The Big Picture

The loss of ethical principles over ratings and unprofessionalism

"To photograph is to frame, and to frame is to exclude"

Susan Sontag
(Regarding the Pain of Others, 2003)

When it comes to very significant and complex issues such as the European refugee and migrant crisis, news organizations play a fundamental role in bringing the public’s attention to these events. In reporting the news, images are as important as words and in some way even more, because they are faster to deliver a message, easier to remember and more effective to convey emotions.
It was the terrible picture of a Syrian child laying dead on a Turkish beach that woke up the whole Europe, pointing out the dreadful humanitarian crisis that until then had gone almost unnoticed. However, due to either pressure from the economy, plain unprofessionalism or even political biases, some of the mainstream media did not cover this crisis in the most ethical and competent way.

What would you say are the most representative elements of the European migrant and refugee crisis?

Pick your three
children as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Children

police as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Law Enforcement

rafts as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Dinghies

barriers as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Barriers

roads as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Roads

emergency shelter as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Bivouac

rescuers as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Rescuers

trains as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Transports

signs as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Signs

rails as most seen element of the European migrant and refugee crisis

Rails

Good! You selected enough elements
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All over the European Union, the mainstream media have been showing us the same pictures, the same subjects over and over again. The objective are the ratings, so sensationalism and alarmism are the easiest way to get them. And if it’s not opportunism, it’s the lack of strength to distance themselves from the herd, challenging unbalanced and partisan news, populist speeches and in general the “easy way”, where they just cover what everybody else is covering.On average, in Europe, that’s what we saw:

Top 10 elements in Europe

Your choice

31.3%

Children

13.4%

Law Enft.

12%

Dinghies

9.4%

Barriers

8.7%

Roads

8.6%

Bivouac

8.1%

Rescuers

7.8%

Transports

5.1%

Signs

4.9%

Rails

These numbers are based on a sample of 2800 photographs used by the most important online news organizations in the countries of the European Union in 2015. For each Member State, we selected the top 2 media specialized in news coverage based on Alexa’s Top Sites ranking. From that list, we then extracted the 50 most relevant photographs from each organization’s website related to the migrant and refugee crisis in 2015 using Google Image Search. For more information about the method we used, click the i-icon on the left.

Going deeper, each news organization tailored its narratives to suit the interests and the worries of its local audience, so the relevance of the topics changes according to the situation of each Member State.

Top 3 elements for each Country

Click to interact with the map

Top 2 news organizations

1. Children - 26% 2. Law enforcement - 17% 3. Bivouac - 15% * * index.hu, origo.hu 1. Children - 37% 2. Dinghies - 11% 2. Rescuers - 11% 3. Bivouac - 10% * * aftonbladet.se, expressen.se 1. Children - 37% 2. Law enforcement - 15% 3. Transports - 13% 3. Barriers - 13% * * elpais.es, elmundo.es 1. Children - 41% 2. Law enforcement - 18% 3. Dinghies - 14% 3. Barriers - 14% * * 24ur.si, rtvslo.si 1. Children - 26% 2. Bivouac - 16% 3. Law enforcement - 14% * * sme.sk, topky.sk 1. Children - 26% 2. Barriers - 19% 3. Law enforcement - 18% * * adevarul.ro, hotnews.ro 1. Children - 30% 2. Law enforcement - 16% 3. Bivouac - 15% * * novinky.cz, idnes.cz 1. Dinghies - 21% 2. Children - 18% 3. Law enforcement - 14% * * bbc.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk 1. Children - 50% 2. Dinghies - 20% 3. Barriers - 13% * * sapo.pt, publico.pt 1. Children - 30% 2. Law enforcement - 15% 3. Barriers - 14% * * wp.pl, gazeta.pl 1. Children - 39% 2. Dinghies - 13% 3. Transports - 11% * * nu.nl, telegraaf.nl 1. Children - 31% 2. Law enforcement - 19% 3. Rescuers - 15% * * timesofmalta.com, timesofmalta.com 1. Children - 52% 2. Law enforcement - 19% 3. Transports - 10% * * rtl.lu, wort.lu 1. Children - 54% 2. Dinghies - 14% 2. Rails - 14% 3. Rescuers - 11% * * delfi.lt, 15min.lt 1. Children - 43% 2. Barriers - 13% 3. Law enforcement - 10% * * tvnet.lv, delfi.lv 1. Dinghies - 25% 2. Rescuers - 20% 3. Barriers - 11% 3. Roads - 11% * * repubblica.it, corriere.it 1. Children - 46% 2. Law enforcement - 17% 3. Barriers - 12% 3. Transports - 12% * * independent.ie, irishtimes.ie 1. Children - 30% 2. Dinghies - 21% 3. Bivouac - 18% * * zougla.gr, protothema.gr 1. Children - 18% 2. Roads - 15% 3. Dinghies - 13% 3. Law enforcement - 13% * * bild.de, spiegel.de 1. Children - 24% 2. Bivouac - 11% 3. Dinghies - 10% 3. Law enforcement - 10% * * lemonde.fr, lefigaro.fr 1. Children - 27% 2. Bivouac - 14% 3. Transports - 12% * * iltalehti.fi, iltasanomat.fi 1. Children - 25% 2. Law enforcement - 16% 3. Barriers - 11% * * delfi.ee, postimees.ee 1. Roads - 37% 2. Children - 36% 3. Law enforcement - 22% * * ekstrabladet.dk, dr.dk 1. Children - 37% 2. Barriers - 16% 3. Law enforcement - 12% * * jutarnji.hr, index.hr 1. Dinghies - 45% 2. Rescuers - 30% 3. Children - 15% * * sigmalive.com, philenews.com 1. Children - 34% 2. Law enforcement - 17% 3. Barriers - 15% * * offnews.bg, dnevnik.bg 1. Children - 28% 2. Dinghies - 15% 3. Emergency shelter - 14% * * hln.be, nieuwsblad.be 1. Law enforcement - 20% 2. Transports - 18% 3. Bivouac - 13% * * orf.at, derstandard.at

Users' responses

Showing the scope of the issue

When covering such complex issues (any issue for that matter), the media should always report the facts with the proper context and give enough space to all sides of the story.
For what concerns the European refugee and migrant crisis, news organizations should of course cover the legitimate worries over the great flux of migrants, the measures taken by different Countries to reduce migration or the terrible conditions under which refugees and migrants have to travel, but they should also report the background of refugees and migrants, the context where they come from, the story of their lives once they reach their destination and the consequences of their migration.

Idealistic version of what we should see on mainstream media

Their background

Their journey to Europe

Their life in Europe

What happens in reality

Their background

Their journey to Europe

Their life in Europe

0.11%

97.57%

0.32%

We categorized each one of the 2800 images in order to place them in any of the above sections.

The creation of the stereotype

It’s not only that we see a few recurring subjects in the news coverage and some aspects of the issue are reported without a sense of scale, but the way these subjects are portrayed conceals the effect, intended or not, of stereotyping migrants and refugees as well as distancing them from the general public, fostering the fear of the unknown.

The
invasion

Walking
together

The
rails

Children's
journey

The barbed
wire

Children's
crossing

Rush to
the train

The
boat

The
raft

The
landing

Children's
landing

Unprofessional behaviour

The lowest point in journalism ethics is reached when so-called “professionals” deliberately modify or retouch an image in order to exaggerate its emotional value and therefore, in their mind, produce a more compelling (and sensationalistic) story. A more subtle way, but just as wrong, is the process of reporting news using photographs that are not related to that particular event, altering completely the context.

“Avoid spreading inaccurate, simplified or distorted information as regards asylum seekers, refugees, victims of trafficking and migrants.”

Extract from the 3rd priciple of the Charter of Rome
(Charter of Rome, 2008)

In 2008, the National Council of the Journalists’ Association (CNOG) and the Italian National Press Federation (FNSI) drafted a deontological code of conduct for journalists regarding asylum seekers, refugees, victims of trafficking and migrants.
From the Charter of Rome (3rd principle): “Avoid spreading inaccurate, simplified or distorted information as regards asylum seekers, refugees, victims of trafficking and migrants. CNOG and FNSI call all their colleagues’ – and those responsible for editorial content in particular – attention to the negative effects of superficial or unprofessional behaviour on those who are the object of news coverage, on readers/viewers and, as a consequence, on media professionals’ credibility.
Superficial behaviour may include associating different news items in an inappropriate manner and may engender unwarranted apprehension among the public.”

The expandable boat

On June 7h 2014, the Italian photo reporter Massimo Sestini shot an aerial picture of refugees and migrants on a boat about 25 kilometers from the Libyan coast, just before they were rescued by an Italian naval frigate working as part of Operation Mare Nostrum. The same image has been used many times, even more than one year later, by different news organizations to write totally unrelated pieces with no connection to that fact whatsoever.

Time evolution on the web

June 2014 August 2015 September 2015 7 Jun 33202 occ

We created this timeline by using the service whereonthe.net, which finds all the occurrences where a given image appeared on the internet.

Image editing

Click to interact

ekstrabladet.dk

Local DF-President of refugees Photo: Yes, it
is provocative

June 4th 2015

hln.be

Illegal migration to EU grows strongly

March 4th 2015

sigmalive.com

137,000 migrants crossed the Mediterranean from early 2015

July 1st 2015

zougla.gr

Italy: More than 3,000 refugees were rescued south of Sicily

August 23rd 2015

maltatoday.com.mt

This is a human tragedy, not a “migration crisis”

August 27th 2015

sapo.pt

Macedonia declared an emergency by flow of migrants

August 20th 2015

"There are no wrong words.

There is a wrong use of words.”

Enrico Pugliese
(Parlare civile – Comunicare senza discriminare, 2013)

The inconsiderate use of words and photographs whether it’s because of a politically-driven agenda or just plain incompetence, has to stop at all costs. It’s essential that the media become again that Fourth Estate they should have always been, in an ethical and neutral way, because their role is vital to our society.

The Big Picture

There is no easy answer to such a rooted problem, but we encourage whoever is reading this to become aware of the fact and react accordingly.
While hoping for something to change in the media’s world, we want to make our small contribution towards a well-informed environment where readers can get a balanced and more comprehensive view of the European refugee and migrant crisis. Below is a curated list, divided by category, with links to resources where words and images show the issue from a different perspective.
Only with the big picture in mind one can truly form his/her own opinion, whatever that might be.

Top picks

Campaign

Data-Driven Journalism

Documentary

News

ONG

I am a migrant

A campaign and platform where migrants can tell their own stories.

#milionidipassi

An italian MSF's campaign that tells migrants’ stories and the determination of those who bring them relief.

UNHCR tracks

“Tracks" shares some extraordinary stories of survival, hope and home.

Valigia Blu

Collective blog written by journalists that care about ethics.

Refugee Republic

Interactive documentary about the life of people living in Camp Domiz, Iraq.

UNHCR

The agency leads and co-ordinates international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide.

IOM

IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration.

The Refugee Project

The Refugee Project is a narrative, temporal map of refugee migrations since 1975.

The Migrants’ Files

European consortium of journalists that aims at precisely assessing the human and financial cost of 15 years of Fortress Europe.

Life on Hold

Al Jazeera's web documentary that reflects on the Syrian refugee crisis.

Striving for a new future

An interactive web documentary on refugee students.

Missing Migrants

The Missing Migrants project tracks deaths of migrants and those who have gone missing along migratory routes worldwide.

Refugee Action

Refugee Action helps refugees who have lost everything to live again.

The Reach of War

A day in the life of the Syrian conflict.

S.O.S Europe

Amnesty International’s campaign for the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe and at its borders.

Medicins Sans Frontiers

MSF helps people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid.

Contribute to expand
"The Big Picture"

Have you found an interesting link about the issue that you think it should be added to our list?
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Faculty

  • Paolo Ciuccarelli
  • Marco Fattore
  • Stefano Mandato
  • Michele Mauri
  • Salvatore Zingale

Teaching Assts.

  • Angeles Briones
  • Daniele Ciminieri
  • Gabriele Colombo
  • Azzurra Pini

project by

  • Agata Brilli
  • Giacomo Ciurlo
  • Michele Invernizzi
  • Giulia Piccoli Trapletti
  • Laura Toffetti
  • Hou Xuanxuan