J-School professors to document the experiences of Muslim journalists in Canadian newsrooms
The School of Journalism’s Asmaa Malik and Sonya Fatah are lead investigators on a first-of-its-kind study in Canada aimed at documenting the lived experiences of Muslim journalists in Canadian newsrooms — including those currently in the industry and those who have left.
Titled the Newsroom Diversity Project: Muslim Journalists' Experiences (external link) , the survey seeks to explore newsroom culture and inclusion, editorial decision-making in newsrooms regarding Muslim stories and access to leadership opportunities for Muslim journalists.
Alongside Malik and Fatah, Masters of Journalism Aia Jaber and TMU criminology assistant professor Fahad Ahmad are collaborators in the research.
Malik said she was inclined to start this research after she left journalism to pursue teaching at Toronto Metropolitan University. Before then, she had the experience of often being the only Muslim in the newsroom since she began her career in the ‘90s, an identity that faced more scrutiny in the public eye following 9/11.
“I had time to reflect on my experiences, my reading of newsroom cultures, the challenges that impacted me as a journalist,” Malik said. “I had always wanted to go back to [the newsroom culture], but I think I needed distance from it to [research] that.”
Malik and Fatah are long-time academic collaborators, having done research together before on adjacent topics — always seeking to document transparency, culture and opportunities in Canadian newsrooms.
“Twenty-five years since 9/11, we were thinking about talking to Muslim journalists about what they’re experiences have been like, especially journalists who have left journalism,” Malik said. “Because there’s many reasons why they do that.”
The research project has been gaining traction on LinkedIn (external link) , where notable Muslim journalists, and former journalists, such as Amira Elghawaby — Canada’s former Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia in Canada — have been publicly sharing their experiences as journalists (external link) , and as Muslims.
Once the results are collected, the team is hoping to speak with focus groups, individuals and to — down the line — create recommendations for Canadian newsrooms on what they could do better. Malik said they have more ideas in mind for their study that will take shape in the coming months.
For now, Malik said her hope is that their research can “give young Muslim journalists the security or recognition that the experiences they’re going through are battles that have been fought, or are still being fought by others, and that they’re not alone.”
Former and current Muslim journalists can find and fill out the survey here (external link) .