PRISTINA: Kosovo plans to offer shelter for up to six months to 20 Ukrainian journalists forced to leave their country following the invasion by Russia, according to a government document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
The document says priority will be given to female journalists who will be chosen by the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the European Center for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF).
The government will initially allocate 150,000 euros to pay for their living costs, wages and offices for a period of up to six months, to enable them to work remotely.
There was no indication when the journalists would arrive in Kosovo, which is neither a NATO nor an EU member but has joined other Western countries in introducing sanctions on Russia.
Last August Kosovo also agreed to temporarily host about 2,000 Afghans seeking visas to enter the United States. Most of them have already left although some are still waiting for their paperwork.
Ukraine does not recognize Kosovo’s independence but it has 40 troops serving as peacekeepers in the country under a NATO mission.
Kosovo to shelter 20 Ukrainian journalists working remotely
https://arab.news/gknsn
Kosovo to shelter 20 Ukrainian journalists working remotely
- The government will initially allocate 150,000 euros to pay for their living costs, wages and offices
- There was no indication when the journalists would arrive in Kosovo
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.
