“In August 2017, The Times published a piece with the headline ‘Christian child forced into Muslim foster care’. The story was front-page news the next day as well – and the next – but was it right?”

BBC Corrections

In an extended programme, the BBC’s Corrections series has looked at how three front page stories in the Times newspaper about a fostering placement, heavily criticised for stoking divisions, came to be pubished in August 2017.

CMF issued a statement at the time and the press regulator, IPSO, later upheld a complaint.

The programme includes the first interview since 2017 with the journalist, Andrew Norfolk, on this topic. He regrets in hindsight that he may have “pushed to the fore certain aspects” of the story.

The Centre for Media Monitoring, a project of the Muslim Council of Britain, was launched at the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday.  Its purpose is to promote fair and responsible reporting of Muslims and Islam.

CfMM’s aim is to engage constructively with the media and empower communities to make a change.

“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. CfMM’s vision is both to highlight negative trends in the media as well as promote good practice.”

Miqdaad Versi, CfMM’s Executive Director, has been working for some time to draw attention to poor reporting and inaccurate journalism. Read a profile written about him in the Guardian last year.

Check out CfMM’s website and follow them on social media to keep up to date.