MOSCOW: Police in Moscow on Wednesday detained three journalists who picketed Russia’s Justice Ministry, protesting the authorities’ recent crackdown on independent media, Russia’s top independent Dozhd TV channel reported.
Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya and Polina Uzhvak of the Vazhniye Istorii news outlet came to the ministry to protest against the recent designation of several independent media outlets, including Dozhd and Vazhniye Istorii, as “foreign agents.” The label carries strong pejorative connotations that can discredit the recipient, and implies additional government scrutiny.
The three journalists demanded that authorities abolish the law allowing media and journalists to be labelled “foreign agents.” They displayed small banners reading “There are no foreign agents, there are journalists,” along with an elaborate disclaimer those designated as “foreign agents” are obliged to add to any content they produce, disclosing their status.
“The fact that we’re being labeled ‘foreign agents’ is merely a ban on honest journalist work, nothing else,” Dozhd quoted Dolinina as saying. She and Marokhovskaya have been designated as “foreign agents,” as well.
Independent media, journalists, opposition supporters and human rights activists in Russia have faced increased pressure ahead of a Sept. 19 parliamentary election, which is widely seen as an important part of President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to cement his rule before the next presidential election in 2024.
The 68-year-old Russian leader, who has been in power for more than two decades, pushed through constitutional changes last year that would potentially allow him to hold on to power until 2036.
In recent months, the government has designated a number of independent media outlets and journalists as “foreign agents” and raided the homes of several prominent reporters. The publisher of one outlet that released investigative reports on alleged corruption and abuses by top Russian officials and tycoons close to Putin was outlawed as an “undesirable” organization.
Two other news outlets shut down after authorities accused them of links to “undesirable” organizations.
The Kremlin denies that it is stifling press freedoms and insists that the “foreign agent” designation doesn’t bar outlets from operating.
The wave of repression has prompted past protests in Moscow. About two weeks ago, 12 journalists were briefly detained after picketing Russia’s Federal Security Service in protest of the “foreign agents” law. Another small rally took place in the Russian capital on Saturday.
Russian police detain journalists rallying for media freedom
https://arab.news/52a8r
Russian police detain journalists rallying for media freedom
- Russian police detained three journalists who picketed Russia’s Justice Ministry, protesting the authorities’ recent crackdown on independent media
- The three journalists demanded that authorities abolish the law allowing media and journalists to be labelled “foreign agents.”
Study finds nearly half of UK news stories on Muslims show signs of bias
- Centre for Media Monitoring finds 20,000 out of 40,913 articles from 30 major news outlets contain bias and 70% link Muslims to negative behaviors or themes
- Findings reveal ‘deeply concerning evidence of structural bias’ in portrayal of Muslims by UK press and point to ‘systemic problem’ within the media, says center’s director
LONDON: Nearly half of news articles published in the UK in 2025 that referenced Muslims or Islam contained some degree of bias, according to a report issued on Monday by the Centre for Media Monitoring. It also found that about 70 percent of stories linked Muslims to negative behaviors or themes.
The nonprofit organization, which tracks the ways in which Muslims and Islam are portrayed in the media, examined 40,913 articles from 30 major news outlets and found that about 20,000 showed some form of bias.
The study looked at “structural patterns” in coverage that “shape public narratives” about Muslims amid rising hostility toward the community.
“As the largest study of its kind ever conducted in the UK, this report presents deeply concerning evidence of structural bias in how Muslims are portrayed in the UK press,” said Rizwana Hamid, the director of the organization.
It found that 70 percent of the articles it reviewed highlighted negative aspects related to Muslims, though not all of the stories were biased in themselves. The wider patterns were also troubling: 44 percent of the coverage omitted key context, 17 percent relied on generalizations, and 13 percent included outright misrepresentation.
Taken together, the monitoring center said, the findings amounted to evidence of an “information integrity crisis” that distorts public understanding, and “a deeply concerning trend” in reporting on Muslims.
The research points to a “systemic problem within our media ecosystem,” Hamid said.
“When entire communities are repeatedly framed through lenses of suspicion or threat, it inevitably shapes public attitudes, political debate and the everyday lives of British Muslims,” she added.
News brands targeting right-wing audiences were more likely to produce biased coverage, the report found.
The Spectator magazine and GB News were identified as having the highest proportion of “very biased” articles, and as the “worst across all five bias categories”: negative framing, generalizations, misrepresentation, lack of context, and problematic headlines.
Other outlets highlighted for displaying high levels of biased content about Muslims included The Telegraph, The Jewish Chronicle, Daily Express, The Sun, Daily Mail and The Times.
In contrast, the BBC, other broadcasters and left-leaning outlets recorded the lowest rates of bias in the study.
The research comes as British Muslims report rising levels of discrimination. Official figures published in October revealed that religious hate crimes against Muslims rose by 19 percent in the year to March 2025 compared with the previous 12 months.
