The introductory sentence of the article is “Families of asylum seekers are getting more than £16000 in tax-free handouts it was revealed yesterday” there is no evidence of where this statement has come from and no valid ground on which they are arguing. Throughout the article they base their statements on numbers coming to claim asylum. The numbers stated are often unsourced, exaggerated and inadequately explained. In this sentence it says that they are getting “More than £16000” however before in the headline they state it was an “average”. The writer deliberately says this to represent asylum as money grabbing and scavenging.
The media represent asylum seekers as a problem, an example of this can be found early on in the Daily Mail where it writes, “Abu Hamza, a father of eight receives £1000 a week in handouts, although the hook-handed preacher’s own support is blocked, while the government fight to deport him” The media uses language to represent this man as selfish and greedy, the language that indicates this is when they call him a “hook-handed preacher” this describes him as a person who’s out to get what he can. In this sentence they also use the word “handout” this provokes normal taxpayers of Britain. Abu Hamza is used as a prime example as he is speculated to be involved in terrorist activity this makes it seem as though he is getting paid to be a terrorist.
In the opening sentence above the media use figures of “£1000” is there any evidence of how reliable this is? There is no evidence of the source. This is a typical way of how media can represent asylum in Britain in a negative way. The media uses this example of asylum seeker because of his condition but however this does not apply for all asylum seekers. If they had written about a mother bringing up a family of 6 with a budget of £15000 it would have a significantly different impression on the reader.
The daily Mail tells us that asylum seekers receive “174 million in legal aid” this frustrates tax payers who are paying this significant amount of money so that asylum seekers can receive legal representatives for example layers and solicitors, however there is no evidence of the source of this figure.
Another technique used to represent asylum negatively that they rarely ever use interviews from actual asylum seekers just take images of males, they also only show what important stereotypical politicians say instead of personal accounts of asylum seekers. This overpowers other people’s opinions because of the high status of these politicians and the importance of their views. For example “Immigration minister Beverley Hughes admitted the support given to an average asylum-seeking family amounts to £1,340 a month” this makes the fact seem correct because it uses her name and position. Another example of this tactic used by the media using high profile figure, is evident in the Daily Mail article “we’re swamped says judge”. In this article Mr. Justice Morris Kay says the number coming into court are unmanageable and the public money is being spended on litigation. He also claims failed asylum seekers are ending up on the streets and sleeping rough.
In this same article there is a huge box in which random unsourced figures are put. They compare earnings with citizens of Britain and of asylum families. A prime example of asylum being represented negatively by the media is in the Daily Mail it says “There are also tens of thousands of families been granted asylum but are claiming benefit” the key word in this is “but” this sentence claims that asylum are taking advantage of the system and are not content with this huge handout. They make it sound that what the asylum seekers are doing is almost outrageous. The media represent asylum as a problem “the government has struggled to deport” they also make them sound criminal “locking them up in secure units and laying on special flights.”
The newspaper article on asylum featured in the Daily express on Tuesday 16th of December 2003 uses a cartoon image of 2 men, underneath the men there is a caption saying “ I’ve been here so long I forget what I sought asylum for” the article uses this to illustrate that there is nothing being done about the asylum seekers in Britain, this makes the residents of Britain feel angry and almost ashamed that there is nothing being done about the problem. The media also writes this to display asylum seekers as taking advantage of he system and undermines the seriousness of political asylum. The mail describes the population of asylum “rocketing” and “soaring” this makes it sound as if their numbers are increasing rapidly.
The issue of media representing asylum in such a negative way is remarkably important. By the media writing this, asylum seekers must feel alienated and ashamed. They are being represented as something that they are not and people are making false judgments on them because of what is being written in the media coverage. By doing this it leads to attacks and other violence issues. The media has created stereotyping of asylum seekers, which has manipulated the public and its wide audience.
I think the media should look to portray asylum seekers in a less stereotypical way. The media is dictating the people’s judgment on these innocent people, these people may be very pleasant however we don’t know that because of how negatively they are being represented in media i.e. newspapers and magazines.
Another way they represent asylum seekers in a certain way is by using imagery. In a magazine called “Glamour” there was an article on how asylum seekers are treated and how educated some of them are. In this specific article there was a picture on the front page of a beautiful young girl, above the picture they write that she is a doctor is happily married and that she is simply normal in every way all stated in a light font, then after this it says “so why is she a social outcast?” in a heavy black font. This picture is representing the asylum seeker as professional and accepted member of society, it then asks us the question “why is she a social outcast?” This makes the readers feel guilty themselves and feel ashamed. They are representing the asylum seeker in this perfect way and then tell us she’s an asylum seeker almost to shock us.
The magazines and newspapers use imagery to represent something in a certain way. The media can represent something in a negative way or positively just by using images. For example the media may want to represent asylum in a positive way. To do this they would use a young healthy woman instead of an angry young man. The women would be presentable. She wears western dress and everything about her would appear normal to the British audience, the location of where she is would be beautiful and to the viewer would look not only an acceptable person but probably better than any average person. Above the picture they may write something like “She’s a qualified doctor and married so what’s wrong? …. She’s an asylum seeker” The media uses the technique of questioning the reader to almost make them feel guilty themselves at mistreating and abusing this talented and educated girl. However if they wanted to make them appear negatively they may use a vicious looking young man looking very aggressive dressed in ripped clothing and hanging around in city streets. You can immediately see the difference in how these people would appear to you, they are both asylum seekers but they can be represented positively or negatively. This is how the media can use imagery to represent something in a certain way.
In articles representing asylum in a negative way I noticed that they rarely ever use images of asylum women and usually use the images of threatening young males. The experience of refugee women is marginalised.
I think to improve the coverage of asylum in Britain politicians and government officials should take the lead in using accurate terminology when speaking about asylum and immigration. The reporters, sub-editors and editors should be aware of the correct use of terminology in the asylum and immigration debate. They should avoid using and inventing their own labels, which are meaningless and also distinguish between economic migrants and refugees. The media should use correct definitions, which are legal with clear explanations of their meanings and the context of which they should be used.
There should be some sort of guidelines imposed for news coverage on asylum and how it is stated.
I noticed in reading examples of media representation of asylum that statistics were unsourced and sometimes unrealistic, the media should state all statistics and explain the origin from which they have come. The media should also seek to portray asylum seekers in a less stereotypical way for example using pictures of women and children in their reports; they should include alternate and more representative images.
I believe that if refugees had a say in what was going to happen to them it would be a lot fairer. Journalists need to be seeking a broader range of reports instead of representing them stereotypically.
By doing this we could see a sudden improvement in media representation on issues on asylum seekers.
