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Several ppl contacted CfMM, concerned about seemingly irrelevant images of Muslims with reports on #COVID19. Admittedly, these are a tiny fraction of overall coverage, but when taken with other narratives implicating Muslims for its spread, a concerning pattern emerges. #Thread
An in-depth analysis is still needed, but below is a thread of some photos CfMM found through our daily monitoring, mainly of mosques and visibly Muslim people. While some could arguably be relevant to the accompanying story, others are totally irrelevant.
Take images of mosques. In March, CNN used a photo of a mosque in Turkey for a story on coronavirus in California prisons.
The same month, The Guardian used a photo of men in hazmat suits praying outside a mosque, while the headline spoke of school closures and financial crisis in Europe.
Most mosques in the UK closed before the official order to shut places of worship, yet the BBC still chose to show a few men praying in mosques in late March on their live news feed.
ITV specifically chose this photo of a mosque when reporting generally on the local lockdown in Blackburn.
The Yorkshire Examiner has since removed this irrelevant image of men distributing masks to worshippers at a mosque which accompanied a headline about a surge in cases in the area.
There have also been many images of visibly Muslim people, usually women in hijab, used to report on the pandemic. In March the BBC featured this image of two Muslim women alongside a live feed story on social distancing.
The same live page on the BBC has regularly featured women in hijab and masks, often alongside unrelated headlines.
On their live feed page and on Twitter, The Guardian used this unrelated photo of a woman in hijab having her temperature taken, alongside a headline about New Zealand elections and Italy nightclub closures.
This image of a group of women in niqab and lab coats appeared on the BBC alongside an unrelated headline about Trump defunding the WHO.
A story reporting on pharmacists& #39; fears over a lack of PPE was published with a photograph of two Muslim women in a chemist.
Of course, not all photos of Muslim are irrelevant. These examples show Muslims attending testing centres, while the articles are about vaccines and the impact of the pandemic on BAME communities.
As local lockdowns were imposed over several cities in the north of England, more photographs of women in hijab appeared alongside articles reporting on the situation.
Women in niqab have also been featured in articles reporting on the situation in cities such as Blackburn, Oldham and Leicester.
There have also been photographs of men in traditional Asian and Muslim clothing used when reporting on the outbreaks in these cities.
The examples above may be representative of the local demographic, as these towns do have sizable Asian and Muslim communities. However, this photo of a woman in hijab with an article stating Oldham lockdown is caused by "partygoers" is a questionable editorial choice.
Yesterday we received this Financial Times image from @isamutlib
Surely a photo of the Prme Minister would have been more relevant?
Surely a photo of the Prme Minister would have been more relevant?
We will continue to add to this thread as we find more examples. If you come across any, please tag us or DM us so we can include and, if appropriate, ask for it to be changed.
