Words Don't Come Easy

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The current movement of people from Syria to Europe via treacherous Mediterranean sea routes has sparked much debate on the best way to respond. One key debate has emerged around the relationship between negative media representations of migration and political responses to the management of borders. A related and growing body of work evaluates the implementation of anti-racist media practices and interventions, particularly in the promotion of diversity, non-racist language and balance in news coverage of immigra-tion and citizenship-related issues. However, an evaluation of such interventions has not yet been extended to news coverage of Middle Eastern and North African peoples as signified in media representations of ‘the Mediterranean Migration Crisis’; representations which have been shown to be highly problematic. Al Jazeera’s 2015 editorial decision to substitute ‘refu-gee’ for ‘economic migrant’ in its coverage of the issue, presented as an interventionist challenge to Western media representations of immigration, provides an opportunity to address this lack.

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