Nairobi, Kenya - Debate on perceived media bias against Islam lived to its billing of controversy yesterday on the second day of the International Press Institute congress in Nairobi.
The session saw a section of participants questioning the composition of the panel picked to steer it.
At least three Western journalists argued the composition of the panel chaired by Thomas Bauer of the University of Vienna was heavily tilted in favour of Islam and could not therefore be relied on to be objective.
They were reacting to a barrage of criticism against the mainly Western-owned media for stereotyping the Muslim world as a breeding ground for terrorists and blind religious fundamentalism often manifested in senseless killings.
Veteran journalist and former Director of the United Nations News and Media Division Salim Lone said skewed reporting by West media had in some instances exacerbated conflicts in the Muslim world.
"The question of stereotypes in the media can foment chaos I'm sorry to say the Western Press does suffer from lack of objectivity," Lone said.
A story in the Newsweek, which claimed US soldiers at the Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had desecrated the Koran provoked violent protests in various Muslim countries, leaving at least 15 people dead.
Photos of fallen Iraq strongman Saddam Hussein in his underwear that were splashed in the British Sun also stoked anger among Muslims.
During debate yesterday, Majda Fadil who is the Director of Institute of Professional Journalists, Lebanese American University in Beirut, said Western Press obsession with generalised depiction of Muslims as an uncivilised lot only hardened the latter's anti-West sentiments.