Media: The Guardian fires Aslam and then admits the obvious.
| "Trainee journalist Dilpazier Aslam had his contract with the Guardian terminated today.
The move followed an internal inquiry into Aslam’s membership of the political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.
A statement said: “The Guardian now believes continuing membership of the organisation to be incompatible with his continued employment by the company.”
“Mr Aslam was asked to resign his membership but has chosen not to. The Guardian respects his right to make that decision but has regretfully concluded that it had no option but to terminate Mr Aslam’s contract with the company.”
The inquiry followed a piece written by Aslam for the Guardian’s comment pages entitled “We rock the boat”.
The statement added: “The Guardian accepts that it should have explicitly mentioned Mr Aslam’s membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir at the end of his comment piece.”
A correction will appear in the paper’s Corrections and Clarifications column.
-- Background: the Guardian and Dilpazier Aslam |
But remember the initial report from
the Independent.
| "It is understood that staff at The Guardian were unaware that Mr Aslam was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir until allegations surfaced on "The Daily Ablution", a blog run by Scott Burgess. Speculation is mounting that it may have been a sting by Hizb ut-Tahrir to infiltrate the mainstream media.
"....Sources in The Guardian said that Mr Aslam was employed to increase ethnic diversity within the newsroom under The Guardian's one-year traineeship scheme.
One source said: "There was a feeling that we genuinely wanted more diversity, and like all national newspapers we were still a bit 'pale and male' so we were keen to recruit from different backgrounds." |
The Guardian thought it could ride it out by not saying anything and lying about Aslam employment, but the heat got too much. When they hired they had to know about his membership and what he has written beforehand. Now they are trying to cover their behind.
Update# Read the background story because it is either poorly written or it they can't get their story straight.
| "....Dilpazier Aslam is a 27-year-old British Muslim from Yorkshire. After university he studied journalism at Sheffield University with the help of a bursary from the Sheffield Star.
He was a journalistic trainee on the Matlock Mercury in 2004. He won the NUJ George Viner award for promising black journalists in 2003.
He was selected to be one of the Guardian trainees under its diversity scheme and began the year-long programme in October 2004, working in many editorial departments across the paper, including research, photos, graphics, Guardian North, G3s, Guardian Unlimited and the city office.
On his 15-page application form he did not mention that he was a member of the Islamist political party, Hizb ut-Tahrir, despite being invited to describe any participation in public affairs or political campaigning.
"....Subsequent to joining the Guardian, Aslam made no secret of his membership of this political party, drawing it to the attention of several colleagues and some senior editors.
On July 12 - the day it was announced that the July 7 London bombs had been placed by young British muslims from west Yorkshire - Aslam was asked to write a piece for the comment page.
His 560-word article, "We rock the boat: today's Muslims aren't prepared to ignore injustice", was published the following day. In editing the piece the Guardian did not make it clear - as it should have done - that the author was, in addition to being a Guardian trainee, a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The Comment editor was not aware of this fact.
After the article was published a number of people drew attention to a document Hizb ut-Tahrir posted in March 2002, on its British website, Khalifah.com, of which the Guardian was previously unaware. |
I guess the excuse is that some people knew and others did not, which doesn't explain the editors. If they knew and I would think they look over the paper and website to make sure everything is correct, they would have mentioned it and corrected it the next day. But when the
Daily Ablution and the
Independent picked up the story, this cover story was made up.
Update#2: Thanks to Stwefe in the comment pointing out a number of articles regarding Aslam in the Guardian Media section.(
Go to Bugmenot if you need to sign in)
The Aslam targeted by bloggers article is great just for the bitterness that shines thru blaming his firing on right wing bloggers.
| "Rightwing bloggers from the US, where the Guardian has a large online following, were behind the targeting last week of a trainee Guardian journalist who wrote a comment piece which they did not care for about the London bombings.
The story is a demonstration of the way the 'blogosphere' can be used to mount obsessively personalised attacks at high speed.
Within hours, Dilpazier Aslam was being accused on the internet of "violence" and belonging to a "terrorist organisation" - both completely untrue charges.
One blogger appealed for "some loyal Briton to saw off your head and ship it to me". Another accused Aslam of being guilty of "accessory before the fact to murder."
These ravings were posted alongside more legitimate questions as to whether a newspaper should employ a reporter who belongs to a controversial political group linked to the promotion of anti-semitic views.
"....In the Independent on Sunday, Shiv Malik, also briefly a Guardian intern, accused the hapless Aslam of mounting "a sting by Hizb ut-Tahrir to infiltrate the mainstream media".
And in the tabloid Sun, their attack-dog columnist, Richard Littlejohn, took the opportunity to claim: "A Guardian journalist has been unmasked as an Islamist extremist".
Many bloggers repeated Malik's untrue assertion - made in the Independent on Sunday - that the Guardian was "refusing to sack" Aslam.
The episode was a striking illustration of the way that blogs and bloggers can heat up the temperature and seek to settle scores - as well as raise legitimate concerns about journalism and transparency - when something awful happens in the streets of London. |
This might be the first blogger-induced British MSM firing, now onward to the BBC!
More reaction from
Spartac,
Foreign Dispatches,
Harry's Place,
Martin Stabe and
Daily Ablution
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