Are The Media Racist? Discuss using appropriate examples with particular reference to Pilger's concept of 'unpeople'.

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Are The Media Racist?  Discuss using appropriate examples with particular reference to Pilger’s concept of ‘unpeople’.

“It requires a certain contortion of intellect and morality to condone one set of atrocities as ‘blunders’ while humanising one set of victims and dehumanising another.”

John Pilger 2000, Hidden Agendas 

The aim of this essay is to discuss whether or not the media, specifically the British media, are racist.  Using Miles’ definition of racism as my standard as well as its symbolic and aversive incarnations, as discussed by Saeed, I will attempt to analyse the representation of ethnic minorities in broadcast media and the press, with reference to the work of Stokes and Van Dijk (‘question of numbers’), Ferguson (‘the problem within’), as well as Gilroy and Saeed (‘question of identity’).  To relate the discussion to current issues in the media I will draw on work by John Pilger and Michael Parentti as well as specific examples and issues such as Asylum seekers, the September 11th aftermath and the present Iraqi crisis.  

So, are the Media racist, and if so to what extent?  The current international situation in Iraq and the recent events following the events of September the eleventh go a long way to answer this very question on an international level, but its the media’s portrayal of ethnic minorities here at home that can deliver the most worrying truths.  Britain is a multi-cultural society; after World War 2 until the passing of the 1961 Commonwealth Immigrants Act, anyone from the commonwealth had the right to settle in the UK.  Even though the passing of the act slowed the level of immigration, a large number of both commonwealth and non-commonwealth people came to Britain in order to find work and set up home legally.  However, despite having lived in Great Britain for over half a century, the media’s representation of ethnic minority groups are often negatively stereotyped or completely absent from texts.  This is crucial in the development of ‘our’ (the British people) concept of race and how we understand the ethnic communities as illustrated in Stuart Hall’s study ‘It ain’t half racist mum.’

Miles (1989), defined racism as...

“...any set of claims or arguments which signify some aspect of the physical attributes of an individual or group as a sign of permanent distinctiveness which attribute additional negative characteristics and or consequences to the individuals or groups presence.” 

It can, however be argued that racism is not a static attitude, as those that hold them can reassess these sets of values.  This is especially true with regard to the theory of Symbolic Racism.  

It has been suggested by Saeed, that in some cases an individual’s opinion of a minority group can be drawn by limited personal experience “and grow up with prejudiced views that are learned without much contact with or direct experience of black people”.  If the first such experience of an individual with a non-national or person of ethnic origin (or reports heard from another), is negative they can quite often be led to believe that all members of this ethnic group will behave in a similar way, which would lead to the formation of uninformed negative stereotypes.  An ideal example would be the attitudes fans of Leeds United Football Club after the incidents surrounding a game with Galatasaray several years ago. These events stimulated a hatred of all Turkish people amongst their supporters due to one isolated incident.  

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This could of course work to the contrary, but in western society it seems that people are far more ready to accept negative images of others, and individuals have to work hard to be held in a good light no matter what their racial origin.  

Another form of racial prejudice also defined by Saeed, as Aversive Racism.  He suggests that there are people within society who are not overtly racist, but don’t want anything to do with ethnic minorities and aren’t willing to give a chance to the unfamiliar.  A lot of people who meet this description ...

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