I must commend this terrific analysis by a former Sunday Times colleague, Liz Gerard, “The press and immigration: reporting the news or fanning the flames of hatred?”
It runs to almost 3,500 words and makes for uncomfortable reading. But journalists should make the effort because it is a factual account of truly industrial-scale misreporting and misrepresentation.
Her meticulous research, complemented by reproductions of front pages and statistical graphs, is a fine piece of work, worthy of being a Phd proposal.
By looking back to the coverage of immigration since the May 2010 general election, she has been able to reveal a disturbing pattern of wholly negative articles about refugees seeking asylum in Britain.
The worst culprits were the Daily Express, which splashed on migration issues on 179 occasions, and the Daily Mail, with 122 splashes. She writes:
“The Sun and Star see footballers and reality TV stars as better sellers, but are generally hostile [to immigration]. The Telegraph is not quite as fevered as the white-top tabloids, but shares their outlook.
The Guardian, i and Independent are all generally sympathetic, while the Times tries to steer a middle course.”
As for the Daily Mirror, it is “the one paper that has shunned front-page stories about migration”.
Recognising that “there is a groundswell of opinion that something needs to happen to stop this dangerous drip-feed of negative headlines”, Gerard asks: what is to be done?
Her first approach was to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), only to discover that it avoids getting involved in what might be termed “general” complaints.
As for the alternative regulator, Impress, which has yet to finalise its code of conduct, its complaints officer “was hopeful that the end product would be strong enough to tackle such drip-feed effects.” But it transpired that Impress, like Ipso, is wary of dealing with complaints “based on a collection of articles.”
There is more, much more, to appreciate in her article. And she promises yet more in future.
Let me finish with one of the examples turned up by Gerard that illustrates how the Express, in its desperation to publish anti-migrant material, happily regurgitates “news” stories.
On 23 November 2010, it carried a splash “A gypsy’s mansion built on benefits” with an inside spread showing two pictures of the alleged house.
On 30 March 2016, the Express ran “You pay for Roma gypsy palaces” with an inside spread also carrying two pictures.
Gerard writes: “Doesn’t the house and its interior look familiar?” Indeed they do.
The second use in the Express was doubtless prompted by a Sun spread (“Dun Roma-ing”) the day before. After all, one of the depressing features of anti-migrant stories is that newspapers have a habit of endlessly repeating them.
Anyway, please click now to Liz Gerard’s piece.