AMES 4 th June 2016 Dr Emma L Briant

Content Analysis of Broadcast/Press Coverage  7 papers and BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 News  2006 & 2011 Audience Reception Analysis: Focus Groups with general public and established BME groups in England & Scotland Interviews with Refugee Workers and Refugees Interviews with Journalists

* 2007 UNHCR data ‘the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan accounted for more than half of the world’s refugees’, forced from their countries by American and British-led conflicts (Cumming-Bruce, 18 th June 2008).

* Government voices setting the agenda: * Strong theme of an asylum system being ‘abused’ and in ‘crisis’ * Sense of ‘threat’ * The ‘burden’ of asylum to Britain / Britain ‘takes too many’ * Who is quoted in the press? – ‘From Bad News for Refugees’ * Migrant voices – ONLY 3% * 81/99 statements – by politicians

* Focus on Extreme Cases eg. ‘The Wheelchair Don’ in The Sun & Abu Qatada ‘Foreign criminals’ (17 times in the 34 press articles in 2006) * Criminalising language ‘bogus’ ‘illegal’ or ‘at large’: ‘the Home Office can give no accurate idea of how many failed asylum seekers are at large’ (The Daily Mail 2, 18 th May 2006). * Disaster rhetoric - ‘wave of Africans’, ‘flooding’, ‘staunching the flow’ (BBC1 Newsnight in 2006)

“I watched one illegal immigrant cut his way through the canvas roof of a lorry. He stood on the tarmac, dazed but happy, and immediately claimed asylum. He did not mind being found; he knew he was in Britain for good.” (Daily Mail, 18 May 2006) “There are an estimated 310, ,000 illegal immigrants in the UK including more than 250,000 failed asylum seekers” (The Times, 17 th May 2006) * Illegal immigrant or ‘illegals’ 90 times in 34 articles that concerned asylum …highest: Mail (25) The Times (18) There is nothing illegal about claiming asylum, even if your claim is refused.

“Certainly when it comes to the idea of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, very often they are just interchangeable terms. There’s no attempt ever made to explain what these terms mean. The message always is that they are bad. The idea that an asylum seeker is not an illegal immigrant is lost, they are all a problem.”

Recent Coverage…

Themes Neglected in National News Agenda: * Hardships faced by asylum seekers, working restrictions etc: * Marginal - once on Channel 4 News in 2006 sample * Benefits of immigration: * Despite Refugee Week in 2011 press sample, only 3 articles in 69 and one of these was an ‘immigration control’ ‘crisis’ article. * Role of West in forced migration/unfair global distribution: * Not national broadcasts, once in press - negative: The Express claimed the BBC ‘scour the African continent in search of dying children’ attempting to ‘make the British people responsible for the plight of a vast continent’ (16 th May 2006). * Nothing in 2011 sample despite a global economic crisis From: Bad News for Refugees (2013).

2 nd June 2011 The Sun: ‘Migrant luxury’ Daily Mail: ‘Critics said taxpayers will be angry that their money has been spent on conditions some hard-working families struggle to afford for themselves’

* Racialised language: On Africans in UK -‘brutality, corruption and a thirst for civil war’ are causes of emigration from that continent, they ‘arise out of African tribal culture’ (The Express, 16 th May 2006). Asian and African ‘men coming to Britain from [who] often bring with them... antediluvian attitudes’ (The Express 1, 3 rd June 2011). ‘In the East London borough of Tower Hamlets, where there is a large Muslim population, gangs of zealots now roam the streets posing as self-appointed moral police, demanding that women wear the veil and that gay pubs be closed’ (The Express 1, 13 th June 2011).

* Successive claims that main parties ‘out of touch’ with public concerns... * Successively harsher legislation removing human rights... * Deflecting from real reasons for nation’s hardship... * Allowing extreme parties greater influence...

1. Teach about ‘myths’ and fill gaps in knowledge! * Eg ‘Why I left my country’ - support/Refugees-true-stories support/Refugees-true-stories 2. 1 st year Cross-faculty projects ‘migration and integration in Sheffield’ * Practical challenges – Training, esp. Ethics (small gps, let them lead, giving back…) * Benefits – creative, interdisciplinary, local 3. Discourse Analysis of articles, films etc… * Focus on power in language/image etc 4. Guest speakers * Benefits – real human experience * Again, exploitation…

* Finding speakers for your classes / sources for reporting: * Develop positive relationships with local orgs eg Migrant Voice – trained spokespersons * Understand needs of refugees, demands placed on them * Give back - £ and help/support

* Expenses! * Positive Reporting * Media training, PR and media planning volunteers * Any way you can * Don’t ask too much, always ask what is best for them, go to them if possible * Create training/accreditation opportunities for refugee journalists

* Compare coverage – tabloid/broadsheet; different forms * Asking the right questions? ‘why did you come to Britain?’ and ‘why did you leave your homeland?’ may elicit very different responses. * Gender balance? – who do we see/hear from? * Eliciting Empathy

* Trad online news article: urope/refugee-crisis-more-than-80-asylum- seekers-feared-dead-after-migrant-boat-sinks- on-journey-to-italy-a html urope/refugee-crisis-more-than-80-asylum- seekers-feared-dead-after-migrant-boat-sinks- on-journey-to-italy-a html * Charts: europe http:// europe * Mapped journey: /europe/ /Mapped-The-journey-that- refugees-are-taking-to-get-into-Europe.html /europe/ /Mapped-The-journey-that- refugees-are-taking-to-get-into-Europe.html * Interactive:

Thank you for listening! Dr Emma L Co-authored with Greg Philo and Pauline Donald Published by Pluto