Vogue apologises to Libyan-American journalist after misidentifying her

A Libyan-American journalist has called out US magazine Vogue for misidentifying her in its February issue.

Noor Tagouri, a journalist and public speaker, took to Instagram and Twitter on Thursday to share her feelings about the mistake, highlighting that misidentifying Muslim women was a common occurrence.

In a one-page spread, Tagouri is featured with a caption mistakenly naming her as Pakistani actress Noor Bukhari.

In a video shared on her social media pages, which have thousands of followers, Tagouri showed her initial excitement to see herself in the magazine, only to be let down upon reading the caption.

"I have been misrepresented and misidentified MULTIPLE times in media publications - to the point of putting my life in danger. I never, EVER expected this from a publication I respect SO much and have read since I was a child," Tagouri wrote in her post.

"Misrepresentation and misidentification is a constant problem if you are Muslim in America. And as much as I work to fight this, there are moments like this where I feel defeated."

Vogue has since apologised online for its error, stating that it would endeavour to be more thoughtful and careful, while acknowledging the larger issue of misidentification of non-white people in the media.

Vogue's apology sparked criticism from users online, who noted that the mistake reflected a wider issue of tokenism and racism against people of colour and Muslims.

Tagouri shared that she had even taken preventative measures to ensure she would not be misrepresented, sharing a screenshot of correspondence with the Vogue team offering to double-check the caption prior to publication - a message she said went unanswered.

An anonymous former Vogue employee said in an interview that the mistake came down to an issue of diversity within the organisation.

"This never would have happened if there were people of colour in leadership ... there is a deep-seated discomfort with diversity at that brand, and it permeates through every inch of their DNA from the top down" the former employee was reported by the Fashionista site as having said.

This is not the first time that Tagouri's image and name have been misrepresented. Last year, her photos were mistakenly identified in the media as representing Noor Salman, wife of the gunman responsible for the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.

Tagouri said that she faced unprecedented levels of harassment due to the media coverage and misrepresentation aimed towards her.

Raw Story published images of Tagouri under the headline "Wife of Pulse nightclub killer Omar Mateen arrested". Tagouri responded with a tweet asking them to acknowledge and correct the errors.