Moving Stories International Review of How Media Cover Migration Ethical EJN Journalism Network EDITED BY AIDAN WHITE Moving Stories Published in London by the Ethical Journalism Network © 2015 Ethical Journalism Network 11 Vicarage Road, London, E15 4HD United Kingdom No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The contents of this book are covered by authors’ rights and the right to use of contributions with the Editor and the authors themselves. Designed by Mary Schrider ([email protected]) This report is published as part of a programme of assistance to the work of the EJN provided by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. PHOTO CREDITS Page 54: “Favella Santa Marta” by dany13 licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 56: Photo by Luciano Pontes / Secom - Fotos Públicas Cover image: “Syrian refugees crossing the Serbian-Croatian border” © Francesco Malavolta/IOM 2015 Page 58: “Migrant Worker Style” By Matt Ming licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 Page 1: “Eastern Chad - Universal Children’s Day” by UNHCR/ Fréderic Page 61: “Factory Zhuhai China” by Chris licensed under CC BY 2.0 Noy, Dec.2011 licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 62: “Netting Up: Migrant Workers in Hong Kong” by KC Wong licensed Page 3: “Repatriation of IDPs in North Darfur” by UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez under CC BY 2.0 Farran licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 64: “Nigerian refugees, Diffa” by EU commission licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 4: “A Cry for Those in Peril on the Sea” by UNHCR/A. Rodriguez Page 67: “Fishermen & boats at Tanji Coast” by R. Vila licensed under CC licensed under CC BY 2.0 BY 2.0 Page 7: “Border fence at Friendship Park, Tijuana” by BBC World Service Page 68: “Best of West Africa” by European Commission DG ECHO licensed under CC BY 2.0 licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 10: “Migrants and refugees in the Greek island of Lesbos” © IOM/ Page 70: “Indo Bangladesh Border Gate” by Arupparia licensed under CC Amanda Nero BY-SA 4.0 Page 15: “Hussein and his children from Afghanistan arrive in Presevo regis- Page 72: “Indian migrant family” by McKay Savage licensed under CC BY 2.0 tration centre” by Meabh Smith/Trócaire licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 74: “Bangladesh-India border” by Moin Uddin licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 16: Migrants arriving from Athens to the border between Greece and Page 76: “Refugees living in an abandoned factory, Lebanon” by Anthony Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. ©IOM/Amanda Nero 2015 Gale licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 20: “The Children of Harmanli” by UNHCR/D.Kashavelov licensed Page 78: “Refugees near Saida” by Anthony Gale licensed under CC BY 2.0 under CC BY 2.0 Page 81: “Supporting Lebanese women as well as Syrians” by Russell Page 23: “The Children of Harmanli Face a Bleak Winter” by UNHCR/D. Watkins/DFID licensed under CC BY 2.0 Kashavelov licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 82: “Ixtepec” by Peter Haden licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 24: The Italian Harbourmaster Corps rescues migrants bound to the coasts of Italy. © Francesco Malavolta/IOM Page 85: “Tiajuana Fence” by Natt Muangsiri licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 31: “Un llarg camí” by Jordi Bernabeu Farrús licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 89: “Queue” by Jenny Downing licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 32: “Children from Kobane” by Julia Buzaud licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 91: “Broken-Landscape-Still” by ECSP licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 35: “Migrants and refugees arrive in Kos” by International Federation of Page 92: “Eathquake in Nepal” by Samir Jung Thapa/ADB licensed under Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies licensed under CC BY 2.0 CC BY 2.0 Page 38: “Dieppe Sunset” by Darren Johnson licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 94: “Didier camp refugees” by Tawedzerwa Zhou licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 42: A postcard by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom Page 97: “Central Johannesburg” by Simon Inns licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 44: “Real Australians” by Alberto licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 98: “March against Xenophobia” by Dyltong licensed under CC BY-SA Page 46: “Illegal asylum seeker is an oxymoron” by Takver licensed under 4.0 CC BY 2.0 Page 100: “Migrant workers in Gilroy, CA” by Bob Nichols/UDSA licensed Page 47: “Tattoos and Islam” by Michael Coghlan licensed under CC BY 2.0 under CC BY 2.0 Page 48: “Refugee Action protest” by Takver licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 102: “Donald Trump Laconia Rally” by Michael Vadon licensed under Page 50: “Manus Island regional processing facility” by Global Panorama CC BY 2.0 licensed under CC BY 2.0 Page 104: “National Hispanic Heritage Month” by EJ Hersom licensed under Page 52: “Haiti Earthquake 2010” by Direct Relief licensed under CC BY 2.0 CC BY 2.0 Acknowledgements We are grateful to all of the authors for their contributions and to Douglas Morrision for his skilful editing of the report. We also appreciate the help of EJN Board members and others who have helped shape the final text. In particular, we thank Kieran Cooke and his colleagues at Climate News Network and Tony Bunyan at Statewatch who assisted in the selection of contributors. The quote from H.G. Wells on the back cover comes from Ali Smith in The Guardian on November 20th 2015. CONTENTS Foreword: Beyond the headlines ........................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction: Moving stories ................................................................................................................................. 5 Recommendations and Useful Links .................................................................................................................... 8 The View from Brussels: Missed opportunities to call the European Union to account ................................ 11 Bulgaria: A study in media sensationalism ........................................................................................................ 19 Italy: A charter for tolerant journalism: Media take centre stage in the mediterranean drama .................... 25 Turkey: Media under the government’s thumb and migrants in a legislative limbo ...................................... 33 United kingdom: How journalism plays follow-my-leader in the rhetoric of negativity................................ 39 Australia: In a nation of migrants the media faces its own identity crisis ........................................................ 45 Brazil: Where politics takes precedence over the people who make it............................................................. 53 China: An inside story – the invisible and ignored migrant workforce ................................................................. 59 The Gambia: Desperate young take the backway to an uncertain future ....................................................... 65 India: How missing facts and context are toxic for media coverage................................................................. 71 Lebanon: Media put humanity in the picture as refugee crisis takes hold ...................................................... 77 Mexico: Shallow journalism in a land where political bias rules the newsroom ............................................ 83 Nepal: Information gaps fail to keep track of a country on the move .............................................................. 89 South Africa: Compelling tales of afrophobia and media selective blindness ................................................ 95 United States: The Trump Card: How US news media dealt with a migrant hate manifesto ....................... 101 Contributors ....................................................................................................................................................... 106 FOREWORD Beyond the headlines » JAN EGELAND For years, the Norwegian Refugee Council and other humanitarian actors have called out – too often in vain – to the international community, to the media, the decision makers and the public opinion about the sufferings of millions of civilians fleeing war in Syria. As the conflict escalated, and the humanitarian disaster with it, creating the biggest refugee crisis in our generation, our appeals for wider media attention, with some notable exceptions, fell on deaf ears with an apparent lack of interest on the part of the vast majority of television and radio companies and major newspapers. It was arguably only with the tragic death of Aylan Kurdi and the publication of pictures of his body on a beach in Turkey that Western public opinion and global media finally woke up. Immediately, media lenses focused sharply on the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and both politicians and ordinary people had to respond. What about the many other humanitarian crises beyond the media’s radar? every two minutes another South Sudanese child becomes severely malnourished. But these stories are seldom told. But this incident only raised another question. What about the many other humanitarian crises beyond the media’s radar? In war-torn South Sudan, for example. This country is rarely in the limelight. In 2011, it gained independence from Sudan ending a generation of war. Two years later, the civil war broke out resulting in massive forced dis- placement and today the country is one of the world’s impoverished places. Every two minutes another South Sudanese child becomes severely malnourished. But these stories are seldom told. A South Sudanese colleague told me it was strange to see how things can change from one day to the other only because of international media attention. “In Europe,