Workers at the Daily Star forced their bosses to scrap a planned anti-Muslim tirade when the National Union of Journalists chapel passed a resolution that the page should be pulled and threatened strike action to back it up.
Late in the evening, with the paper ready to go to the presses, 15 workers held an emergency meeting where they expressed their outrage at the racism of the spoof Daily Fatwah page, which displayed how “Britain's fave newspaper would look under Muslim rule”. This included a “Burqa babes” section, as well as the headline “Death to all infidels”.
By making clear their collective power and will to resist the plans of deputy editor Ben Knowles, NUJ members were able to strike a blow against the anti-Muslim fervour whipped up by the tabloids — this fervour has escalated in recent weeks.
Knowles is the former editor of Zoo magazine which just about says it all.
This is of course not the first time that workers for right-wing tabloids have fought to stop editors from promoting reactionary agendas and misinformation. But it is the first time for a long time. During the 1984-5 miners’ strike, journalists at the Sun took action to stop the worst attacks on Arthur Scargill and the NUM being published.
