The Mail on Sunday...

So this is their idea of mature and balanced journalism...

UK newspaper accused of fanning flames of Islamophobia
11-03-2006
London, IRNA: The University of London Union is considering banningthe sale of the Daily Mail following reports itssister paper, the Mail, on Sunday had been trying tobribe students to spy on their Muslim colleagues. The weekly was said to have offered studentjournalists 100 pounds (USD 170) to pose as Muslimsand secretly record any meeting of Muslim societies inan attempt to report claims of Islamic radicals beingactive on campuses. According to the London Student magazine, tworeporters from the Mail on Sunday have been trying tobribe students into such undercover activities,including at Imperial College and the World RivalSociety at Queen Mary's. "This is further proof that sections of the media arefanning the flames of Islamophobia," the president ofthe World Revival Society, Rezaul Rana, was quoted assaying. Rana criticized the underhand tactics of"sensationalist and polemicist journalists" as chasingfalse and juicy stories in the hope of making quickmoney. "At a time when Muslims are being depicted as the`enemy within', what the media ought to focus on is toremove the misconceptions and prejudices aboutMuslims, who live here and continue to contribute toBritish society immensely," the society's presidentsaid. The exposure of the secret targeting of Muslims comesafter the paper's owners, Associated Newspapers,became embroiled in a campaign against London MayorKen Livingstone over comments he made to a Jewishreporter working for London's Evening Standard. The campaign led to Livingstone being suspended for amonth for describing the reporter as a Nazi guard,although the High Court has since allowed the mayor toappeal against the unprecedented ban. The president of the National Union of Students, KatFletcher, also criticized the latest tactics by theMail on Sunday as "essentially a bribe to spy on theirfellow students." "It is extremely sad that a Sunday newspaper wouldseek to undo this hard work and divide the studentpopulation at a time when we need to continue to worktogether," Fletcher said. Although the University of London Union does not stockthe weekly because its shops are not open on Sunday,it was said to be considering banning the sale of theDaily Mail in protest at the newspaper group'stactics. London Student, which exposed the bribery attempt, isthe fortnightly paper that is claimed by be read bysome 75,000 of the 120,000 students at the variouscolleges of the University of London.
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MoS under fire from student press Julia DayFriday March 10, 2006
The Mail on Sunday has been accused of "fanning the flames of Islamaphobia" after allegations it offered students £100 to infiltrate Muslim student societies in an attempt to uncover evidence of "extremism" at universities.
Mail on Sunday casual reporter Sophie Borland contacted Pi, the student magazine at her old college, University College London, offering student reporters £100 to attend muslim society meetings and report back on what was discussed.
Borland's email to Pi reporter Kat Lay read: "What the editor wants is to pay student reporters to go undercover to one or two meetings of various societies. The reporters would be paid £100 per meeting but IF something came up that turned into a story obviously they would be paid a lot more."
Lay contacted Chaminda Jayanetti, her co-news editor on London Student, a fortnightly newspaper for the city's 120,000 students, and decided go along with Borland and Mail on Sunday education correspondent Glen Owen in order to gather evidence of the national newspaper's tactics.
At one point Owen described to Jayanetti what the paper was looking for from the exercise: "Anything that suggests that extremism is taking hold. It doesn't matter what form it takes, just as long as it gives any indication of extremism"
Owen appeared to view a campaign by Imperial College students against the ban on wearing the Islamic veil at the college as a particularly good opportunity, telling London Student: "I suspect that if you targeted a meeting there you might find that there are some lively opinions. It would be a very good story if we could find any indication that they're thinking of taking militant action or civil disobedience.
"If they say something in secret about 'we need to insist that women wear the burka' or 'we need to withdraw cooperation from the university' or any of these sort of plots that they'll be hatching, if we can reveal that, bring that into the open, then that'll be interesting ... so see what you can sniff out."
But when Jayanetti revealed he was not interested in taking up the £100 offer and was in fact collecting evidence about the Mail on Sunday's behaviour, Borland suggested blowing the whistle on the Mail on Sunday could blow his chances of a career in journalism.
Borland asked the student: "Do you want to get into national newspapers, essentially? My advice to you would not be to criticise them and to cooperate with them. That's all I'm saying, it's all well and good being worthy, but..."
London Student responded to the offer in order to examine the nature of the newspaper's approach, but never attended any meetings or accepted any money and have instead published an article detailing the affair in the latest edition of their paper.
The National Union of Students accuses the newspaper of "fanning the flames of Islamophobia" by issuing "bribes" to spy on fellow students and say the Mail on Sunday's tactics puts muslim students at risk of "racism, fear and hostility".
However the Mail on Sunday has defended its reason for trying to infiltrate muslim student meetings, saying it was legitimately investigating a matter of "great public interest" and said its reporters acted responsibly.
The NUS president, Kat Fletcher, said: "Offering students, who are increasingly burdened by huge debt, what is essentially a bribe to spy on their fellow students is abhorrent. "That the journalist has been forced to resort to this type of low tactic, clearly illustrates that the hysteria surrounding extremism on campus has little basis in reality and no concrete evidence to back it up. "This kind of sensationalist journalism ... is encouraging discrimination towards certain religious groups and students on campus by playing on fears. It is also putting Muslim students at risk by inflaming a climate of racism, fear and hostility, and placing a cloud over perfectly legitimate student Islamic societies." London Student claims the Mail on Sunday's is trying to perpetuate the myth that muslim students are "the enemy within".
Patrick Ward, the London Student editor, said: "At a time of rampant Islamophobia ... rather than creating and exploiting divisions in society, a responsible newspaper should be exposing the flaws - both technical and ethical - in these practices."
A spokesman for the Mail on Sunday said: "Last October a Mail on Sunday casual reporter, a former student at UCL, approached the UCL student magazine, whose editor she knew, asking if any student journalist would be willing to help an investigation into allegations of extremist activity in universities.
"We were put in contact with a young man who said he would be willing to assist. This man has called us a few times but provided no useful material. No article has been published and the man was not paid. We were investigating a subject of great public interest and our journalists have behaved responsibly."
The Guardian newspaper
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Nailed on Sunday
By Chaminda Jayanetti & Kat Lay
Thursday, 09 March 2006
EXCLUSIVE: Mail on Sunday offers students cash to spy on Muslims

By Chaminda Jayanetti & Kat LayLondon Student Thursday, 09 March 2006
The Mail on Sunday has been accused of fuelling Islamophobia after offering students hundreds of pounds to spy on Muslim student societies in an attempt to uncover evidence of 'extremism'.
The newspaper promised student journalists £100 per meeting to pose as Muslims and secretly record meetings of student Islamic societies to see if any radical organisations were recruiting there.
The offer came in an email from junior reporter Sophie Borland, who graduated from UCL in 2004. It said: "What the editor wants is to pay student reporters to go undercover to one or two meetings of various societies. The reporters would be paid £100 per meeting but IF something came up that turned into a story obviously they would be paid a lot more."
The email referred to a 'tip off' that radicals would be targeting London campuses. Borland referred to "rumours flying around a lot". The Sunday Times reported on radicals allegedly operating undercover at UCL in the autumn, but Borland said: "If you take a look at their article it really wasn't based on much. The Sunday Times went really big on it but it wasn't anything really."
The Mail on Sunday's Education Correspondent Glen Owen specifically targeted Imperial College's Muslim students and Queen Mary's World Revival Society.
London Student responded to the offer in order to examine the nature of the newspaper's approach, but never attended any meetings or accepted any money.
ULU is considering banning the sale of sister paper the Daily Mail from its shops in protest at the newspaper's tactics.
ULU Vice-President Sam Thomas said: "I am disgusted at the thought of a national newspaper abusing students' freedom through such tactics. These allegations must be thoroughly investigated. If found to be accurate, we will be forced to consider whether the Daily Mail has any place in ULU's shops." ULU shops do not open on Sundays, and so do not stock copies of The Mail on Sunday.
The Mail on Sunday was looking for evidence of 'extremism', but what this amounted to was unclear. At one point Owen described what they were after: "I don't know, anything that suggests that extremism is taking hold. It doesn't matter what form it takes just as long as it gives any indication of extremism."
At another point he explained: "Well, anything that gives a flavour of the more extreme end of things and any intelligence that you can pick up. It's not a restricted task, it's whatever would be of interest."
He later said: "Anything interesting that's thrown up. Language. Not just recruitment but discussions, plans of action."
Professor Anthony Glees' controversial report on extremism on campus, which was seen by some as encouraging Islamo-phobia, also focused on the BNP and animal rights fanatics, but The Mail on Sunday were solely focused on Muslim students. When told of a society debate at Queen Mary before Christmas, Owen responded: "Is that a specifically Muslim society?"
The newspaper viewed the campaign by Imperial students against the ban on wearing the Islamic veil at the college as a particularly good opportunity. Owen said: "I suspect that if you targeted a meeting there you might find that there are some lively opinions being expressed about that.
"I think it's probably bound to become the focus of rebellion and no-one's actually done that yet so it would be a very good story if we could find any indication that they're thinking of taking militant action or civil disobedience or any of that sort of stuff.
"If they say something in secret about 'we need to insist that women wear the burka' or 'we need to withdraw cooperation from the university' or any of these sort of plots that they'll be hatching, if we can reveal that, bring that into the open, then that'll be interesting … I find it hard to believe that some people aren't talking about this already, so see what you can sniff out. The Imperial Isoc [Islamic Society] may still be worth pursuing on this issue."
The campaign against the veil ban at Imperial was in reality peaceful, above board and organised by the students' union and activists in the Islamic Society and Respect, with no extremist elements present.
The focus on Queen Mary's World Revival Society (WRS) was based on research by unspecified pro-Zionist groups. Owen again explained his interest: "They've been monitored by some pro-Zionist groups, in particular the last couple of years, as being a source of anxiety. Whether that means they are or they're not or whether it's just their jaundiced perspective you can't be sure, but their names have been mentioned."
Borland visited the Queen Mary students' union (QMSU) freshers' fayre in September to speak to the WRS. QMSU communications officer Charlotte Arnold defended the society: "Queen Mary Students' Union is dedicated to supporting and protecting the entire student body, including the World Revival Society, until such time when there is evidence to suggest that our constitution or 'no platform' policy is being breached."
WRS President Rezaul Rana said: "This society is run by students, for the welfare of students. Our sole aim is to facilitate discourse and debate on matters that affect students. We work very closely with QMSU and maintain a very warm relationship with our students' union President. The events which we organise are authorised by QMSU and are publicised on campus and usually well attended. In no way do they occur in secrecy."
He added: "This attempt by The Mail on Sunday, if anything, is further proof that sections of the media are fanning the flames of Islamophobia. At a time when relations are bitter in some areas, sensationalist and polemicist journalists are chasing false and juicy stories hoping for a quick buck. At a time when Muslims are being depicted as the 'enemy within', what the media ought to focus on is to remove the misconceptions and prejudices about Muslims, who live here and continue to contribute to British society immensely."
Lord Carlile, the independent reviewer of the government's anti-terror legislation, recently warned a House of Commons Select Committee about 'intimidating' student societies that were radicalising young people. He refused to comment on the tactics adopted by The Mail on Sunday or the media in general in investigating Islamic societies when questioned by London Student.
NUS President Kat Fletcher condemned the newspaper's approach to the issue of Islamic extremism. She said in a statement: "Offering students, who are increasingly burdened by huge debt, what is essentially a bribe to spy on their fellow students is abhorrent.
"That the journalist has been forced to resort to this type of low tactic, clearly illustrates that the hysteria surrounding extremism on campus has little basis in reality and no concrete evidence to back it up."
Fletcher added: "This kind of sensationalist journalism contributes nothing to the serious debate about combating terrorism. Instead, it is encouraging discrimination towards certain religious groups and students on campus by playing on fears. It is also putting Muslim students at risk by inflaming a climate of racism, fear and hostility, and placing a cloud over perfectly legitimate student Islamic societies.
"The student movement has been united in supporting Muslim students in the backlash following the July bombings. It is extremely sad that a Sunday newspaper would seek to undo this hard work and divide the student population at a time when we need to continue to work together."
When told of London Student's actual intentions in cooperating with The Mail on Sunday, Borland chose to focus on our reporters' career prospects. "Do you want to get into national newspapers, essentially? My advice to you would not be to criticise them and to co-operate with them. That's all I'm saying, it's all well and good being worthy, but…"

The London Student newspaper