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| C. elegans |
It was typical of the BBC's flagship news bulletins on BBC One (News at Six and News at Ten) that they each devoted just 14 seconds to the death of Sir John Sulston, the scientist who led the human genome breakthrough:
Sir John Sulston, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work on the Human Genome Project, has died. Sir John's work in decoding the sequence of human DNA, the building blocks of life, saw him awarded the prize back in 2002.
Bizarrely the BBC even managed to get this wrong, twice in the space of two short sentences!
Sir John won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for work on 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death' through his study of a particular species of worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) - work which led to innovations in cancer research - and not for "his work on the Human Genome Project".
Very poor journalism.
The death of Sir John Sulston (real news) got relegated to a mere quarter-of-a-minute footnote on both the News at Six and News at Ten in order to make way for the 'news' that a modelling agency has just signed its first British catwalk model who wears a hijab - an item which took up nearly four minutes of both prime time BBC One bulletins.
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| Nomia Iqbal |
Here's a transcript. Note the very heavy imbalance in favour of those who take a positive view of the hijab:
Nomia Iqbal, BBC: The spotlight is on the hijab. Many Muslim women choose to wear it proudly. For some, it's an act of modesty. For others, in countries like Iran, forced to wear it, it's a symbol to remove in protest. It may divide opinion, but the hijab is going high fashion. 20-year-old model, Shahira Yusuf, has been signed up by Storm, the agency that found supermodel, Kate Moss. Shahira is one of the first British models with a hijab taking to the catwalk.Shahira Yusuf, model: Yeah, definitely don't want to be considered a token girl. I don't want these models like ethnic models or models from different religious backgrounds to just pave the way, I want the way to stay there, become the norm within society. Because it is the norm outside of the modelling sphere.Shahira is becoming the face of Modest Fashion. At the show in London, Muslim designers have come from all over the world to promote their clothes. The market for Modest Fashion is on course to be worth billions. I grew up in a Muslim family and none of the the women in my family wore the hijab. None of my Muslim friends wore it either. But now, more and more young women are wearing it.Shahira Yusuf: The reason why I wear it is to number one, cover my hair. And number two, to be honest, I actually enjoy wearing the hijab, I enjoy covering my hair, I enjoy the hijabs I have today. I feel like it makes a statement. It's part of who I am, it's my crown.
Unnamed woman: The hijab to me is empowerment and it's feminism and it's taking control and ownership of what I choose to show to the world.Being online has given some women a powerful platform. Social media star, Mariah Idrissi, has a huge following on Instagram.Mariah Idrissi, online personality: The hijab is a part of me, it's part of my career and its representation. You know, we shouldn't be ashamed or shy to represent who we are.Nomia Iqbal: If you are a model wearing a hijab, and you're on Instagram and having thousands of people following you, aren't you doing the opposite of what the hijab is supposed to be about?
Mariah Idrissi: The mainstream media, western media isn't representing Muslims on TV, in fashion, anywhere. The only time we are represented is for something bad. I just saw this as, you know I'm going on the news and I'm talking about something that's not about terrorism, not about women being oppressed, I'm talking about fashion.Some campaigners for Muslim women's' rights think the hijab's popularity is a political statement. They feel uneasy about its use as an expression of identity.Ahlam Akbar, Basira Women's Rights Group: Modest does not mean you need to wear the hijab. Modesty goes beyond that in your behaviour and your way of dressing. I don't need to prove to anybody what I am, but in the hijab, you are singling yourself and proving something unnecessary, especially in the Western world.The hijab means different things to different people. Shahira believes you can wear it and be a successful model. Her dream? The cover of British Vogue, wearing her hijab. Nomia Iqbal, BBC News.
