Reporting Lebanon

Ethics in British Journalism: A reflective overview

“…Very little has changed in the 21st century. I argue that orientalism as a form of stereotypical and negative representation of the other has been inherited in some of the British press as news practice (Harb, 2017) and that for some British writers and journalists to use the word Islam, Muslims or Arabs he or she would be presenting their audiences/ readers with a set of negative perceptions that forms a body of knowledge about more than a billion Muslims worldwide (ibid. ).…”

“…Here I argue that the word Orient or Oriental with its negative body of knowledge has been substituted by some journalists by Islam/ Muslims. Perception based mainly on poor knowledge (ignorance) (Harb, 2017), which in itself leads to inaccurate reporting.…”

“…Representations of Islam have been seen as reductive and predominantly negative. Muslims have been homogenised as backward, irrational, unchanging, fundamentalists, threatening and manipulative in the use of their faith for political and personal gain (Harb, 2017). This is supported by several studies, the two major ones are that of Elizabeth Poole in a book titled Reporting Islam (2002), the second is a major study published by Cardiff School of Journalism (Moore et al, 2008) and the third is a study by Lancaster University published in 2013 (Hussain, HuffPost, 2014).…”

“…This indicated exclusion from the "civilized world" has arguably been given "authority" after the September 11 atrocities when Islam became a prominent issue. Islam was "mobilized to demonise enemies" (Harb, 2017).…”