{"id":159,"date":"2017-01-10T12:30:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T12:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/whereisrefuge\/?p=159"},"modified":"2017-03-04T15:46:53","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T15:46:53","slug":"twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blog.buprojects.uk\/2016-2017\/whereisrefuge\/2017\/01\/10\/twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"Online news & Twitter news."},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the internet, News is more accessible and immediate. The way journalists report about refugees in media\u00a0can shape the thoughts of the readership and influence their political identities. Social media also plays a huge role in our political stance, with Twitter being particularly useful at bridging the\u00a0geographical and socio-economic gaps, enabling fluid communication.<\/p>\n

BBC News.<\/h4>\n

The BBC are supposed to report in an unbiased way due to being funded by the public, therefore, they often report on the crisis as a matter of geographical, economic, political and statistical information<\/a>. While useful, this\u00a0type\u00a0of reporting dehumanises the refugees.<\/p>\n

\"BBC
BBC reporting on Syria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Technical jargon also dehumanises what is being reported.\u00a0For example, ‘unaccompanied minors’ does not consider that a child may have become an orphan through war, nor does it consider their vulnerability from traffickers and rapists. ‘Collateral damage’ is a euphemism used in\u00a0televised news and in the forces, which has less \u00a0impact than ‘the accidental killing of innocent people’.<\/p>\n

When we search for the news online, knowing that the BBC avoid sensationalism is an incentive for choosing their website over others when we want information. When we read about the displaced Syrians, the BBC\u00a0coverage includes some reports of how Syrian people have been affected, but generally they focus on phenomena, with illustrative graphs and maps.\u00a0When we think of the crisis as a matter of statistics<\/a>, it creates a sense of distance between the refugees and the readers.\u00a0We are aware of what is happening because it is in the news, but we don’t feel an urgency to help them on a personal level.<\/p>\n

Provoking an emotive response.<\/h4>\n

Some\u00a0tabloid news outlets\u00a0like the the Daily Express, the Daily Mail and the Sun report on the crisis\u00a0in a way that is implicit racism. They use sensationalist language and project controversial opinions to provoke a reaction from their readers.<\/p>\n

Provocative articles<\/a> about immigrants, migrants and refugees in media are\u00a0dangerous. Many\u00a0readers \u00a0believe the last opinion that they read and regurgitate it as their own.\u00a0They use these extreme ideas to justify why their own lives are lacking and problematic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This poisonous ideology spreads hatred and racism. The Daily Mail described the refugees as ‘a swarm on our streets’, suggesting the same invasive nature and large number as\u00a0‘a swarm of bees’. The Express’ front page claimed that ‘MIGRANTS TAKE ALL<\/strong> JOBS’. The tabloids use ‘immigrants’ and ‘migrants’ frequently, which suggests that they are actively making the decision to pervade our lives.\u00a0Broadsheets prefer the term ‘refugees’, remembering that they are victims of terror and fleeing\u00a0in order to live. There is a difference between immigrants, illegal immigrants, migrants and refugees, yet they seem to get\u00a0blurred together.<\/p>\n

Tabloids are notorious for using discriminatory language towards refugees, migrants and other minority groups. However, it’s important to realise that not all tabloid journalists necessarily hold those views, regardless of the stories they write. The financial incentive to produce negative articles is the most compelling argument as to why they continue to produce these stories, rather than the politics behind the stories. This is shown through contradictory positions <\/a>depending on what the readers are likely to search for.<\/p>\n

\"refugees
The Daily Mail often portray immigrants and refugees as a problem.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Resisting hatred.<\/h4>\n

To\u00a0stop news\u00a0outlets discriminating against refugees, the\u00a0Stop Funding Hate<\/a>\u00a0campaign is\u00a0targeting big brands such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer.<\/a> These brands advertise with newspapers that report on refugees and migrants in a contentious manner. The campaign\u00a0highlighted the fact that Lego’s morals did not match those of the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail report on refugees\u00a0with contempt, while Lego supposedly helps to break down boundaries of social construct, i.e. gender, race. Many Twitter users backed the campaign through retweets, while parents and Lego customers tweeted their disappointment to Lego. This ultimately led to Lego\u00a0terminating their contract<\/a> with the Daily Mail due to the Stop Funding Hate campaign.<\/p>\n

Stop Funding Hate also noticed that M&S were advertising with the Daily Express, who were reporting that EU migrant mothers were a drain on the NHS<\/a>. This has lead to a campaign for M&S to stop advertising with the Express, with many twitter users saying that they are boycotting M&S as they have\/are migrant mothers. Regardless of whether the article is real or exaggerated, the problem is that it offended many people, because many people in England are\/have mothers who are EU migrants.<\/p>\n

Eliciting empathy from the reader.<\/h4>\n

Articles in favour of refugees often use emotive photos of children, telling\u00a0us how a child has been directly affected.\u00a0When charities raise awareness about mass poverty, they are more successful when they show the hardships of an individual. This moves the audience, making them feel as though they have connected\u00a0with the individual on a personal level.<\/p>\n

\"girlaleppo\"
A girl in Aleppo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A lot of content on refugees in media causes the reader to fear the refugees. This has a political effect, as the public sphere tell the government not to bring refugees into our country.\u00a0After seeing this view repeated so frequently, it can start to smother your own personal beliefs. For this reason, it’s refreshing to see a different portrayal of refugees in media.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International avoid the exaggerations of the anti-refugee reporters. They even provide a solution to the crisis<\/a>. \u00a0They write about the refugees in a way that almost seems like a videogame quest; we are the heroes to complete it, if we are up to the task.<\/p>\n

“Right now, record numbers of people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes. But instead of showing true leadership and protecting refugees, most countries are slamming their doors shut.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

History will judge us by how we tackled the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. This is our moment to defend the things that unite us as human beings, and refuse to let fear and prejudice win.”<\/span> -Amnesty International.<\/em><\/p>\n

While comparing their statement\u00a0to a videogame trivialises the refugee crisis, the way that they have written it is genius. While\u00a0negatively reporting about refugees in media fuels the indignation\u00a0of the self-righteous, Amnesty International are targeting the egos of their audience from a different angle.<\/p>\n

Twitter on refugees.<\/h2>\n

Debating on Twitter is an easy way of masquerading as a knowledgeable person. The 140 character restriction normalises elusive and vague comments, with only a link to back up what we say. So what sort of snippet discussions does this lead to? There are plenty of cheap shots, not expecting a response but trying to establish some kind of self-righteous dominance.<\/p>\n

Gary Lineker has posted a few tweets in support of the refugees and condemning those who refute them. In response, he has received a lot of tweets mocking him and telling him to donate his fortune.<\/p>\n

@DelDiablo007 tweeted @GaryLineker asking him<\/p>\n

\n

@GaryLineker<\/a> what champagne you having with the refugee in your home tonight, Gary?<\/p>\n

— Don Vibes ? (@DelDiablo007) January 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n