UK Watchdog exposes deep rooted anti-Muslim media bias

The Centre for Media Monitoring analysed 40,913 articles from 2025, uncovering a paper trail of anti-Muslim reporting. And it found that:

nearly half of all articles referencing Muslims or Islam in 2025 contained some degree of bias.

It also identified a “broader structural weakness” across Britain’s media landscape.

The independent media watchdog, reviewing content from 30 major UK-registered news organisations, predictably found that far-right outlets are the prime purveyors of anti-Muslim propaganda.

A distinct cluster of right-wing outlets is responsible for the most severe and persistent harmful coverage: The Spectator, GB News, The Telegraph, Jewish Chronicle & The Daily Mail are the worst offenders across almost all categories. #SofM2025 pic.twitter.com/W8qpRvSZe7

— The Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) (@cfmmuk) March 9, 2026

It found countless examples of “systematic editorial hostility” from certain outlets with a clear anti-Muslim agenda. It cited the Spectator as an example, reporting that one in four of its articles were “very biased.”

The current Spectator editor, appointed in September 2024, is the former Tory MP Michael Gove. The proud Zionist has repeatedly denied Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and asserts that Israeli influence in Britain should grow even further, despite the significant influence the pro-Israel lobby wields over UK politics.

Part of Israel’s alliance and ideological overlap with Western fascists is largely driven by their shared aim of attacking Muslims and progressives. For Israel, these groups represent a threat to Israel’s impunity, particularly for speaking out against its war crimes. As for the UK-fascist camp, these groups are an obstacle to them gaining power.

The Telegraph and the Mail – both hard-right outlets – may not have been quite as fervently anti-Muslim in 2025, proportionally speaking. In contrast, because their output was much larger, the reach of their biased content was that much greater.

Meanwhile, in terms of sheer volume, The Telegraph published the largest number of severely biased articles about Muslims in 2025, followed by the Daily Mail. #SofM2025 pic.twitter.com/KieiNFy332

— The Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) (@cfmmuk) March 9, 2026

The study also found that GB News, the latest kid on the block as far as hateful far-right propaganda is concerned, was “among the worst performers.” It earned the top rank for publishing “sweeping generalisations” about Muslims at 39 percent.

As the centre explains:

The Telegraph, Daily Mail, and GB News together account for 956 ‘Very Biased’ articles 46.8% of all such content. These three outlets shape nearly half of the most extreme biased discourse

Omission of context is a problem across the mainstream media, not just on the right

The centre’s study also underlines the absence of contextual detail across the articles included in their sample:

Contextual omission is the most widespread form of problematic coverage […] 44% of biased articles contained contextual omission, making it the most common harmful journalistic practice identified in the study. Unlike other bias categories, this issue appears across the media spectrum, suggesting a broader structural weakness in UK journalism.

The most widespread failure across ALL outlets? Omitting context. Found in 44% of biased articles, this is not just a right-wing problem. It reflects a structural weakness in British journalism that editors across the board must urgently address. #SofM2025 pic.twitter.com/UwO1slIfgQ

— The Centre for Media Monitoring (CfMM) (@cfmmuk) March 9, 2026

The result, as the centre notes, amounts to a failure to provide:

information, perspectives, or voices that would clarify or provide greater context to the issue being discussed.

And it wasn’t just outlets on the far-right failing to provide appropriate context.

One particularly problematic group of media outlets in this respect was “international wire services”. While organisations like Associated Press, Reuters, and AFP displayed only “moderate” bias, the fact that “hundreds of outlets globally” use their content has resulted in:

moderate levels of negative framing or contextual omission in wire service reporting carry a disproportionate real-world impact, thereby embedding harmful narratives throughout the broader media ecosystem.

Rizwana Hamid, the director of Centre for Media Monitoring, asserted that:

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

The wider picture

The centre surprisingly found lower levels of anti-Muslim bias across BBC coverage. However, this doesn’t let the BBC off the hook, having demonstrated multiple instances of anti-Palestinian bias. And this has inevitably fed into the idea that the mass murder of a predominantly Muslim group isn’t a big deal.

This was documented in the centre’s 2025 report on BBC reporting bias during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Needless to say, they found that although Israeli occupation forces had killed at least 34 times more Palestinians, Israelis received 33 times more coverage.

Across the broader British media spectrum, this downplaying of Muslim deaths continues. Mainstream news organisations prioritise Israeli deaths while underplaying non-Israeli deaths:

Lebanese die, Israelis are killed https://t.co/nvLRuuKeUj

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) March 9, 2026

Sky News deleted this tweet

Which is a reminder why we need to log and record every example of dehumanisation on @archivegenocide

The archive webpage extracts and stores all data, preserving it for the future. pic.twitter.com/rNlFxMtgCK

— Philip Proudfoot (@PhilipProudfoot) March 8, 2026

You rewrote it and still didn’t fix it. Here you go. https://t.co/QGf74GTvWU pic.twitter.com/jUFZ9UyHHv

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 9, 2026

In case you can’t tell by reading this post, Israel killed almost 400 people, including 83 children, in Lebanon this week. https://t.co/gKG6RbD4db

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 8, 2026

The report is a welcome contribution to a growing body of literature that paints a picture of rising hatred towards Muslims. This rise mirrors the increasing Islamophobic attacks and hate crimes in recent years, and Muslim communities rightfully feel fearful of the situation.

The study confirms what the Canary has long argued – mainstream outlets, particularly those on the right, are stoking an increasingly volatile political climate with biased coverage that endangers the Muslim community.

Holding these outlets accountable is crucial in confronting this reality and ensuring the safety of Muslims and that the forces of hate and division don’t prevail.

Featured image via the Canary