UK: Channel 4 News sparks complaints with Muslim report

“Our report centred on claims that a minority religious sect was being persecuted here in the UK, claims investigated by the police.” [Ch 4].

Ch 4 correspondent Darshna Soni investigated Ahmadiyya hate campaign 

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | UK Desk
Source/Credit: Broadcast Now | UK
By Balihar Khalsa | January 24, 2011

Nearly 130 people complained to Ofcom about a Channel 4 News report looking at whether Ahmadi Muslims are the victims of hate crimes in the UK.

The complaints were made after the piece, which was broadcast on 5 December 2010, saw Midlands correspondent Darshna Soni examining the experience of the Ahmadi community. The report followed attacks on the community in Lahore, Pakistan earlier in 2010.

Registered complaints about the programme reached 128 after the story was broadcast, making it the most complained about programme in the latest Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin, which reports the outcome of investigations into alleged breaches of the code.


However, the programme will not be investigated having been found not to be in breach of the media watchdog’s Broadcasting Code.

A C4 News spokesman defended the report saying the programme produces original journalism “that challenges and provokes debate – so we welcome the wide range of comments we received after broadcast and stand by our report.”

“Our report centred on claims that a minority religious sect was being persecuted here in the UK, claims investigated by the police,” the spokesman added.

“We covered this sensitive issue from a variety of perspectives and reflected the full spectrum of views –  our report has been further vindicated by Ofcom’s verdict that we were ‘not in breach’ of regulations. This verdict was delivered in response to a number of complaints, and there appears to be evidence of an orchestrated campaign.”

An Ofcom spokesman said: “The complaints were not upheld as none of our rules were broken.”


Ahmadiyya Times: The outpouring of complaints only goes to show that perhaps the 'complainers' did not not like the idea that extremists should have been caught off-guard in their 'extra-curricular' activities of organizing hate campaigns against Ahmadi Muslims. Thus, it is conceivable that the complainers were the alleged organizers of the hate campaign to begin with. Perhaps the Tuhaffuz Khatm-e Nubuwwat outfit of the UK can explain any other reasoning for the complains as some may assume this to be another 'organized' anti-Ahmadiyya campaign.




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