Sheema Khan says negative media stereotyping of her faith is seldom done out of malice, but usually from a general ignorance of it on the part of those involved.

Maliciously or not, the media transmits a lot of inaccuracies about Islam, she says. Khan is the director of the Ottawa chapter of a grass-roots organization dedicated to combating negative media stereotyping of Muslims by the media, and to educating the media about Islam.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) opened its first Canadian chapter in Montreal in 1997 and moved to Ottawa with Khan earlier this year. The chapter has taken issue with more than a half-dozen specific media depictions of Islam or Muslims in that time and has provided information to the media about Islamic holidays and religious practices.

At June's Faith and the Media conference in Ottawa, members distributed free copies of the book Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture. The approach taken by CAIR-Ottawa underlines two truisms generally agreed on by speakers at the conference: 1) the media need help when it comes to covering aspects of religion they don't understand well; and 2) faith groups must take a role in changing things if they are dissatisfied with the way the media does their job.

The problem with religious ignorance on the part of the media is that it tends to sharpen rather than alleviate existing social tensions. Khan says antagonism between western European culture and Islam dates back to the crusades and is fostered today because of shaky relations between the West and several Islamic countries such as Iran and Algeria.

The media makes the problem worse because it fails to challenge negative stereotypes that have resulted from this antagonism, and tends to make unfair generalizations.

What are the most common media stereotypes of Islam? "That all Muslims are terrorists and that Muslims hate women." In what Khan calls the Canadian chapter's biggest victory, both the CBC ombudsman and an independent review validated the organization's complaint against a Radio-Canada report that suggested that a Montreal mosque harboured a "nest of terrorists."

The ombudsman said the reporter "failed to uphold the principles of accuracy," including detailed and complete research, and noted he hadn't bothered to ask members of the mosque for "their version of the facts."

Khan emphasizes the grass roots nature of CAIR-Ottawa's actions, noting that members work through official channels (by filing complaints, writing letters, etc.) and encourage the Muslim community to get involved. Since CAIR-Ottawa operates on a shoe-string budget, its success doesn't depend on expensive lobbying, and its methods can be "adopted by any community."

The goal is to achieve nothing more than balanced and fair coverage, and not every story about Islam warrants a response. Last fall when Homemaker's Journal ran a cover story critical of how Afghanistan's Taliban government treats women, Khan received plenty of complaints about it. But, she says, the article was a balanced and accurate account of events in Afghanistan, and "there was nothing wrong with the journalism," even if it painted a negative portrait of one small portion of Islam.

In the end, balanced and accurate coverage won't please everyone. But most Muslims and Christians would probably be satisfied if the media proved more consistent in achieving it.