'Bibliography: Books'

"choosing or being forced to live outside the network is associated with fundamentalism"
Page 161

"rejection of the netwrk may motivate Al-Qaida terrorism, which may therefore be said to be a product of its extention across the world"
page 162

These quotes will be usefull for me as it relates to social networking and the internet, as they talk about terrorism I think it will be useful for me to use in my critical investigation when talking about the internet.

Hartley,John.(2002): Communication, Culture and Media studies, USA, Routledge.

"A complex issue like western attitudes to Islamic fundamentalism cannot be adequately represented within the contines of a news story" page173

"The threat is more likely to come in the form of political movements which Marx abhored: nationalism and religous fundamentalism. page 231

I think these quotes are useful as they can be used in my critical investigation when I am talking about the political side of my invertigation. It will also relate to talking about the news and their coverage of the topic.

Bennet,Peter.Slater,Jerry.Wall,Peter.(2006): A2 media studys the essential introduction,USA,Routledge.

"high profile cases of asylum seekers commiting crimes and even being associated with terrorist activities have further reduced public sympathy for climants" page 133

"the publics views are further manipulated by tabloid headlines" page 133

"increasnig evidence of clashes between Islamic and western values in the media have made reporting oof Islamic affairs in the west a sensitive area " page 133

"Once again, issues relating to freedom of expression and the use of death threats by musilm extremists to scare western goverments and media become a top story" page 134

"increasing concerns about terrorism have resulted in widespread coverage of the activitys of minority muslim extremists groups" page 134

These set of quotes are the most useful to me as they talk directly about the representation of religous fundamentalism within the media, these will allow me to back up my points with ease.

Probert,David. Graham,Anderew.(2008): Advanced meadia stusdies, oxfordshire, Philip alan updates.

"Religion, it can be argued, is an ideology where an organise dsystem of beliefs and values defines to people hoe they should live their lives and what constitues appropriate behaviour" page 80

"Researchers in glasgow media group have undertaken investigations that reveal that television news reporting on industiral dispute tend sto depict strikers as a disruptive force in society which needs to be resisted" page 81

These are quotes that I am not sure if I will be using in my final investigation but if I decide to talk about their behaviour then it will be good to have these quotes.

Rayner,Philip.Wall,Peter.Kruger,Stephen.(2002): As media studies the essential introduction, USA, Routledge.

"The reality of Crimewatch is that it is commited by a small group of deviant outsiders, against certain unfortuante individuals" page 198

Crimewatch is a national programe and this will be a grea quote to back up my points on the media representation on religous fundamentalism and their effects on soceity.

Bignell,Jonathan.(2004): An introduction to television studies, USA, Routledge.

"In media studies this debate revolves around the notion of "tabloidisation". page 230

This qoute will help me when talking about the tabloids coverage of the situations and affects.

Williams,Kevin.(2003): Understanding media theory, London, Arnold.

"Following on form his analysis of hegemonic media representation, Hall claims that ethinic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial stereotypes" page 78

This is another quote that could be used If I talk about ethinic minorities being the target of terrorist accusations.

Lauhney,Dan.(2009): Media studies theories and approches,Herts, Kamera books.

"What audiences are offered on television is this inextricicably linked to a set of ideas which support Capitalism and ruling class ideology" page24

This will be useful when talking about the class system and how capatalism and the ruling class ideologys affect the views given out in the media today

Casey,Bernadette.Casey,Neil.Calvert,Ben.French, Liam. Lewis, Justin.(2002) : television studies they key concepts, USA, Routledge.

"Race, in other words, is a social aswell as a physical construction"

I might be able to use this when talking about the race being targeted with terrorist affiliation.

Jewkes,Yvonne.O'sullivan, Tim.(1997): The media studies reader, London, Arnold.


"The way in which an individuals actions are determined is by social class, economic position and ideologies of gender or race" p56

This qoute is useful as I can talk about how individuals are judged in the media world.

•D, Buckingham (1987) Public Secrets Eastenders and its audience, London, Arnold

Ageism debate

Selina stokes a diversity debate that needs addressing

• 
• • Emily Bell
  • The Guardian, Monday 8 September 2008
  • Article history

It will come as a surprise to few but a delight to many that Selina Scott is suing Five over ageism in its refusal to hire her for a maternity cover role and choice of younger presenters instead. It is a delight not because Five is worse than anyone else in this respect, but because it stokes a debate which urgently needs to be taken more seriously. Casual sexism, ageism and racism are the collective dirty secret of the vast majority of media institutions, and they represent as much of an industrial challenge as they do a moral one.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Report on Sex and Power, published last week, drew a depressing picture for women in the workplace. In general the progression of women at the highest level in the workplace is pitiful and the media are no exception: only 13.6% of national newspaper editors (including the Herald and Western Mail) are women; only 10% of media FTSE's 350 companies have women at the helm; and at the BBC, which has often been held as an exemplar of diversity, women make up less than 30% of most senior management positions. It puts into context Jeremy Paxman's deranged rant about the white male in television. Ethnic minority representation is even worse.

A couple of weeks ago Pat Younge, former BBC head of sports programmes and planning who left to work for Discovery in the US, caused a stir at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival by saying that diversity targets should be like financial targets - you don't hit them, you get fired. I have to say that as board champion for diversity at Guardian News and Media I would currently be firing myself and most of the board for some missed targets. But Younge is right - because diversity targets are not just a feelgood add-on, they are vital to the health of any media business. The temptation to hire in one's own image for most managers is as irresistible as it is subliminal - which is why there are a lot of opinionated women working in digital management at the Guardian, and why we all need targets to remind us to look beyond the mirror.

On screen, any number of unconventional-looking ageing blokes (Jeremy Clarkson, Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles, Alan Sugar, Adrian Chiles, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan) are paid at a top rate for the talent they possess beyond their appearance. For women it is an altogether different story - appearance and age are clearly factors in choosing female presenters in a way that they aren't for men.

The media should be deeply concerned about this un-diversity - not because it represents moral turpitude on our part, but because it represents bloody awful business sense. What is happening to the UK population at the moment? It is ethnically diversifying, and it is ageing. It is also the case that it is, as of the 2001 Census, marginally more female than it is male. And we live longer - so older women, and non-white potential audiences are on the rise. In London, the major urban conurbation and key market for so many media brands, the population is around 37% ethnically diverse, yet this is nowhere near reflected in the management structures of media companies. Or indeed in their on-screen or in-paper representation.

How though, can you hope to address audiences for which you have no instinctive feel, and towards which you show casual discrimination? We are all in danger of becoming irrelevant to the changing demographics of our target audience at a time when holding any kind of audience is key to survival. If white men are so good at solving business problems - and given that they represent well over 80% of FTSE 100 directors we can speculate that this is a skill they must possess in measure - then I'm surprised they haven't grasped this one already.

Independant Articles

Why Conservatives failed the test on Islamic schools

Conservative Party officials made two basic errors in their attack on two schools said to be run by a radical Islamic group, it emerged yesterday.

During Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday and in briefings afterwards the Conservatives claimed there was no evidence that the schools had been registered or inspected by Ofsted, the education standards watchdog; they also said the schools had received money from an anti-terrorism fund. But yesterday the claims were beginning to unravel. The most obvious mistake was the allegation that they appeared not to have been registered or inspected.

In fact, one of the two schools – in Slough, Berkshire – had posted a glowing commendation from Ofsted on its website. The report was easily accessible by Googling the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation, and its veracity could be confirmed with Ofsted.

It praised the school for its "broad and balanced curriculum" and for its commitment to the "spiritual, moral, social and cultural development" of its 55 four- to 10-year-old pupils.

The second error, over the allegation that state finance from a fund designed to combat terrorism was being channelled into an extremist school dedicated to the overthrow of Western culture, was perhaps more serious.

The waters here were slightly muddier, although the Conservatives were mistaken again. Money from a government fund was paid to both schools – the second is in Haringey, north London – but the £113,000 concerned came from a fund designed to promote nursery education and distributed by local councils; the fund just happened to have the same name, Pathfinder, as the anti-terrorist fund.

Haringey council suspended funding when the controversy over the running of the two schools broke a month ago. An official inquiry has found "no evidence to suggest inappropriate content or influence in the school".

Slough council said it was satisfied with its school, citing the Ofsted report in the school's defence.

A third allegation concerned the extent of Hizb ut-Tahrir's involvement with the school. The Government has faced pressure to ban the organisation, which supports "Muslim liberation", for alleged extremist views.

David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, told the House of Commons: "Two schools have been established by an extremist Islamist foundation, the ISF, which is a front organisation for Hizb ut-Tahrir." He added: "Two of its four trustees are members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and the headteacher and proprietor of one of the schools [in Slough] are members of Hizb ut-Tahrir."

Farah Ahmed, the head in question, told the BBC she was not a member. The proprietor of the Slough school, Yusra Hamilton, who is the wife of a Hizb ut-Tahrir member, has since resigned as a trustee of the school.

The Haringey school has told the local council it no longer has links with "any of the individuals alleged to have connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir".

Link :http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/why-conservatives-failed-the-test-on-islamic-schools-1828763.html

Renouncing Islamism: To the brink and back again

A generation of British Islamists have been trained in Afghanistan to fight a global jihad. But now some of those would-be extremists have had a change of heart. Johann Hari finds out what made them give up the fight

Monday, 16 November 2009

Ever since I started meeting jihadis, I have been struck by one thing – their Britishness. I am from the East End of London, and at some point in the past decade I became used to hearing a hoarse and angry whisper of jihadism on the streets where I live. Bearded young men stand outside the library calling for "The Rule of God" and "Death to Democracy".

In the mosques across the city, I hear a fringe of young men talk dreamily of flocking to Afghanistan to "resist". Yet this whisper never has an immigrant accent. It shares my pronunciations, my cultural references, and my national anthem. Beneath the beards and the burqas, there is an English voice.

The East End is a cramped grey maze of council estates, squashed between the glistening palaces of the City to one side and the glass towers of Docklands to the other. You can feel the financial elites staring across at each other, indifferent to this concrete lump of poverty dumped in-between by the forgotten tides of history. This place has always been the swirling first stop for immigrants to this country like my father – a place where new arrivals can huddle together as they adjust to the cold rain and lukewarm liberalism of Britain.

The Muslims who arrive here every day from Bangladesh, or India, or Somalia say they find the presence of British Islamists bizarre. They have come here to work and raise their children in stability and escape people like them. No: these Islamists are British-born. They make up 7 per cent of the British Muslim population, according to a Populous poll (with the other 93 percent of Muslims disagreeing). Ever since the 7/7 suicide bombings, carried out by young Englishmen against London, the British have been squinting at this minority of the minority and trying to figure out how we incubated a very English jihadism.

But every attempt I have made up to now to get into their heads – including talking to Islamists for weeks at their most notorious London hub, Finsbury Park mosque, immediately after 9/11 – left me feeling like a journalistic failure. These young men speak to outsiders in a dense and impenetrable code of Koranic quotes and surly jibes at both the foreign policy crimes of our Government and the freedom of women and gays. Any attempt to dig into their psychology – to ask honestly how this swirl of thoughts led them to believe suicide bombing their own city is right – is always met with a resistant sneer, and yet more opaque recitations from the Koran. Their message is simple: we don't do psychology or sociology. We do Allah, and Allah alone. Why do you have this particular reading of the Koran, when most Muslims don't? Because we are right, and they are infidel. Full stop. It was an investigatory dead end.

But then, a year ago, I began to hear about a fragile new movement that could just hold the answers we journalists have failed to find up to now. A wave of young British Islamists who trained to fight – who cheered as their friends bombed this country – have recanted. Now they are using everything they learned on the inside, to stop the jihad.

Seventeen former radical Islamists have "come out" in the past 12 months and have begun to fight back. Would they be able to tell me the reasons that pulled them into jihadism, and out again? Could they be the key to understanding – and defusing – Western jihadism? I have spent three months exploring their world and befriending their leading figures. Their story sprawls from forgotten English seaside towns to the jails of Egypt's dictatorship and the icy mountains of Afghanistan – and back again.

Link :http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/renouncing-islamism-to-the-brink-and-back-again-1821215.html

US deports Yusuf Islam over claims that he supports terrorist groups

By Maxine Frith Social Affairs Correspondent

Yusuf Islam, the former pop singer known as Cat Stevens, was deported from the United States yesterday after immigration officials said he was on a terrorism list.

Mr Islam, a Muslim convert, was on a flight to Washington when the FBI ordered the plane to divert to Maine, 600 miles away, on the grounds that he was a security threat. Mr Islam, 56, and his 21-year-old daughter were marched off the plane by FBI agents. Within hours, he was deported to Britain.

A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security said Mr Islam was on the "watch list" because of his "known associations and financial support to organisations believed to be aiding terrorism". Officials said intelligence reports suggested he had given money to Hamas.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) reacted angrily to the singer's deportation and warned that it could wreck the "bridge building" between the West and the Islamic world.

Muhammad Abdul Bari, deputy secretary general of the MCB and a friend of Mr Islam, said: "Yusuf is known as one of the most moderate and reasonable Muslims who does a lot of work for charity and campaigns for peace. I cannot imagine how he came to be on such a list. This is a slap in the face for the bridge building between the communities which we have all been working for."

Mr Islam became a Muslim in 1976. He has condemned the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and campaigned against the war in Iraq.

In 2000, he was deported from Israel after the authorities there claimed he had donated money to Hamas, allegations that he vehemently denied.

Mr Islam's name is believed to have been added to the US list only recently, and friends say he was not aware that he was regarded as a security threat.

He had visited the US in May with no problems, and had been allowed to board the United Airlines London to Washington flight on Tuesday by British immigration officials.

His status on the list was only discovered after the flight had left Heathrow with 280 passengers on board, including members of the rock band Marillion. As the Boeing 747 neared its destination, passengers were told the flight was being diverted to Bangor, Maine, because of bad weather.

Marillion's singer, Steve Hogarth, said: "After about 10 minutes, the captain made another announcement saying it was in fact an FBI security alert. I then met a security guard who said the two people escorted off were Cat Stevens and his daughter. I was stunned. He is a pacifist and a great songwriter."

Mr Islam's daughter was allowed to remain, and the plane continued to Dulles airport, while he was sent back to Britain. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "The reasons for his detention and return are obviously a matter for the US and not for us."

Mr Islam was born Steven Demetre Georgiou to a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother. He found fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Morning Has Broken" and "Wild World", and underwent his religious conversion after he nearly drowned while swimming off the Malibu coast in 1976. After the World Trade Centre attacks, he issued a statement saying: "No right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action. The Koran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."

Link :http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-deports-yusuf-islam-over-claims-that-he-supports-terrorist-groups-547332.html

guardian articles

Sensationalism is a gift to extremists

Brawls at recent protests highlight how all of us, and especially the media, have a responsibility to fight extremism

• 
• • Sunny Hundal
  • guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 August 2009 09.03 BST
  • Article history

On Saturday 8 August a much-touted demonstration in Birmingham turned into a big brawl involving more than 100 people and pitched battles in the high street. In one corner a loose alliance of two groups – Casuals United and English Defence League – in the other, a counter-demonstration called by Unite Against Fascism.

The immediate background to this mass brawl was the protest against British soldiers by some Muslim extremists on 10 March. That was the spark that various far-right groups were looking for to pump up their rhetoric against Muslims. The National Front turned out a big demonstration in Luton on 13 April, which needed police reinforcements from London to control. Not long afterwards, the Luton mosque was fire-bombed.

On 24 May an even bigger demonstration was organised by the English and Welsh Defence League, which turned violent as some demonstrators went to destroy property in Muslim-heavy areas of Luton. There was a smaller protest against extremist Anjem Choudhary on 4 July, and then a big demonstration was organised for 8 August. There's more background here.

There is evidence that the English Defence League in particular was infiltrated by neo-Nazis and BNP supporters. On Stormfront, a popular website for fascists, scores of members urged to join the demonstrations on Saturday. Here is one participant's account.

One of its early organisers Chris Renton is a BNP supporter. Another, Paul Ray, who now says he has washed his hands of the EDL because of differences with Renton, admitted he was opposed to all Muslims practising their faith in Britain.

There are good reasons for minorities to worry, even though some from the EDL carried banners saying they were not racist. During the 4 July protest many participants chanted "Muslims out". As the UAF rightly says, the National Front organised demonstrations against black people in the 70s under the guise of "anti-mugging", and now it seems to be jumping on the "Islamic extremism" bandwagon for the same reason.

More protests are planned over the August bank holiday weekend and in Manchester city centre in early October. There are so many small but hardcore groups involved that I'd advise following Richard's blog for all that.

But there are a few broader points to make, too. I'm not going to condemn the need for minorities to defend themselves in the streets or fight against fascists if necessary. Our forebears fought them off in Southall and it remains as important as ever to keep our streets free from constant far-right intimidation. If the police don't do their job then people will step in to protect themselves.

But that doesn't mean extremist Muslims should be let off the hook. In 2004 the extremist group al-Muhajiroun, in all likelihood also behind the Luton anti-soldiers demonstration, had planned a rally in London where Hindus and Sikhs would be openly converted to Islam. They nearly caused a mini-riot then because Sikh gangs and BNP members had also planned to show up.

Anjem Choudhary carried out a similar stunt recently by apparently converting an 11-year-old boy to Islam. Al-Muhajiroun has always been a small but highly vocal group, which seeks publicity for its stunts to polarise people. It is shunned by mosques across the country, but its stunts nevertheless inflame Hindu, Sikh and white groups thanks to incessant media coverage. Remember, only eight people were involved in the anti-soldiers march in a town with more than 25,000 Muslims, and yet they got front-page coverage.

So here are the choices: the group could be banned for activities on a par with the National Front (it keeps changing its name, the latest being Islam4UK). The police could also become more proactive against extremist groups, and stop local councils giving them any space.

And lastly, Muslim groups themselves need to step up campaigning against these extremists or they will continue making life more difficult for them. More like this, basically.

Britons also need to get re-acquainted with our tradition of free speech and expression, even if it involves people of different skin colour and religion saying outrageous things.

The police and intelligence services also need to start taking far-right extremism in the UK more seriously. To that extent the recent announcements by minister John Denham are most welcome.

But the real people to blame for these riots are the journalists willing to run inflammatory headlines – playing straight into the hands of extremists on both sides. Anjem Choudhary remains a constantly invited figure, even on the BBC, because he offers them entertainment. People are being sucked into a game of sensationalism, which contributed to the mass-brawl on Saturday. It's time for people to stop being taken for mugs.

Link :http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/12/birmingham-riots-extremism-media

Muslim reaction to Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time

The mood among worshippers gathering outside at the East London mosque today was one of indifference and irritation rather than fear and loathing.

"They can have their voice heard and that's fine," said Jalal Ahmed, a local maths teacher. "We're here to contribute, we are British and we love this country. They have their say and I have my say. As long as we don't have a big fight over it that's fine."

Rhuksana Begum, a 22-year-old politics graduate, agreed. "I don't particularly like Nick Griffin," she said. "[But] he's highlighted the misconceptions about Islam. In a democracy you have to allow it and it gave him a good chance to show how wrong he is."

A man from East Ham, who did not wish to be named, was angrier with the justice secretary than the BNP leader. "Nick Griffin's just like that, that's his party and I'd heard all his views before. But Jack Straw was trying to promote cohesion when he created all the chaos over the veil," he said.

Salim, 39, a car dealer from Newham, said that while he had agreed with Griffin "about the war in Iraq and about the gays", the BNP leader had embarrassed himself. "People know he's a hypocrite. He can't run away any more."

That cautious optimism was echoed by Aminul Haq, 33, a carer from Bethnal Green. "Compared with other Europeans and westerners, Britons have a very good idea of the rest of the world and so they aren't bothered by Griffin and they're not racist. Some disgruntled people might follow him, but the majority of British people won't."

Link :http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/muslim-reaction-nick-griffin

Cut the cosy stuff. I want rage

Only Jeremy Hardy saves R4's News Quiz from silly simpering. Bring on New Order

• Buzz up!
• Digg it

• 
• • Miranda Sawyer
  • The Observer, Sunday 5 October 2008
  • Article history

The News Quiz R4

Is al-Qaeda Winning? R4, World Service

Radcliffe and Maconie R2

Though The News Quiz is one of Radio 4's most loved programmes, it's hard for me to write about. It goes out on a Friday night, after my column deadline, and - obviously - it's topical. I can only review the previous show, in this case the first in the new series, which discussed the Labour party conference, the EDF energy company and Sarah Palin. See: they're so last week! (Apart from Sarah Palin.)

The other block to me reviewing The News Quiz is, well, me. Though I am a Radio 4 devotee, its panel shows drive me mad. They're so cosy! The combination of laugh-at-anything audience and aren't-I-clever contestants creates a tittering dinner party atmosphere that makes me yearn for Jerry Sadowitz or Keith Allen or Joan Rivers. In short, I want anger.

Still, there's enough of that in today's Britain, eh? And anyway, The News Quiz has Jeremy Hardy, whose anger is there, just clothed in exquisite one-liners, and he usually keeps me listening. Hardy has a gentle bedside manner which hides his vicious shanking of the pompous establishment. Last Friday he managed to stick it to middle-class parents, banks, the government and Barack Obama within the first 10 minutes. 'Obama said that the collapse of the banks is no time for politics. No, Christmas dinner is no time for politics.' But the bit I really liked was when he had a pop at Sue Perkins over her appearance on Maestro. What that says about me, I hate to think.

With my rage problem, I avoided Am I Normal? which this week discussed anger and instead went for Is al-Qaeda Winning? The first in a series of five, the programme had Owen Bennett-Jones popping up around the world - Pakistan, Iraq, the US - trying to ascertain which side was winning the so-called battle for hearts and minds. Broadcast on both Radio 4 and the World Service, the World Service version lost 14 minutes in the middle, which meant WS listeners missed out on Bennett-Jones delivering a link while gamely playing ping-pong with a jihadist.

Still, both versions were fantastic. The WS one was like a punch to the gut, ideal for schools; Radio 4 had more character, featuring a visit to a Saudi institution that uses modern art therapy and old-fashioned bribery to change fundamentalists' minds. It was a proper BBC programme, the kind few broadcasters can make in these cash-strapped days: a top-of-his-game correspondent travelling to faraway places and asking difficult-to-access people extremely straight questions. Such as: 'What does al- Qaeda want?' And, when the reply is 'an Islamic state in the whole world', plus a justification of 9/11 ('hundreds of thousands of Americans converted to Islam'), following that up with: 'When you see the bombing in Iraq, do you want to become Christian?' Excellent.

However. There are times when you want to escape from news and relax. When I'm not reviewing, there are certain programmes I naturally listen to, and Radcliffe and Maconie on Radio 2 is one. (Though the two presenters are rarely together these days: Radio 2 keeps finding them other stuff to do.) This week Stuart was joined by New Order to discuss their work: Bernard on Monday, Steve and Gillian on Tuesday, Hooky on Wednesday. Possibly my three most perfect radio shows ever, then.

Listeners sent in their questions. 'I've got a box of Swan Vestas that you left in Trinity Hall in Dublin,' said one. 'I've been looking for those!' said Steve.

Link :http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/oct/05/radio.bbc

Off screen and on screen representations

On and off screen representations would have an impact on my critical investigation as it affects the representations people and audiences receive. On and off representation representation would have an impact on my critical investigation because I would be looking at the representation of religions in contemporary media texts and this would have an impact based on the on and off screen representation. From this we can see the representations of religions created by people offscreen of that institution. This would mean that if the off screen producers agreed with the stereotypes of religions, they would represent religions in this way in media texts which would mean that Islam is associated with terrorism and chirstianty is the saviour. By this we can tell that the way that the off screen producers represent religions and would be shown in this way on screen and this would mean that the audience watching the film would also think this representation of these religions. This would mean that because of the off screen producers, the audience is shown what the off screen producers want to show them and this would mean that the audience as a whole would think bad and good about some religions.

3 race and religion articles

Cadbury Dairy Milk ad cleared of racism

The advertising regulator has cleared Cadbury of racism and perpetuating colonial stereotypes of African people in its latest TV advertising campaign.

Cadbury's campaign featured Ghanaian musician Tinny and aimed to promote the chocolate brand's tie-up with the Fairtrade organisation for cocoa from the African nation for its Dairy Milk range.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 29 complaints that the TV campaign was demeaning to African people and perpetuated racial stereotypes.

However, the ASA's council has decided not to formally investigate the complaints. "Although the council acknowledges that Cadbury had used stereotypes in their ads, they felt that the stereotypes were not harmful or offensive," said the ASA, which argued that most ads use some form of stereotype device to get a message across.

Cadbury has steadfastly maintained that the company went to "considerable lengths" to ensure that the ad campaign was culturally sensitive and developed as a "joyous and uplifting portrayal of Ghanaian culture and something which Ghanaians can feel proud of".

In 2007 the ASA banned an ad for Cadbury's Trident chewing gum, which featured a black "dub poet" speaking in rhyme with a strong Caribbean accent, after more than 500 complaints that it was racist.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/nov/11/cadbury-dairy-milk-cleared-racism

Griffin: Unfair that Question Time was filmed in 'ethnically cleansed' London

Nick Griffin said today he was the victim of a "lynch mob" audience drawn from a city that had been "ethnically cleansed" and was "no longer British".

The BNP leader's comments prompted Boris Johnson, the mayor ofLondon, to say that there was "no place here" for Griffin or his party as he urged Londoners to reject his "extremist and offensive views".

Fellow Question Time panelist Bonnie Greer admitted today she had to restrain herself from slapping Griffin last night, before adding she was glad she hadn't because he was "totally trounced" on the show.

Griffin vowed to lodge a complaint at the "unfair" way the Question Time programme was produced, despite the BNP's claims that his appearance sparked the "biggest single recruitment night in the party's history".

Griffin claims he was treated unfairly by the panel and audience and complained that the show, held at BBC Television Centre in London, was broadcast from a city which had changed beyond all recognition because of what he called uncontrolled immigration.

"That was not a genuine Question Time; that was a lynch mob," he told Sky News.

He went on: "That audience was taken from a city that is no longer British ... That was not my country any more. Why not come down and do it in Thurrock, do it in Stoke, do it in Burnley?

"Do it somewhere where there are still significant numbers of English and British people [living], and they haven't been ethnically cleansed from their own country."

He added: "There is not much support for me there [in London], because the place is dominated by ethnic minorities. There is an ethnic minority that supports me: the English. But there's not many of them left."

The Conservative mayor swiftly hit back on behalf of Londoners: "Nick Griffin is right to say London is not his city. London is a welcoming, tolerant, cosmopolitan capital which thrives on its diversity. The secret of its long-term success is its ability to attract the best from wherever they are and allow them to be themselves – unleashing their imagination, creativity and enterprise. The BNP has no place here and I again urge Londoners to reject their narrow, extremist and offensive views at every opportunity."

The BNP has exploited concerns about immigration among the white working class in some of London's poorer areas to gain representation on several councils in the capital.

It holds a seat on the capital-wide London Assembly and has 12 seats on Barking and Dagenham council, making it the second biggest party there after Labour, with six other council seats across three London boroughs.

The BNP leader insisted that his performance last night was "fine", despite it being panned by the press, with his own party officialsadmitting today that their leader had made a less than impressive showing on last night's show as he was repeatedly criticised by fellow panelists and jeered by a hostile audience.

Greer, the playwright and critic who sat next to Griffin on the Question Time panel, told the Daily Mail Griffin had been "trembling like a leaf" throughout his appearance.

Sitting next to him was "probably the weirdest and most creepy experience of my life", she said.

"I spent the entire night with my back turned to him. At one point, I had to restrain myself from slapping him. But it was worth it because he was totally trounced."

The BNP leader said he needed a second chance on the BBC flagship programme. "People wanted to see me and hear me talking about things such as the postal strike. One or two questions about what a wicked man I am, fair enough, but the whole programme – it was absurd. Let's do it again but do it properly this time."

He also said that he wanted to challenge justice secretary Jack Straw, who was on last night's panel, to a one-to-one debate on the issues of the day, and called on David Cameron to disassociate himself from the protests outside BBC Television Centre where the programme was recorded.

A spokeswoman for the Tory party leader said Cameron, who supports the campaign aims of anti-fascist groups, said he had no intention of responding to Griffin.

Griffin's thumbs-down on last night was not shared by his French counterpart Jean-Marie Le Pen, who predicted today that the BBC's decision to invite Griffin on the show would lead to a surge in support for the party.

The BNP later today posted a message on its website claiming that 3,000 people registered to sign up as members once a current recruitment freeze - introduced in response to legal action over the party's discriminatory membership rules - has been lifted.

"This figure represents the single largest block of new membership expressions of interest ever, and will, once formally signed up, have boosted party membership by nearly 30%."

Earlier today, Le Pen, who has previously described his own appearance on a similar programme in France in the early 1980s as "the hour that changed everything" for his party, told the London Evening Standard: "Small fish become big so long as God gives them life. All political groups have started as marginal before becoming important."

Le Pen – a member of the European parliament, like Griffin – attacked the "scandalous" protests over the BBC's decision, which he said presented a "narrow idea of democracy". "Trying to stop an elected individual from expressing himself on mainstream media appears scandalous," he told the Standard.

Le Pen's own popularity rose after he appeared on the French programme L'heure de Verité in 1984, before which he had been virtually boycotted by the French media. Voting intentions for the Front National in the European elections in June that year subsequently doubled, from 3.5% to 7%, and in the election itself the FN scored 11% (2.2m votes). A Figaro-Magazinepoll conducted after the broadcast showed that the proportion of those with a "positive opinion" of Le Pen rose to 13%, and then rose again to 17% by the summer.

He came second in the French presidential race in 2002, ahead of Lionel Jospin, the former prime minister.

Le Pen said today: "The BBC is conducting itself in a democratic way with regard to the English people. He [Griffin] will reveal his ideas. It's up to the people to judge."

Downing Street said Gordon Brown did not watch last night's edition of Question Time, but he telephoned Straw to thank him for appearing on the programme.

"He very rarely watches Question Time," Brown's spokesman said. "He is often busy on important government matters, finishing paperwork and other government business. He was certainly engaged on government business."

The BBC said that average viewing figures for the programme were almost 8 million – meaning around three times more viewers tuned in than usual.

By midday today, it had received more than 350 complaints following the broadcast.

More than 240 people felt the show was biased against the BNP, while more than 100 of the complaints were about Griffin being allowed to appear on Question Time.

Link : http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/23/bnp-nick-griffin-question-time

The world's most influential Muslims?

I was in Cairo International Airport earlier this week, scrolling through Facebook to see what my friends were up to, when I saw Shahed Amanullah had updated his status to say he was one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world.

I followed his link (pdf) to see who or what constituted influence these days. The result was a strange mix of clerics, dictators, terrorists and billionaires. It's a fascinating document – all 202 glossy pages of it – and comes complete with a potted guide to Islam and a handy league table to show which country has the highest success rate.

"We have strived to highlight people who are influential as Muslims, that is, people whose influence is derived from their practice of Islam or from the fact that they are Muslim," says the introduction.

Influence is a tricky concept, it continues, and in a variety of different ways each person on this list has influence over the lives of a large number of people on the earth.

"The 50 most influential figures are profiled. Their influence comes from a variety of sources; however they are unified by the fact that they each affect huge swaths of humanity."

The above provide the overarching criteria for selection but there are more than a few anomalies. A quick glance reveals that being good and being influential are not mutually exclusive – Adnan Oktar makes an appearance. Not being observant presents no barrier to inclusion either as I was always under the impression that Zaha Hadid is an atheist.

Dave Chapelle is also on the list. Dave Chapelle? Have they seen his R Kelly skit? The writer and comedian has never confirmed whether he is Muslim or not, so the judging panel might as well have included Ronnie O'Sullivan as one of the 500. But if you're talking about affecting "huge swaths of humanity" then surely Osama Bin Laden should be at the top spot? He isn't. It's King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah is custodian of the two Holy Mosques so he has a position of responsibility, but influence? The following paragraph is more revealing: "King Abdullah reigns over a land of massive crude oil reserves, Saudi Arabia has approximately 25% of the world's proven oil reserves, making him a key player in the global petroleum industry."

Bin Laden is on the list – as a radical. Funny, I thought he was a terrorist. This chapter is reserved for "infamous individuals [who] have incredible influence on vast amounts of people, often cited for heinous acts and controversial statements made from their platforms of authority."

Alarm bells also ring over the lack of women featured. They get a separate section from the men. Too many of the top 50 are either heads of state, which automatically gives them an advantage when it comes to influence, or they have inherited their position. Lineage is a significant factor – it has its own category – and the predisposition to include children of important people reveals a mindset that indicates achievement is an optional extra

LINK :http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2009/nov/19/500-influential-muslims-list