# The word the BBC never said on 9/11 > Critics say the BBC marked 25 years since the attacks by talking about Islamophobia and skipping the attackers. - Title: The word the BBC never said on 9/11 · Dailymail | Shortify - Summary: Critics say the BBC marked 25 years since the attacks by talking about Islamophobia and skipping the attackers. The row over the BBC's coverage is really a… - Keywords: bbc, 9/11, media bias, islamophobia, broadcasting, news, entertainment, word, never, Dailymail - Source: Dailymail — https://dailymail.com/news/article-16126461/BBCs-911-coverage-criticised-Muslim-focus.html?ito=1490&ns_campaign=1490&ns_mchannel=rss - Published: 2026-09-13T00:17:25+00:00 - Read time: 2 min - Topics: bbc, 9/11, media bias, islamophobia, broadcasting, news, entertainment ## BBC accused of missing the point On the 25th anniversary of the attacks, the BBC's coverage leaned on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment. Critics say the terrorism that caused the day got pushed to the edges. ## The D-Day comparison A Westminster source reached for the bluntest analogy available to describe the framing, and it spread fast. > like starting D-Day memorials by remembering the plight of the Nazis ## Today sets the tone Radio 4's flagship morning programme built its anniversary segment around a Muslim interviewee describing how British Muslims were seen after 2001. > We were viewed through the lens of terrorism. ## Questioned on British values The same interviewee described being asked to account for his faith and his loyalty in the years that followed. > Sadly there were questions about our faith and whether we share British values. ## Reporting from the memorial The BBC's correspondent at the New York memorial opened his News at Ten piece not with the dead but with a political milestone. > 25 years on, the city has its first Muslim mayor. ## A record rise, he said The same report set that milestone against a claim of worsening treatment of Muslim Americans a quarter century after the attacks. > Muslim Americans experience a record rise in discrimination ## Blame pointed rightward The correspondent named a source for the hostility, and it was not the hijackers. > increased anti-Muslim sentiment from voices on the Right ## Same package, twice It was not a one-off segment. Both the Six O'Clock News and News at Ten led their 9/11 coverage with the identical main story. ## A cadet among the dead That package followed a man whose brother, a Muslim American police cadet, was killed in the attacks. The loss was real, the framing was what drew fire. ## Rhetoric that adds to pain The bereaved brother told the BBC that commentary from the Right made his grief worse, and the bulletin let that stand as its closing note. > kind of rhetoric which adds to the pain ## An ex-insider keeps score Former BBC journalist Catherine Leng listened to the output and simply wrote down the vocabulary: Islamophobia, disproportionate overreach, Muslim communities. > Words I heard on BBC News in its coverage: Islamophobia, disproportionate overreach, Muslim communities. ## Then the absence Her list of what was missing ran to two words, and that is the whole complaint in miniature. > Words I have not heard: Islamist terrorists. ## A Sky veteran joins in Colin Brazier, formerly of Sky News, argued the avoidance was deliberate rather than accidental, a choice made before a word was broadcast. ## Blame turned westward Brazier's charge went further than word choice. He said the coverage nudged viewers toward a verdict on the West itself. > not to use the word "Islam" in connection with 9/11 ## What he thinks it implied The accusation is that an anniversary became an argument, with the attacked cast as authors of their own attack. > hint that the West got what it deserved ## No reply from the BBC The piece carries quotes from a Westminster source and two former broadcasters, and nothing from the corporation. The criticism runs unanswered. ## Readers piled in fast The story logged 193 comments within hours of going up, which tells you the fight over how Britain talks about 9/11 is nowhere near settled. ## Key takeaway The row over the BBC's coverage is really a row over who a 9/11 anniversary is supposed to be about.