South Africa: how the media stoked the fires of racism
posted by impuku | 25.05.2008 19:59
A major Idasa report, “Press Coverage of Cross Border Migration to South Africa Since 2000”, says the country’s newspapers and news wire services have played a major role in inflaming xenophobic sentiment.
Sunday Times
How the media stoked the fires
Published:May 25, 2008
Drawing on earlier research, the 2005 study noted that less than 10% of South Africans had a “great deal” of contact with foreign Africans — and that, therefore, “anti-immigration sentiment in the region is not primarily a result of (personal experience) with foreigners but rather the product of (mis)information from secondary sources, including the media”.
In a study of 950 press reports on immigration, the survey found:
# More than half the articles used at least one negative reference ( job stealers, criminals, illegals ...). This cumulative effect of rhetoric is perhaps the most revealing statistic of all;
# 17% used a “negative metaphor” to describe the migration, eg. floods, waves or hordes;
# 22% associated migrants with crime; 20% referred to migrants as illegals
# “The long discredited figure of nine million illegal immigrants living in South Africa ... continues to be reproduced in the press”;
“A large amount of press coverage remains anti-immigration and non-analytical”;
# Of the articles that used the term “job stealers”, the SA Press Association (Sapa) was by far the worst offender, making up 38%; and
# The problem was inflamed by “the growth of a tabloid press in SA . . . which latch on to reactionary and sensational issues and attitudes”.
The report concluded that “there are signs of a shifting, albeit polarised, approach to coverage of the issues — at least in South Africa — but xenophobic writing and editorialising remains a concern”.
How the media stoked the fires
Published:May 25, 2008
Drawing on earlier research, the 2005 study noted that less than 10% of South Africans had a “great deal” of contact with foreign Africans — and that, therefore, “anti-immigration sentiment in the region is not primarily a result of (personal experience) with foreigners but rather the product of (mis)information from secondary sources, including the media”.
In a study of 950 press reports on immigration, the survey found:
# More than half the articles used at least one negative reference ( job stealers, criminals, illegals ...). This cumulative effect of rhetoric is perhaps the most revealing statistic of all;
# 17% used a “negative metaphor” to describe the migration, eg. floods, waves or hordes;
# 22% associated migrants with crime; 20% referred to migrants as illegals
# “The long discredited figure of nine million illegal immigrants living in South Africa ... continues to be reproduced in the press”;
“A large amount of press coverage remains anti-immigration and non-analytical”;
# Of the articles that used the term “job stealers”, the SA Press Association (Sapa) was by far the worst offender, making up 38%; and
# The problem was inflamed by “the growth of a tabloid press in SA . . . which latch on to reactionary and sensational issues and attitudes”.
The report concluded that “there are signs of a shifting, albeit polarised, approach to coverage of the issues — at least in South Africa — but xenophobic writing and editorialising remains a concern”.
posted by impuku
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