By Maktoob
Malayalam news channels repeatedly used Islamophobic frames in their news reports, discussions, headlines and visual presentations, with 120 such instances documented between January 2024 and September 2026, according to a report by Islamophobia Watch.
The report, titled “Islamophobia in Malayalam News Channels: 120 Presentations (January 2024–September 2026)”, examines nearly 1,000 days of Malayalam television news coverage and identifies 120 selected instances that it describes as Islamophobic.
The report stressed that it does not classify every report critical of Islam or Muslims as Islamophobic. Instead, it defines Islamophobic media presentation as practices that repeatedly associate Muslims or Islam with “suspicion, security threats, terrorism, intolerance and social backwardness”, generalise the actions of individuals as characteristics of an entire religious community, or apply different standards to Muslim political and social activities.
It also examined how headlines, visuals, questions and the structure of television debates can repeatedly place Muslims in positions of “suspicion and otherness.”
The report said Islamophobia in Malayalam news media “cannot be viewed merely as the problem of a few isolated reports or individual journalists.” Instead, it argued that the pattern needs to be examined as a broader feature of media practices, including news selection, editorial priorities, headlines, language, visual presentation and the framing of television discussions.
The report said most of the 120 documented instances were from Janam TV, which it described as having close links with Hindutva politics, and called for scrutiny of ownership structures and editorial leadership in Kerala’s media organisations with direct or indirect links to Hindutva politics.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.
