Today's story provides a handy guide to the dark arts of the press
It is a truth universally acknowledged that migrants get a rough ride in the British press. But how do they do it?
Today’s Daily Mail provides a crash course in the dark arts of demonising migrants. Here are some of the basics:
1. Do not refer to migrants as people.
It is of the first importance that these people not be seen as human. Instead, use words like ‘figures’, ‘numbers’, ‘influx’ – or indeed, ‘migrant’, which simply means a person who moves from one place to another.
2. Use numbers instead of words where possible.
Words can be slippery. To avoid breaking step 1, use numbers like 18,000, as in today’s story. This helps creates the idea of migration as a pest control problem, or a force of nature, rather than a man-made crisis that involves human lives.
3. Use the language of crime.
Discuss migrants as you would criminals. Some examples from today’s story are ‘sneak’, ‘evade’, ‘targeting’ and ‘caught’. These are bad people doing a bad thing. They deserve to be punished. (Add a scary picture of dark-skinned people if you can.)
4. Do not quote people who care about migrants.
Pick your sources with care. Organisations which worry about the safety of migrants should not be quoted if possible (as they are not in today’s story). This might cause readers to see another side of the story, learn about its context and the causes of migration, hear ideas for solutions, and even empathise with the migrants themselves. Instead, seek quotes from police, tough-guy politicians, truck drivers, British tourists, and so on.
5. Do not speak to migrants.
This may be the most important step. Under no circumstances should you interview the people trying to reach Britain. Asking about their experiences and motivations, or just about their family or their favourite food, could risk readers seeing them as human, and should be avoided at all costs. This includes the cost of good stories or honest journalism.
There are other steps, and not all of these are kept all the time. Reports of migrants drowning in the Mediterranean has broken through the usual filters as a regrettable anomaly. Generally though, some adherence to the above will ensure you write about migrants correctly.
Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter
Read more:
Daily Mail says Syrian refugees turn Greek holiday town into ‘disgusting hellhole’
Daily Express blames Greek economic crisis on EU and immigration
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39 Responses to “Daily Mail’s 5 step guide to demonising migrants”
Cole
What a load of boring cliched tripe. Why bother?
Joe Bloggs
The DM points out regularly that many migrants are pick-pockets, and other criminals, and tell us of just how many of them are filling our jails.
Ignoring the facts about foreign criminals who shouldn’t be here in the first place, wouldn’t be right, despite lefties continually suggesting otherwise.
macjackb
The article missed out two further important stratagems:
6: Refuse to read or engage with anything that might alter your right ming mindset. This furthers the fantasy that the people in question are not human, and that you’re somehow the ‘adult’ that must reluctantly share the same air as the childish lefties with their tedious compassion and empathy.
7: Play the man, not the ball, when it comes to dealing with lefties. Lacking in humanity is a significant anthropological advantage that righties possess, allowing them to personally abuse their opponents when all else fails. The one about lefties being frauds because they don’t personally live in a shoebox in the middle of the road is always an intellectual killer.
Cole
And all proper Englishmen are law abiding citizens unlike Johnny Foreigner, especially the dark skinned ones.
stevep
If you know of these scams and ruses and you know the perpetrators then it is your duty to report them to the relevant authorities. Have you?