On BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme there was a fascinating report by Torin Douglas, their media correspondence, talking about where young Muslims get their news coverage from. With the proliferation of online sources now available I imagined they would refer to a multitude of different directions, be it moderate or extremist – there is something to cater for all. However their research showed that 80% of Muslims still use the traditional broadcasters and newspaper sources. But it would appear that here is where the ‘disconnect’ happens, with only 20% having trust in these sources.
Trust is crucial to all forms of communication and most recently MORI found that this was the single most important factor associated with people’s attitudes towards a brand, company or message. Will it be possible for the mainstream media in the UK to reconnect with young Muslims? I am not sure that the UK media are prepared for what sort of challenge this could be.
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