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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Alexander Sehmer

Ofcom: Fox News Birmingham comment breached broadcasting code

Birmingham is a 'totally Muslim' place where 'non-Muslims just simply don’t go', a self-proclaimed terrorism expert told the US Fox News channel, sparking a tidal wave of mockery (You Tube)

Fox News has been found in breach of the broadcasting code following comments by one of its interviewees that Birmingham was a 'no-go zone' for non-Muslims.

An Ofcom investigation found the statement, made on the Fox News programme Justice with Judge Jeanine, to be "clearly misleading" and in breach of the code.

In January the US channel broadcast Steven Emerson, a so-called terrorism expert, saying: "In Britain there are not just 'no-go zones', there are actually cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim, where non-Muslims just simply don't go in."

Emerson later apologised for his comments and said he thought Birmingham was "beautiful".

Read more:
Fox News terror expert has been wrong before
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In its report Ofcom said: "In Ofcom's view it was clearly misleading for the Programme to have stated categorically that Paris contained 'no-go zones' and that Birmingham was 'totally Muslim' and a city 'where non-Muslims simply don't go in'."

At the time, Emerson's assertion was roundly criticised on social media and spawned the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts.

Only about 22 per cent of Birmingham's population are Muslims, according to 2011 census data.

Fox has been criticised by the regulator on several occasions in the past. In 2004 it was found in breach of the rules for failing to show "respect for truth" after it broadcast an on-air rant about the BBC.

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