Image: Matt Writtle/Press Association Images. All rights reserved
If you pick up any newspaper today, turn on any news programme, or check your regular news websites, you’re guaranteed to see a story about Muslims, or read about an issue of policy directly involving the diverse Muslim communities in the UK and Europe. The extent of coverage is substantial, and this coverage is often overwhelmingly negative. The total population of Muslims in the UK stands at 4.8%, just shy of 3 million. In Europe, France (7.5%) and Germany (5.8%) are host to the largest minorities on the continent. By any view, this is numerically disproportionate.
This kind of coverage is causing lasting damage in ways that are not fully understood now and which may well only become apparent when it is too late. False and misleading headlines and coverage are being challenged constantly, and they may often lead to corrections and printed apologies. But the damage they cause in the British psyche will take decades to reverse, if at all.
