The sobering face of diversity

The day after the terrorist attack on London in 2005, the front page of The Sun, one of the most xenophobic British tabloids, carried photos of two young women: one white and one Arab; Christian and Moslem, with one caption, “Pray for All of Them”. The message could not have been clearer: regardless their religion, ethnicity or skin colour, they are equal in being the innocent victims of someone’s madness.

Those familiar with The Sun’s approach to foreigners, particularly immigrants, asylum seekers, Roma and Moslems, were pleasantly surprised. The most popular tabloid which sells millions of copies a day usually runs rather different stories accusing East-European asylum seekers of stealing and barbecuing the Queen’s swans, portraying Roma/Gypsies as invaders of the island, ready to cheat and milk the British Government endlessly, or presenting Moslems as “all the same” – radical, conservative, fundamentalist Islamists.

The Sun’s reporting on the terrorist attack took the same approach as all the other leading media in the United Kingdom (UK). The city which won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games only a day before the attack for – among the other reasons – being the most diverse, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic place in the world, had to pay the price for its open-mindedness. And instead of revengefully turning on all Moslems, the UK media including the tabloids, turned – at least immediately after the tragedy – into heralds of tolerance.

It is hard to say at this point what made chronically intolerant, xenophobic British tabloids turn to responsible reporting – the seriousness of the situation or something else. Whatever it was, their way of reporting on the terrorist attack is a good starting point for any discussion on how journalists approach diversity and – related to it – what the role of the media should be in mirroring diversity which, like it or not, is the reality of any society on this planet.

Like many news organisations in the UK and the USA, the BBC has a special guide for the producers. It is a kind of diversity checklist with detailed tips on how to report on members of diverse communities – ethnicity, race, gender, age, asylum seekers, homosexuals and lesbians, people with non-typical appearances. Satisfying common as well as specific interests of its audience is one of the crucial principals of public service broadcasters. To strike a balance between the two is a matter of professional skill as well as political sensibility. The more the audience sees a channel or newspaper as reflecting the audience’s views, the more they will trust it. This in turn brings credibility to the channel or paper and hence gives more power to those media to change the social attitudes and to make an impact.

 

The commercial media in Britain and overseas do not follow the agenda of public service media. For most, diversity is reported only if it brings in additional income. Take the case of The Los Angeles Times which turned towards a growing Latino readership: 40 million Latinos living in the area could be – and are – a great source of profit. This is not a problem as long as reporting on this group is fair, accurate in-depth and engaging – the principles of responsible journalism.

 

This inclusive journalism contributes to the building of the bridges between mainstream and minority communities. It strengthens the minorities’ feeling of belonging and strengthens unity, which are two important principals of a stable and open society. Unfortunately, when tabloids turn to topics related to members of minority communities, it is usually to misrepresent or stereotype them or to turn them into scapegoats, conveying the message “our lives would be much better without them.”

 

Examples are numerous. “So, this is how they thank us?” was The Sun’s headline (2002) for an article on a fire in a detention center for asylum seekers in the UK. The very first sentence, “The luxurious £100m facilities couldn’t be better (…) but asylum seekers still burned it down,” says it all: asylum seekers are to be blamed for the damage. The fact is that the damage could have been prevented if the anti-fire system in the centre had been working – information The Sun did not bother to share with its readers.

Another example is the 2000 The Mirror headline “Girl, 20 gang-raped by asylum seekers.” Lead: “A woman walking home after a night out (…) raped by three men – thought to be asylum seekers. So, thought to be asylum seekers. But those who read the actual article would find the perpetrators were unknown!

 

In so-called developed democracies, the rules are clearer and more respected and therefore, either through the legal system or professional codes of conduct, responsible journalism is encouraged. However, this does not mean that there is no xenophobia, racism, nationalism and other “isms” and phobias in their media.

 

In so-called developing democracies, the situation is much gloomier. A single article insensitive to ethnicity or religion – the two most sensitive diversity subjects – can cause conflict and demonstrations resulting in dozens of deaths. Take the case in Nigeria, where an article referring to the Prophet Mohamed in, for some readers, an inappropriate way, caused the killing of some 200 people in the north of the country. Or the case of the Rwandan radio station Radio des Mille Collines, where presenters were openly inviting members of one ethnic group to kill members of another. Which they did, of course, in their thousands.

 

One way to ensure to more inclusive and professional journalism is through training. Unfortunately, training for journalists alone is not enough. No matter how much they would like to take another view on diversity issues they can not do very much if their bosses have different attitudes. This is why training for media decision-makers is needed too. Crucial to this training are two elements: the legal responsibilities the public service media have in this respect and the business case for diversity in regards to commercial media. In other words, the public service media should learn about their legal obligations regarding representation of different communities, while commercial media need to be convinced that diversity brings profit.

 

Helping journalism educators on different levels develop their own reporting diversity curricula is a serious and necessary task in societies with poor diversity awareness. This helps new generations of journalists learn the basic lessons of the profession before they start.