Report finds widespread Islamophobic framing in Indian regional media
Study documented 120 instances of Islamophobic framing across nearly 1,000 days of Malayalam television coverage, including on mainstream channels not directly linked to Hindutva politics
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Islamophobic narratives that have become increasingly visible in India’s national political discourse are also permeating regional newsrooms, with a new study finding repeated anti-Muslim framing across television channels in the southern state of Kerala — including mainstream outlets with no formal affiliation to Hindu nationalist groups.
The report documented 120 examples of Islamophobic coverage during nearly 1,000 days of Malayalam-language television news between January 2024 and September 2026.
According to Islamophobia Watch, which produced the report, criticism of Islam, Muslim organizations or individuals was not automatically classified as Islamophobic.
Instead, researchers examined coverage that generalized individual actions to Muslims as a community, disproportionately associated Muslim identity with security threats or applied different standards to Muslim and non-Muslim political and social behavior.
The study examined not only news reports but also headlines, television debates, visuals and questions posed by anchors, arguing that such editorial choices can repeatedly position Muslims as suspicious or outside mainstream society.
Janam TV, which the report described as closely associated with Hindutva politics, accounted for most of the documented cases.
But researchers said similar patterns appeared across major mainstream broadcasters, including News18 Kerala, Asianet News, Reporter TV, Manorama News, Mathrubhumi News and 24 News.
That finding, the report argued, shows that Islamophobia in regional media cannot be explained solely through direct organizational links to India’s Hindu nationalist movement.
Among the examples cited was coverage of a Muslim-run fitness initiative that Reporter TV described in the context of the “infiltration of religious fundamentalists.” News18 Malayalam used the term “Sharia gym” in a headline about a fitness center that reportedly maintained separate timings for men and women.
The report also criticized Asianet News for airing a discussion about a woman’s suicide under the headline, “Did he pretend to love her to convert her?” before such an allegation had been established.
In another case, Reporter TV broadcast live from outside Al-Falah University during an investigation into a Delhi blast with a caption describing the institution as a “hideout” of the suspected group before investigators had reached such a conclusion.
Researchers also highlighted unequal political framing. During India’s 2024 election, several Malayalam channels repeatedly analyzed the “Muslim vote” as a distinct religious bloc while giving significantly less attention to the consolidation of upper-caste Hindu votes behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the report said.
It also cited coverage falsely reporting that a Muslim man had been detained — and in one case describing him as the “main accused” — following the 2024 Rameshwaram Cafe bombing.
India’s National Investigation Agency subsequently clarified that no arrest had been made and cautioned media organizations against speculation.
The study comes from Kerala, a southern state with a substantial Muslim population and a media landscape generally considered more politically diverse than those in many parts of India.
Significantly, researchers acknowledged that some of the same broadcasters have also reported extensively on Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims.
The contradiction, they argued, demonstrates that the problem goes beyond the ideological position of individual journalists and can instead become embedded in routine editorial decisions.
The report called for greater scrutiny of media ownership, editorial leadership and newsroom practices as Hindu nationalist politics gains wider influence in India, arguing that societal prejudices can filter into decisions about which stories are selected, how headlines are written and which questions anchors ask.
It further argued that these prejudices can influence whose actions are treated as representative of an entire religious community, potentially shaping public perceptions through the way different groups and incidents are portrayed in the media.
We must take charge of our narrative. Research indicates that 92% of their Muslim coverage is negative. Help us change that.
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