Michael Munnik
LightNews LightNews
banner
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Michael Munnik
@michaelmunnik.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.7K following 3.4K posts
Canadian pilgrim in Wales. Sociologist of media and religion, senior lecturer at Cardiff University, Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK. Musical side-hustle at https://michaelmunnik.ca/
Posts Replies Media Videos
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
But for Michael Prescott to portray concern from Jewish org's over BBC coverage of the conflict and ignore concerns from the Muslim org the Centre for Media Monitoring shows the selectivity that characterises his criticisms more broadly. (Report here, for the curious: cfmm.org.uk/cfmm-report-...)
Cover of a report called Media Bias: Gaza 2023-24 by the Centre for Media Monitoring. Two megaphones on a red and white cover, one with an Israeli flag and a smaller one with a Palestinian flag. It's placed on a pale table, and the hexagonal pattern of an ottoman is visible at the top left.
November 10, 2025 at 1:55 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Other things on my shelf were already down and about my desk as I work on this #AcWriMo book text (haha to today's productivity...) Just thinking about the enterprise of journalism more broadly, and apologies for the heavy US tilt of these thinking-through texts. What *is* journalism for in 2025?
Three books on a pale table, with a hexagonal-patterned ottoman in top left. To left, Why Journalism Still Matters by Michael Schudson; centre, What Journalism Could Be by Barbie Zelizer; to right, Beyond Journalism by Mark Deuze and Tamara Witschge.
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
A glimpse of a few texts from my shelf. I know scholarly critiques of media are not accessible to or interesting for everyone, but they give context: Schlesinger from 1978/87; Born more recently; Mills from a very critical angle that still repudiates the "liberal metropolitan elite" bias argument.
Three books on a pale table, with a hexagonal patterned ottoman in the top left behind. To left, Putting Reality Together by Philip Schlesinger; centre, Uncertain Vision by Georgina Born; to right, The BBC: Myth of a Public Service by Tom Mills.
November 10, 2025 at 1:22 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
If you see this, post an album cover with a motor vehicle on it.

(Even a gratuitous one.)
Album cover for Michael Munnik Driving Through America at Night. A black cover with a white diagonal silhouette line of a city skyline, mountains, prairies with a barn, the great lakes, and another city. Runs from bottom left to top right, where a simple purple car drives steadily forward. In the top left half, scratchy hand drawn stars. At the bottom, artist name and album title in purple and white.
November 8, 2025 at 9:57 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Well, things-to-do be damned, I still got my best day of the week in. The writing was less restrained, also less informed by scholarship. Also likely would need to be clawed back in final deliverable manuscript, so let's not big it up too much. #AcWriMo

Here's the chart for the week.
Table from Microsoft Word. Above, it reads "Target: 25-30,000 words". The left column shows dates from 3-7 Nov; the middle ones a daily word count followed by a cumulative one; and the right brief notes about what writing was done and, sometimes, what interposed.
November 7, 2025 at 4:54 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Just a bunch of very disappointed dogs.
A lovely puppy - tan coloured but with dark brown slightly pointed snout and floppy ears - lying on the grass and gnawing on a red hard-rubber toy called a Kong while looking directly at the camera.
October 20, 2025 at 8:29 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Oh, mate.

We're gonna need those bicycles.
A silver bike tarp draped over bicycles in a back garden. Before it, Centre of the image, is a spider on its web. Close up of the spider on its web in front of bikes under a silvery tarp.
October 12, 2025 at 9:18 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Whoa-ho! It's been two years since I released my album Driving through America at Night in Cardiff. A memorable, magical gig. Here are some pics, including me singing with my eldest two kids! Thank to the band and everyone who came for a special night. michaelmunnik.bandcamp.com/album/drivin...
Four men lined up on stage at a gig. To left, a bearded bespectacled man in white t-shirt holding a red Fender Jaguar guitar. Next, visible under the guitar neck, a bearded man in flannel shirt sitting atop a cajon drum and smacking it with his left hand while shaking an egg in his right. Next, a bespectacled man in a black t-shirt playing a tobacco sunburst electric bass. At right, a bespectacled man in a dark shirt and jeans holding a tenor saxophone. A bearded bespectacled man in a green fedora playing an acoustic guitar is to the left, singing into a microphone. The remainder of the image is dark negative space, though faintly you can see the windows and a pillar of the church hall where the gig is happening. Live concert footage. A young man in glasses and a red plaid shirt over a dark t-shirt sings into a microphone, shared with a young woman in a dark shirt and green trousers, who sings while playing a ukulele. To their right, a bearded bespectacled man in brown jacket and green fedora sings into a microphone and plays an acoustic guitar. Image from behind the band at a concert. The backs of several musicians are visible, seen in highlit accents at various levels as they play their instruments. Before them, the arched columns supporting a church hall, with peaky windows to the sides and a large one at the back, central to the image. It is atmospherically lit.
October 6, 2025 at 3:56 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
When my wife and I were on a bit of holiday this summer up north Wales, we took a day trip to Liverpool and were delighted to see @hananelizabethissa.bsky.social 's poem on "home" as part of a mural series. So good to see her words travelling widely and accessible to the public!
A poster on a wall with the large question "What does home mean to you?". There is a photo of two people affectionately cuddling on a blue sofa, and there is the smaller text of a poem "Home" by Hanan Issa. Apologies not to include the poem text in the alt.
September 18, 2025 at 2:07 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Now up, a brand new poem commissioned for the 20th anniversary of @islamukcentre.bsky.social by the current National Poet of Wales Hanan Issa, "Where the two rivers meet"
A woman in dark clothing and a pale blue hijab speaks at the front of a white walled room. At left, sat before a Cardiff University banner and beside a pink stool, is a bald man in dark suit and pale woven jumper.
September 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
A wealth of scholars in British Muslim Studies - past chairs of the Muslims in Britain Research Network. Jørgen Nielsen speaks first, remembering they had maybe one meeting before the Rushdie Affair, after which "the world around us increasingly began to set the agenda." A milestone for the field.
Seven people sat around a table with a red tablecloth carrying the logo for the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK and Cardiff University. Above and behind them, a white screen.
September 18, 2025 at 1:05 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Box office time! Yusuf Islam / Cat Stevens returns to @islamukcentre.bsky.social (sadly only virtually) twenty years after he was present for our opening.

If you want to sing out, sing out!
A bearded bespectacled man in a blue shirt is speaking on a screen, stood before a colorful piece of artwork. Caption at the bottom says "to the Cardiff University and"
September 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Rare is the day they get me in a necktie these days, but today we're celebrating 20 years of @islamukcentre.bsky.social where I work, so I'm rising to the occasion. Looking forward to the day and seeing all the people gathered!
A bearded bespectacled man in a dark grey suit with a lighter grey shirt and purple paisley tie, smiling at the camera before a wall with books on shelves. He wears a red lapel pin with the logo for the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK.
September 18, 2025 at 9:00 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
I could take or leave the content of The Horse Whisperer, but Redford made Montana sing in that movie.

And Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is still one of my all-times.

RIP
Promotional image for the film The Horse Whisperer. A white man in a blue denim shirt and white cowboy hat is foreground right with his arm around a young white girl in a white shirt with hair pulled back (presumably in a ponytail). Behind them, a vast mountain plateau covered in gras stretches out with rocky mountain peaks in the background and the clouds coloured shades of pink and purple in a sunset.
September 16, 2025 at 12:38 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
When your boss lives in Herefordshire.
Two baking trays lined with silicone reusable baking sheets. Covered with halved plums in reasonably neat rows. They are a lovely fresh purple colour. They sit on a table with a printed tablecloth.
August 16, 2025 at 9:45 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
As Rowlf the Dog would say, look at those little beauties!

After this, I'm done posting about viewing numbers for my music videos, but I love this planetary alignment level of round numbers.
www.youtube.com/@michaelmunnik
Screenshot of youtube studio viewing stats. A list of videos, with thumbnail images at the left column, then name title and information after that. Towards the right is a column for views, and three videos in a row have 300, 200, and 100 views respectively. These have been circled in red. The videos are "Anchors Aweigh" (300), "The One that Haunts Me" (200), and "Peace Like a River" (100).
August 15, 2025 at 7:40 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Yehs have been warned.
Sunny day photo in a park. Foreground to left, a sign on a white board attached to a tree. In red letters all caps, it says Pipe bands; and in black letters all caps, it says Designated practice area. Middle distance has leafy green trees, and in the background, the gothic building of the Scott tower at the University of Glasgow - a central tower in a long building with a tall central spire and smaller spires at the roof corners.
August 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Spotted in the wild: CanCon from @kateheartfield.com in the Oxfam shop in Govanhills, Glasgow.
A shelf.of.books in a shop window. Central is The Valkyrie by Kate Hartfield- a deep blue cover with quasi Victtorian gold swirls and, below the title, a bust facing right.
August 9, 2025 at 1:17 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
While I'm on the subject of things stuck at 199 ticking over to 200, I couldn't help but notice my craft brewed video for "The One that Haunts Me" could do with a boost.

You know what to do*, Bluesky. youtu.be/grbDj-501hE

*You don't know what to do. Click the link. Don't just like the post.
A screenshot of YouTube studio featuring a list of videos. Thumbnails to the left, title information, then other interesting columns. Of relevance is one to the right marked "Views", and the middle row out of 5 (for the song "The One that Haunts Me"), reads 199 and has a red circle drawn around it. The implication of all of this is that people should watch the video and push its stats past 200.
August 5, 2025 at 1:44 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
And here is the payoff. Due to high blood pressure (thank you, Cardiff University), I've had to pause since my last donation in February (!) It's been a road to get here, but glad to once again be donating platelets for Welsh Blood Services and the NHS.
A clear glass paperweight with the logo for Welsh Blood Service (two interlinked hearts) etched into the glass, along with text Gwasanaeth Gwaed Cymru and Welsh Blood Service, the number 200, and the text Rhoddion Platennau and Platelet Donations. It's resting half out of a burgundy box with matching satin fabric, resting on top of a wood grain surface.
August 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
So far, so good. Fantastic to be back in Talbot Green.
A bearded bespectacled man sits on a medical bed with a needle in his right arm. Behind him is a blood spinning machine in ecru with a monitor showing platelet levels. He's making a wry, funny face for the selfie.
August 5, 2025 at 10:47 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Big day for me, if it works out, pals. Send thoughts and prayers.
A red circular lapel pin with gold (effect) motif of the Welsh Blood Services logo - two overlaid hearts. Beneath it, admittedly blurry, is the number 100. It's on the lapel of a brown linen jacket with the corner of a face with greying beard in the top left corner. Behind, in a shelf, is a yellow candle holder.
August 5, 2025 at 8:12 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
My wife Katie Munnik is not on here, but she's a novelist and poet. Her poem "Redshank, Plover, Oystercatcher" features on the back cover of the new issue of @poetrywales.bsky.social Looks smart with the white text on blue, and it's a lovely poem, too.
Front cover of journal Poetry Wales, with a blue top banner and a central image of a lifeguard chair with a towel draped over it before a blue swimming pool. White text to the left highlights what's in the issue. It's laid on top of a brown cardboard envelope on top of a patterned tablecloth. Back cover of the journal. Blue rectangle, with white text. Katie Munnik Redshank, Plover, Oystercatcher A signboard at the beach lists likely birds to spot: redshank, plover, oystercatcher oh, love let us be true to each other redshank, plover, oystercatcher I hear your voice again, the wind across the sand, and, at my feet, this stranded nursery rhyme, the starprints of bright-legged waders, the echoing grief of the returning sea. Overhead, there are long clouds, forgiveness, a brisk wind to bring quick flights of shorebirds to sing me to the rest. redshank, plover, oystercatcher Below, the website address poetrywales.co.uk
July 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
After a long late journey from Durham to Cardiff, right into these funny robes ane the white bow tie for graduation this morning. Mabrouk and llongyfarchiadau to our students!
A bearded bespectacled man in dark academic robes with red trim, a red hood, and a white bow tie takes a selfie in a room with other people in different coloured robes.
July 17, 2025 at 9:15 AM
michaelmunnik.bsky.social
Last session of the conference was not a paper, for me, but a workshop. A fine way to conclude the event, and thanks to @saramch.bsky.social for convening it! @bsasocrel.bsky.social
An embroidery hoop with unbleached fabric in top left, with a needle stuck in the middle, and on the wood-grain surface, three small skeins of embroidery floss in purple, grey, and green.
July 16, 2025 at 3:57 PM