The report was broadcast on both BBC news night and BBC radio four. Staffordshire University along with Sheffield Hallam, Bedfordshire, Manchester Metropolitan and Brunel in London are said to have been ‘infiltrated’ by extremists. The report in regards to Staffordshire University centered on a discussion that was held at the Stoke campus called The True Word of God: the Koran or the Bible, where it is alleged a member of an extremist group Al-Muhajiroun spoke at the event.

This is another example of the media trying to demonize the Muslim community through making educational institutions fear the presence of Muslims on their campuses. During the discussion no extremist views were expressed but rather a healthy and intellectual dialogue took place between the member of the Roman Catholic Church and the Muslim representative.

What is troublesome are the actions of the Students union following the broadcast. The following evening officers from the student union monitored two events where Muslim students were participating. The Student Activist society’s event on Palestine and the Global Issues society’s event on the veil were both monitored by the students union. The guest speakers at the Palestine event were Michael Lavette a respect councilor in Preston and a lecturer at Liverpool University along with prominent journalist Yvonne Ridley. When informed that the event had been monitored both speakers displayed shock and amazement that a body that claims to be representatives of its students would spy on them. Over fifty Students attended the event and were dismayed at the fact and could not understand why the Students union would take such actions. One of the events organizers is distinctly Muslim and supports a beard on his face, it seems that when the Union heard of extremists on campus it turned to spy on a student activist who happens to be a Muslim rather than research the facts. Muslim students had been told that this was common practice but no evidence was presented in support of this. Muslim students feel that they are being spied on by the Students union because of some gutter journalism from the BBC. The BBC seems to have joined in, in the wave of Islamaphobia and has played into the hands of far right groups like the BNP in whipping up hysteria against Muslims. A student has submitted a complaint to the Students union outlining the inconsistency of the officers in offering an explanation for the monitoring, and a lack of coherent policy in dealing with such situations. The Students union failed to define extremism rather they took reactionary steps and turned their eyes on distinctly Muslim students, who were just trying to create awareness and encourage critical thinking.

A member of the Student Activist Society was informed by the union president Yuki (Xiaojing) Luo, before the event that it would be monitored due to complaints received about the posters advertising the issue of Palestine, but no evidence was presented in support of the complaints. Chandan Singh, education and welfare officer told another member of the student activist society that the event was monitored because “Palestine is a hot topic” and later said the union had reacted to the report by the BBC. There seems to be no coherent answer from the Students Union and this is making Muslim students feel extremely uneasy about being on campus due to the representative body that is supposed to protect and serve student interests, instead it is falling into the trap of the far right in isolating Muslims from the rest of society.