Al Jazeera decision to stop using the term ‘migrant’ shows the company takes their journalistic ethics seriously and regularly examines the nature of their reporting. In response, some news outlets are reassessing how they report the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. The Independent, the Guardian and a number of others have published articles examining how the media and society are talking about it.
But the move has not sparked a mass crisis of conscience in European media as ‘migrant crisis’ is still the most common term in use. But on social media NGOs on the frontline and smaller media outlets are leading the debate and the public are letting their dissatisfaction be known. As images of the bodies of children being washed up on the beaches and mothers holding infants above the water came in, using the term ‘migrant’ became not just redundant but offensive to many. #refugeecrisis has been trending on Twitter in response.
It is surprising the term was ever the word of choice for this situation in the first place. Given the average style guide encourages journalists to be specific in the language they use, they couldn’t pick a broader term than ‘migrant’ for what is a focused issue.
Global migration has been ongoing since the dawn of human existence. ‘Migrant’ is an umbrella term under which there is an array of more specific sub-definitions to choose from. However, each carries a different weight as each is embedded, to an extent, with the purpose of movement.
Ex-Pats, Diasporas, Immigrants, Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants.
Britons living in the Coasta Del Sol or Americans abroad tend to be ex-Pat’s. And there is ‘Diaspora’, the cherished terms of the Irish who take pride in the success of their migration to the US, UK and Australia and beyond. It’s a source of national accomplishment. Immigrant is as nondescript as migrant. However, refugee, describes the situation with some sense of accuracy. Migration is a broad global process, refuge is an immediate humanitarian emergency.
But what would the impact of a mass change in the media/social discourse be? Could something as simple as using ‘refugee’ instead of ‘migrant’ really have such a big impact?
Research shows that the news media can shift public opinion and influence the official agenda. It is non-linier and complex relationship but there is no doubt that the nature if media coverage can shape national positions on current affairs.
The language we use can force us to confront issues we would rather avoid. When we are forced to consider the crisis as that for refuge in Europe and not a general sweeping migration into it, it will inevitably lead to looking beyond European borders to the source of the refugees plight.
When the issue is framed as ‘migration’ it limits how we consider dealing with it to just ‘migrants’ and ‘traffickers’. Reframing the issue in terms of refuge leads to questions about the conditions from which people are fleeing, bringing moral and ethical perspectives on how we should respond into focus.
Change is slow but coming
There have been flashes of media attention on how politicians are talking about the crisis in the Mediterranean. David Cameron describing those risking their lives and liberty in Calais as a ‘swarm’ got a boost of national media attention in the UK. But, at the same time the news-media continued to use the term ‘migrants’, failing in the basic duty to use specific language and be accurate as possible, while simultaneously facilitating the lack of consideration of a more humanitarian response.
But change may be on the horizon as the news media continue to reassess the impact of their reporting, and recognise that the public are increasingly calling for a more humane discourse. RTE and number of other outlets are, as the week goes on, are increasingly using ‘refugee’. Discourse analysts have shown that seemingly minor changes in the language media use can have an impact on the direction policy and society takes. This is something recognised by NGO’s such as the UNCHR who only use the term refugee.
With thousands dead and the crises worsening, it is long passed time the news media asked themselves if they are being accurate enough, descriptive enough or specific enough in how they are reporting this. Using only one word and not another can have far reaching impact. And, sometimes important change is as simple as rejecting a term that has become meaningless and using the more descriptive one.
