Officials at the Council on American-Islamic Relations are offering their “Journalist’s Guide” on “understanding Islam and Muslims” to reporters for free following the terrorist attack that killed 10 journalists in the Charlie Hebdo magazine newsroom in Paris.
CAIR announced its giveaway Friday, also saying that it will give away issues of the Quran to the general public who wish to receive a copy.
The campaign is “in response to the current debate about Islam and free speech in the wake of the recent terror attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo magazine in France,” CAIR said.
Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula earlier this week claimed responsibility for two Islamic terrorists who invaded the satirical magazine newsroom to protest its publication of cartoons making fun of Muhammad. Two Paris policemen were also killed in the chaos.
CAIR’s guide for reporters — it’s titled “American Muslims: A Journalist’s Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims” — offers “best practices for reporting on the American Muslim community and definitions of terminology often used in news stories or editorials,” the release says.
The guide also “provides an Islamic perspective on hot-button issues such as Islam and democracy, freedom of religion, women’s rights, and interfaith relations.”
After the attack on Charlie Hebdo, some media organizations declined to republish cartoons by the magazine that mocked the Muslim prophet. Other outlets published the cartoons in defiance or to show examples of the content that Islamic extremists find offensive.
In 2007, the Department of Justice named CAIR as an un-indicted co-conspirator with the Iranian-backed Hamas terrorist organization. In 2009, a federal judge refused to force removal of the CAIR link to Hamas from government documents on the case.
A media guide to Catholic organizations also exists, produced by the Catholic group Call to Action. It is mostly serves as a reference of experts that journalists might contact for specific issues related to the Catholic Church.
