Does the UK media have a racism problem? Some UK journalists seem outraged at the very suggestion – but what does the evidence tell us? /1 thedailybeast.com/daily-show-hos…
Way back in 2010, experts were warning that hostile UK media coverage was fuelling a rise in anti-Muslim hate crime: theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/28… /2
As long ago as 2008, the award-winning journalist Nick Davies published a shocking exposé of systemic racism at the Daily Mail, in his book Flat Earth News: /3
Nick Davies recounted speaking to multiple journalists who'd worked at the Mail, saying: "I have never come across a reporter from the Daily Mail who did not have some similar story, of black people being excluded from the paper because of their colour"
books.google.co.uk/books?id=U2E79… /4
books.google.co.uk/books?id=U2E79… /4
The language described in this account would be shocking in any working environment, let alone a privileged & powerful national UK newspaper: books.google.co.uk/books?id=U2E79… /5
In his book, award-winning journalist Nick Davies was explicit in describing the Daily Mail’s “element of pure naked racism”. So what has been happening with the UK media since Flat Earth News was published – and how much has changed? books.google.co.uk/books?id=U2E79… /6
In 2011, journalist Rich Peppiatt blew the whistle on working practices at the Daily Star, raising concerns that the newspaper was engaged in anti-Muslim propaganda: theguardian.com/media/2011/mar… /7
Rich Peppiatt subsequently testified about "a top down pressure to unearth stories which fitted within a certain narrative (immigrants are taking over, Muslims are a threat to security)", which led to "casual and systemic distortions" at the Daily Star levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/upl… /8
Rich Peppiatt also testified that “It seemed to me that reporters’ employment contracts were structured specifically to limit the possibility of any ethical protest”, raising concerns that journalists faced strong disincentives to challenge wrong-doing: levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/upl… /9
The same enquiry also aired evidence of the culture of fear which can deter UK charities from challenging media racism: levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/upl… /10
In 2012, the UK’s official inquiry into the media concluded that "discriminatory, sensational or unbalanced reporting in relation to ethnic minorities" was "a feature of journalistic practice in parts of the press, rather than an aberration": webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140122145023… /11
Internationally, the behaviour of the UK press has also raised significant concern. In 2015, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a strongly-worded statement after the Sun published an article comparing African migrants to "cockroaches": ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/… /12
The UN's statement condemned what it called "decades of sustained and unrestrained anti-foreigner abuse, misinformation and distortion" in the UK press - & called for public debate to be based on fact, "not fiction, exaggeration or blatant xenophobia" ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/… /13
Given all of this, it's perhaps no surprise that studies have consistently shown the UK press to be the least trusted in Europe. Some newspapers affect to speak on behalf of Britain - but the reality is somewhat different:
pressgazette.co.uk/survey-finds-t… /14
pressgazette.co.uk/survey-finds-t… /14
In 2016, detailed research by the former Times journalist Liz Gerard (@gameoldgirl) showed that anti-migrant front pages in the UK press had actually been steadily increasing year-on-year: sub-scribe.co.uk/2016/09/the-pr… /15
@gameoldgirl Liz Gerard's research has found that in 2016 alone, the Daily Mail and Daily Express ran *1,768* pages with stories about migrants – almost all of them negative: sub-scribe.co.uk/2017/02/the-pr… /16
@gameoldgirl In 2016, the surge in anti-migrant front pages was accompanied by a surge in hate crime on UK streets - with experts from the University of Leicester warning that these attacks had been "‘fuelled and legitimised by politicians and by the media": www2.le.ac.uk/offices/press/… /17
@gameoldgirl Cambridge University also highlighted that “Mainstream media reporting about Muslim communities is contributing to an atmosphere of rising hostility towards Muslims in Britain”: cam.ac.uk/research/news/… #UKmediaracism /18
@gameoldgirl The Sun and Daily Mail were accused of “fuelling prejudice” in a report by the Council of Europe on hate speech and rising racist violence: independent.co.uk/news/media/pre… #UKmediaracism /19
@gameoldgirl Research by the UN High Commission for Refugees found that the Daily Mail – along with The Sun – showed a hostility towards migrants that was “unique” among the newspapers they sampled across five European countries: unhcr.org/uk/protection/… /20
@gameoldgirl Yet despite being condemned in a @COE report on racist violence & called out by the UNHCR, the Daily Mail was awarded "Newspaper of the Year" for 2016 by the Society of Editors, raising wider institutional questions about the norms of the UK press... pressgazette.co.uk/daily-mail-bre… /21
@gameoldgirl @coe Given the weight of evidence, it might seem surprising that any UK journalist would attempt to deny that racism has been a problem within the UK press - especially as the issue is now beginning to be acknowledged at a high level: independent.co.uk/news/media/dai… /22
@gameoldgirl @coe And while there's still a long way to go, there have actually been signs of progress: Since 2016 there has been a marked reduction in anti-migrant front pages, as advertisers have become increasingly unwilling to be aligned with such messages: thedrum.com/news/2019/08/0… /23
@gameoldgirl @coe The Daily Mail has changed its editor & reportedly made efforts to "detoxify" after more than 200 advertisers walked away - again reflecting an acknowledgement that there have been issues to address: theguardian.com/media/2019/oct… /24 #UKmediaracism
@gameoldgirl @coe But real institutional change takes time & sustained effort. While we may be seeing less overt anti-migrant content within the UK press, discriminatory narratives continue to cause concern. To suggest that racism is "fixed" is to deny reality: buzzfeednews.com/article/elliev… /25
