* Says ethical, professional journalism is best response to negative narratives
A Senior Broadcast Journalist with the Voice of Nigeria, Mallam Hussain Bin Hyacinth, has called on Muslims especially journalists and media organisations to resist responding emotionally to bias against Islam, insisting that the most effective response is ethical, evidence based and professional journalism rather than counter propaganda.
Bin Hyacinth made the remarks in Lagos during the 7th Anniversary Lecture and MNAwards presentation organised by Muslim News Nigeria, where he spoke as one of the panellists on the theme, “Framing the Faith in the Midst of Media Representation and Global Conflicts.”
The panel session brought together the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Concern, Professor Ishaq Akintola; the Director of NTA, represented by Principal Reporter, Mallam Talha Babalola Musa and the Director of the Hijab Rights Advocacy Initiative, Hajia Mutiat Orolu-Balogun to examine the challenges of media representation of Islam and Muslims in today’s global landscape.
The event also featured the presentation of the Global and Nigerian Muslim Personalities of the Year 2025 (MNAwards), alongside the 30 Muslim Women of Substance Awards, honouring distinguished individuals for their exceptional contributions to the growth of the Muslim community and the advancement of society.
According to him, Muslim media practitioners should understand how news framing works and produce reports that are factual, balanced and capable of standing the test of professional scrutiny rather than merely reacting to narratives created by others.
He explained that media framing is the process through which journalists and media organisations select, structure and emphasise aspects of events in ways that shape how audiences understand and interpret those events.
Using the Christmas Eve explosion of December 24, 2025, as an example, Bin Hyacinth argued that some media organisations deliberately highlighted the timing of the incident by describing it as a “Christmas Eve” attack despite the fact that many of the victims were Muslims.
According to him, such editorial choices were capable of portraying Muslims as aggressors against Christians while diverting attention from the actual victims of the tragedy.
He maintained that many Christian owned and mainstream media organisations engage in what he described as “offensive journalism” when reporting issues relating to Islam, while Muslim owned media organisations often respond through what he termed “defensive journalism.
“While doing so, we sometimes fall into their trap without knowing,” he said.
The veteran broadcaster also criticised recurring allegations that Muslims were pursuing an agenda to Islamise Nigeria, describing the narrative as a strategy designed to keep Muslims perpetually on the defensive.
He argued that such accusations had sometimes pushed Muslims into demanding policies merely as reactions to Christian practices rather than based on independent Islamic principles.
As examples, he cited calls for a public holiday on the first day of Muharram because January 1 is recognised as a public holiday, and the declaration of 12 Rabiul Awwal as a public holiday in response to Christmas celebrations.
Speaking further, Bin Hyacinth questioned the practicality of objectivity in journalism.
While acknowledging that unethical representation of Islam and Muslims is often attributed to lack of objectivity, he argued that complete objectivity hardly exists in journalism practice because every news organisation frames events through particular ideological, political or cultural lenses.
He argued that the popular journalism principle of “man bites dog,” which prioritises the unusual over the ordinary, together with what he described as the Machiavellian philosophy of pursuing desired outcomes regardless of the means, often influences how conflicts and religious issues are reported.
The broadcaster contrasted this approach with the Islamic principle of justice, citing the Qur’anic injunction that believers should not allow hatred for any people to prevent them from acting justly.
According to him, journalism anchored on fairness, truth and justice remains more consistent with Islamic ethical values than one driven by sensationalism or vested interests.
To illustrate his point, Bin Hyacinth demonstrated what he described as contrasting media lenses through which Christianity is frequently portrayed as peaceful, moderate and conciliatory, while Islam is commonly associated with terrorism, extremism and violence.
He also argued that the same pattern appears in the portrayal of Christianity as “half full” while Islam is presented as “half empty,” creating different public perceptions of similar realities.
Drawing examples from international conflicts, Bin Hyacinth examined media coverage of the Russia Ukraine war, the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the Israeli Iranian confrontation.
He argued that language is often deliberately modified to enhance or damage reputations depending on political interests, with allies consistently portrayed favourably while opponents receive negative framing.
According to him, the underlying principle often appears to be that “our friend is always right, while our enemy is always wrong.”
He further cited contrasting international headlines on casualties in Israel and Gaza as evidence of selective emphasis in global reporting.
According to him, narratives surrounding military actions against Iran also demonstrate how identical actions are framed differently depending on who controls the information.
Tracing the problem to what he described as the North South divide in global information flow, Bin Hyacinth argued that Muslims and much of the Global South remain consumers rather than producers of dominant media narratives.
He noted that the world’s most influential news organisations are largely owned and managed in the Global North, giving them enormous power to determine which stories receive prominence, the language used to tell those stories and the perspectives through which audiences interpret global events.
“Globally and locally, we are not in control of information dissemination machineries. Giant news organisations in the world are owned and managed in the Global North, which frame news events the way they want and disseminate them to us for consumption. The situation is not different here in Nigeria,” he said.
He therefore called on Muslim journalists and media organisations to invest in building credible institutions capable of producing high quality journalism that commands public trust.
According to him, until Muslims strengthen their capacity to own and sustain effective information dissemination platforms at both national and international levels, they will continue to consume narratives framed largely by others.
The 7th Anniversary Lecture and MNAwards presentation brought together journalists, scholars, media professionals and Muslim leaders to discuss strategies for promoting accurate, ethical and balanced reporting of Islam in an era of global conflicts and increasing media influence.
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