The Corrections

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The Corrections: Trojan Horse: The kingpin

Trojan Horse: The kingpin

BBC Radio 4 - The Corrections, Trojan Horse: The kingpin

Tahir Alam was dubbed ‘the kingpin’ of the Trojan Horse affair, an alleged plot to Islamise schools in Birmingham. What difference does it make to learn his backstory?

The Corrections revisits one of the most controversial news stories of recent years to see how journalists told it and how they could have told it differently. 

In March 2014, The Sunday Times broke the story of the Trojan Horse Affair about an alleged plot to Islamise schools in Birmingham and beyond. It named as the ‘kingpin’ a local Ofsted inspector, Tahir Alam. He was later banned from governing schools. But is he the villain or the hero of this story?

In this episode, Jo Fidgen learns about Tahir Alam’s backstory to see how that changes our understanding of his role in this story. And a Muslim women’s rights campaigner reveals what she was hearing from teachers and parents behind the scenes, and how that challenges the narrative reported in the mainstream press. 

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Editor: Emma Rippon

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News stories that left the public with the wrong idea about what really happened.

The Corrections revisits news stories that left the public with the wrong idea about what really happened and investigates how and why the narrative went awry.

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Trojan Horse: The kingpin

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