Is the British press racist?

Hi everyone

It's been a heavy couple of weeks since the last newsletter. I hope you're all holding up ok.

During an interview with Oprah earlier this month, Meghan Markel and Prince Harry made their views of the media pretty clear, telling viewers that the press were “so attacking and incited so much racism”.

This sparked quite the debate, with media industry body the Society of Editors executive director Ian Murray arguing that Meghan’s claims that parts of the media were racist were “not acceptable”. Following this more than 160 journalists and editors from the likes of the Guardian, the Financial Times and HuffPost wrote a letter objecting to the statement.

I'm in agreement with the journalists who put their names to the letter. Unfortunately there is an undeniable issue with the British press when it comes to both the reporting of ethnic minorities and diversity in the newsroom.

The letter signposted clear evidence such as a study by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance which accused two English newspapers of ‘fuelling prejudice’ in a report on rising racist violence and hate speech in the UK (check out page 18), and research from the MCB in 2018 which highlighted startling facts such as over a third of all articles misrepresented or generalised about Muslims.

“There have been numerous examples of complaints upheld against newspapers for inaccurate reporting against Muslims, often including false accusations of extremism,” the letter said.

Since then, Murray has resigned and a further statement from the Society of Editors said its initial comments "did not reflect what we all know: that there is a lot of work to be done in the media to improve diversity and inclusion".

The press needs to be challenged on the way it covers news about ethnic minorities. Like many women, I have been deeply upset by the murder of Sarah Everard. I don't want to take away from the fact a young woman has been killed but we need to assess why there is extensive media coverage when it involves white, middle class women or girls. I was at the Sisters Uncut protests at Scotland Yard and Parliament Square on Sunday and heard from speakers from Black Lives Matter UK, Jewish Solidarity Action, and All Black Lives UK. I stood there and listened as one woman questioned why there had been millions spent on the Madeleine McCann case, when there are missing or murdered black or brown people, and they receive little press attention in comparison? Blessing Olusegun, 21, was found dead on a Bexhill beach on September 18 2020. Her death failed to garner anywhere near as much media coverage despite the suspicious circumstances - she text her boyfriend and friend to stay on the phone. I only heard about Blessing last week. Where is her justice? Here's a petition to for a proper investigation into Blessing's death.

Unfortunately the media industry won't change overnight but we can make a move to ensure that the voices of ethnic minorities are heard in the press. More than ever it's important we all use our privilege to challenge injustices even when they don't impact us.

Thanks for reading.

Susie