The British media has proven itself to be a mouthpiece of the ruling class, spreading racist propaganda about migrants and giving them disproportionate coverage to justify state brutality against them. On 29 October, the top three stories on BBC News were: the deportation of Hadush Kebatu, an asylum seeker mistakenly released from prison; the charging of an Afghan asylum seeker after a triple stabbing; and coverage on Operation Sterling. Meanwhile, Israel breaking the ceasefire in Gaza and Hurricane Melissa were only the fourth and fifth most important news stories. Headlines routinely focus on the nationality or immigration status of migrants convicted of crimes, pushing the narrative that migrants bring crime and disorder to Britain.
Media coverage about migrants is dehumanising, misleading and inflammatory. It has also taken aim at the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because it gives migrants legal avenues to prevent deportations. Thus, headlines from The Telegraph include ‘Labour’s migrant barracks plan will let asylum seekers roam the streets’ (29 October) and ‘Even liberal Europe is turning its back on the ECHR’ (17 November). The narrative that Britain has an ‘asylum crisis’ is repeated ad nauseam while endless articles and TV channels debate whether Labour’s immigration policies will work or critique them for not going far enough.
The media has also given Labour a platform to legitimise its racist policies without comment. In an opinion piece published in The Guardian on 16 November, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed ‘a country without secure borders is less safe for people who look like me’. Perversely, she argued that because Britain’s immigration controls are too lax, ‘dark forces’ are able to ‘stir up anger’ and ‘cause division’. This implies it is migrants themselves who are responsible for the racism they face.
The British media have shamelessly legitimised and promoted racism in Britain – they are utterly complicit in the racist violence ethnic minority communities face today.
Kotsai Sigauke
