2006

Veiled journalism?

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Charlie Beckett

October 17th, 2006

Veiled journalism?

0 comments

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

There have been a lot of Muslim voices in the media talking about the current row over whether the veil is acceptable in schools or Jack Staw’s surgery. And yet how many Muslim journalists are there covering the story? And what are they saying? Well, the answer to that is – ‘not enough’ and ‘we don’t know’. The Culture Minister David Lammy MP is about to give a POLIS lecture on diversity in the media. He is worried that as Britain becomes more multi-cultural, our media is not. There have been great efforts to get a more representative news media but there are still groups – and I think Muslims are one – that aren’t part of mainstream newsrooms. Mr Lammy believes that one reason may be the growth of separate ethnic media. British Muslims now have a huge range of programming and publications aimed solely at them. That’s great because it gives more choice and a better service for Muslim communities. But the danger is that it adds to the cultural fragmentation that some politicians fear is dividing our society.
One of the problems we have in debating this area is that we simply don’t know what ethnic media is out there, what it is producing and who creates it. POLIS hopes this lecture will be the start of some fresh-thinking on community and journalism.
Go to the POLIS events pages for details of the David Lammy lecture on Wednesday 18th.

About the author

Charlie Beckett

Posted In: Journalism | Research