Review of the Media Framing of Human Trafficking
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Project acronym: TRACE Project title: Trafficking as A Criminal Enterprise Grant number: 607669 Programme: Seventh Framework Programme – Security Research Objective: SEC-2013.6.1-3 Contract type: Coordination and support action Start date of project: 01 May 2014 Duration: 24 months Website: www.trace-project.eu Deliverable D1.2: Review of the media framing of human trafficking Author(s): Julia Muraszkiewicz (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), Maria Georgiou and Angelos Constantinou (Cyprus Police) Dissemination level: Public Deliverable type: Final Version: 1 Submission date: 24 September 2014 1 Table of Contents Executive summary ................................................................................. 5! 1! Introduction ....................................................................................... 6! 2! Methodology ...................................................................................... 8! 3! Literature Review ............................................................................ 11! 4! The United Kingdom ........................................................................ 13! 4.1! Trafficking in human beings in the united kingdom ........................................................ 13! 4.2! The media in the united kingdom .................................................................................... 14! 4.3! Framing of human trafficking by the media .................................................................... 15! 4.3.1! Genesis ...................................................................................................................... 15! 4.3.2! Type of human trafficking ........................................................................................ 16! 4.3.3! Immigration ............................................................................................................... 17! 4.3.4! Sources ...................................................................................................................... 18! 4.3.5! European Union ........................................................................................................ 19! 4.3.6! Other ......................................................................................................................... 20! 4.3.7! Summary of findings ................................................................................................. 20! 5! Cyprus ............................................................................................. 22! 5.1! Trafficking in human beings in Cyprus ........................................................................... 22! 5.2! The media in cyprus ......................................................................................................... 23! 5.3! Framing of human trafficking by the media .................................................................... 24! 5.3.1! Genesis and the EU ................................................................................................... 24! 5.3.2! Type of human trafficking ........................................................................................ 25! 5.3.3! Immigration and organised crime ............................................................................. 26! 5.3.4! Sources ...................................................................................................................... 27! 5.3.5! Other ......................................................................................................................... 28! 5.4! Summary of findings ........................................................................................................ 28! 6! Poland .............................................................................................. 29! 6.1! Trafficking in human beings in Poland ............................................................................ 29! 6.2! The media in Poland ........................................................................................................ 30! 6.3! Framing of human trafficking by the media .................................................................... 31! 6.3.1! Genesis ...................................................................................................................... 31! 6.3.2! Type of human trafficking ........................................................................................ 32! 6.3.3! Immigration ............................................................................................................... 33! 2 6.3.4! Sources ...................................................................................................................... 34! 6.3.5! European Union ........................................................................................................ 35! 6.3.6! Other ......................................................................................................................... 35! 6.3.7! Summary of findings ................................................................................................. 35! 7! Conclusion ....................................................................................... 37! Acronyms .............................................................................................. 40! Appendix 1: Protocol ............................................................................ 41! Appendix 2: List of articles reviewed from The Mirror ........................... 43! Appendix 3: List of articles reviewed from The Telegraph ...................... 45! Appendix 4: List of articles reviewed from The Guardian ....................... 47! Appendix 5: List of articles reviewed from Politis .................................. 49! Appendix 6: List of articles reviewed from Cyprus mail ......................... 50! Appendix 7: List of articles reviewed from Phileleftheros ...................... 51! Appendix 8: List of articles reviewed from Gazeta Wyborcza .................. 52! Appendix 9: List of articles reviewed from Fakt .................................... 54! Appendix 10: List of articles reviewed from Newsweek ........................... 55! Appendix 11: List of articles reviewed from Rzeczpospolita .................... 56! 3 Change Records Issue Date Description Author (Company) Hayley Watson 0.1 02/09/14 Internal review Trilateral Research and Consulting Julia Muraszkiewicz Vrije Universiteit Brussel 0.2 03/09/14 Revision of deliverable Maria Georgiou and Angelos Constantinou Cyprus Police Solange Mouthaan 0.3 16/09/2014 External review University of Warwick Julia Muraszkiewicz 0.4 18/09/2014 Revision of deliverable Vrije Universiteit Brussel Julia Muraszkiewicz Vrije Universiteit Brussel 0.5 24/09/2014 Completed final version Maria Georgiou and Angelos Constantinou Cyprus Police 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report stands as Deliverable 1.2 of the TRACE (Trafficking as A Criminal Enterprise) project: a two-year EU funded research project on human trafficking.1 The deliverable offers a review of the way in which, human trafficking is framed within the news media - incorporating case studies from the United Kingdom, Cyprus and Poland. Tacking stock of press articles over the course of the years 2010 – 2014 the report summarises the findings and answers three central questions: (i) How does the news media frame human trafficking? (ii) Is there much discourse on European policy and legislation? (iii) What perception of human trafficking is the public likely to retain? To answer these questions 212 articles from ten newspapers were analysed. The report begins by discussing the methodology used, namely qualitative media analysis. Subsequently there is a literature review of what the academia and other reports have had to say on the topic. In brief, the literature suggests that there is an imbalance between the way human trafficking is portrayed in the media and the reality on the ground. In particular, it is suggested that there is a preference in focusing on human trafficking for sexual exploitation and reliance on ‘shocking’ stories that draw in the readers. Following on from the literature review is a discussion of the results of the qualitative analysis. A review cannot be realised however, without understanding the background to the case study (what is the state of human trafficking in the given country and what is the news press context) as such an analysis of the situation of human trafficking along with the state of the media within the case study country precedes each analysis. The report concludes with a discussion of key findings and comments on the possible implications of these findings. Overall the report finds that the dominant discourse surrounding human trafficking in the press concerns a focus on sexual exploitation, and particularly prostitution. While the case study of Cyprus did not show this, the British and Polish media also framed human trafficking as a matter of immigration. In the tabloid style press we also observed a heavy reliance on sensational stories such as arrests and court cases with a common thread of high level of detail about anything that may shock or outrage the reader. Our findings show that articles exploring the social issues and complex underlying problems of human trafficking were few and far between. The explicit mention of the European Union, in any context (whether legal or policy related), was also scarce. Without presenting the public with an in-depth discourse on human trafficking (that captures more than just ‘shocking’