First Hijab anchor in Scotland
Categories: Past Event Articles
Tuesday August 11 2020
First Hijab anchor in Scotland
It is 2020 in Scotland and yet Thursday 30th July 2020 was the first time that we saw a Scotland news broadcaster place a female Muslim wearing a hijab front and centre before the camera to present the news. When Ms Tasnim Nazeer anchor on ITV reporting on the lack of support for families bereaved from corona virus.
The fact that it has taken until 2020 for this to happen shows just how lacking the Scottish media is when it comes to diversity in the industry.
Tasnim has highlighted “I was once asked by someone in the industry whether I would consider removing my hijab if I wanted to progress in my career and that I had all the ‘skills and potential’ but didn’t really have the right ‘look’ for TV”. For such a comment to be made toward anyone in this day and age shows us that unfortunately we still have a long way to go in many industries to eradicate institutionalised racism, islamophobia and prejudice.
But Scotland is not alone in taking an inordinately long time to embrace diversity in front of the camera. With Canada only seeing their first Muslim hijab anchor in 2016 when Ginella Massa, a news reporter for Toronto’s CityNews, filled in as anchor for the 11 p.m. broadcast.
Although it has been a very long time coming, we really hope that these positive moves are a sign of a more divers and inclusive future in all areas of Scotland’s society.