Roy Greenslade reviews a new book Pointing the Finger: Islam and Muslims in the British Media, edited by Julian Petley and Robin Richardson. He writes:

“It is a timely and important book, as another author who has written widely on the same subject, Elizabeth Poole, points out. There are terrific contributions from several media academics and a key chapter  ‘Keeping your integrity – and your job: voices from the newsroom’ – was written by The Guardian columnist Hugh Muir and fellow journalist Laura Smith.

“Few topics are as controversial as the media treatment of Muslims, and too few journalists take it seriously. They should, because they are responsible for the stories people retell. It is press-generated myths about Islam that fuel misunderstandings and feed prejudice, and thus bedevil rational discussion.”