Monitoring the media for misrepresentations of our community is one of the most important responsibilities we have. This joint effort, by SALDEF and community members across the country, has resulted in hundreds of letters to editors, writers and producers over our 15 years of work. A few examples of our monitoring efforts from this year include:
In January SALDEF secured a formal apology from National Geographic, following the broadcasting of images of Sikhs linking them to terrorism and Al Qaeda. Furthermore, the program in question has been edited to remove the images of Sikhs altogether for any future broadcasts, ensuring further misrepresentations of the Sikh community will not occur.- SALDEF also secured a formal apology in March from RTTV, a global multilingual television news network based in Russia following their news broadcast that repeatedly depicted a Sikh man during a report on Muslims. In response to a letter immediately issued by SALDEF bringing the matter to their attention, RTTV formally apologized and removed the erroneous broadcast from their website.
- In May, two major news outlets, CNN and Financial Times (FT), published online articles about Osama bin Laden using images of a Sikh to supplement the news stories. SALDEF contacted editors at both outlets and alerted them to the inappropriate use of the image, at which point both news outlets removed the images.
- Last month, India Abroad published a highly offensive
letter to the editor which stated that Sikhs have no one to blame for the challenges they face if they continue to wear their articles of faith. SALDEF immediately contacted India Abroad to question the editors’ discretion in publishing the comments and responded with a letter of our own published in the November 11 edition.
You can help ensure that Sikh Americans will be positively portrayed in the media by: Supporting our “15 for 15” year-end fundraising drive with a 100% tax deductible donation today. Become a monthly donor at $15/month to recognize our 15 years of service or help us reach our year-end target of $75,000 with a generous contribution. Consider that your donation of:
- $250 helps us release a nationwide press release about an Anti-Sikh Hate Crime
- $1,000 sponsors a press conference
- $5,000 supports our effort to hire a full-time media analyst
Your support helps amplify the Sikh American voice! Please take a few moments and click here to donate to SALDEF.
