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How is Islam represented on the BBC?

While the Corporation’s news coverage tends to reinforce stereotypes, its cultural programming calls these into question.

By Elizabeth Poole
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GettyImages-461219406.jpg

Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images. All rights reserved.

Since 9/11 there has been considerable discussion of how Islam and Muslims are represented negatively in the news. The rise of various Islamist groups, due to globalisation, post-colonialism and post-Cold war politics in particular, has resulted in an intensified identity politics which plays out across the media.

So with 2.7 million Muslims identifying as such in the last Census, 2011 - the actual figure is thought to be nearer to 4m - how does the BBC represent Islam to an increasingly diverse audience? And with accusations of Islamophobia levelled at the media in general how does the BBC’s coverage compare?

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0