Guide to Media
CRE’s Scotland’s Gypsies/Travellers: A resource for the media
Complaints to the Broadcasting Media
It could be argued that the media is the most powerful tool of communication in modern society. It tells us what is happening on the other side of the world and in the house next door. It tells us who our friends and enemies are and if we are safe or in danger. It also informs our understanding of the past and our dreams of the future. In effect, it tells us what to think and we must, in large part, trust in its integrity.
However, the media is also led by society’s trends, its mood swings and whims. Although it is meant to be our watchdog and a means by which all sides of a story are told, it is also a vast multi-national business. News channels compete for viewers and papers compete for readers. At the end of the day, telling the public what they want to hear makes them switch on their television sets and buy newspapers.
"Every media outlet shares the same principal aim: to expand its share of the market. It does this by seeking to grab and hold onto people’s attention. This is why the media concentrates so much on events rather than issues, and especially trivial, flashy and colourful events." George Monbiot
From as far back in history as you care to go, the settled public have viewed Travellers as outsiders, as a community living on the margins of society. They have been and remain an unknown quantity and are therefore often misunderstood and feared. Their portrayal in the media has changed very little over the centuries and this is a stark reflection of the deep-rooted stereotypes and prejudices this small community has had to bear. Unlike other minority groups who have found a voice and successfully challenged discrimination, there are two fundamental qualities, inherent in the culture, that sets the Traveller community apart and make their task all the more difficult. These are that Travellers have very different roots from settled people and that their history is an oral archive. They have very strong ties to the land, but they stake no claim to any one road, hill or valley. Their history is immensely rich, but the only books you will find telling of it will be filled with the words of other people.
These qualities are what make the community so exceptional, but they are also play a central role in their misrepresentation. Because they are often no longer there to answer the accusations made against them, they cannot very well defend themselves. Because their tradition is predominantly oral, it is very difficult to understand their beliefs and aspirations unless people are willing to listen to them. Consequently, their depiction in the media is, more often than not, one-sided and ill informed.
In 1998, in an attempt to address the situation, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) produced a leaflet entitled ‘Travellers, Gypsies and the Media - A good practice guide from the Commission for Racial Equality’. The leaflet begins thus:
"Coverage of race and ethnic issues across the media has significantly improved over the past 20 years. There has been a wider and more constructive exploration of many questions and a reduction in the use of language that is offensive to members of different ethnic groups. However, many problems remain. These recommendation are designed to help in dealing with one of them: the way parts of the media report on Travellers and/or Gypsies".
"Poor quality reporting, which exploits or panders to stereotypes, can cause much hurt to those about whom the stories are written. By repeating false and negative stereotypes the media can encourage bad practice on the part of those with whom Travellers and Gypsies deal and can validate the expression of language and attitudes which in any other circumstances would be seen as totally unacceptable."
The leaflet goes on to outline some very basic and fundamental journalistic principles, which clearly have not been applied in the reporting of issues concerning the Traveller community. These are:
- Steer clear of exploiting prejudice
- Check the facts
- Don’t let your news addenda only be driven by the way others are handling the issue
- Look behind the story line
- Listen to the people you are writing about
- Don’t label people if it is not relevant
Although the CRE guidelines were greatly needed and welcomed, they are only guidelines and no journalist is required to abide by them, nor is there any penalty for breaching them. Indeed, there is very little redress against bad journalism and very few successful complaints. Unlike most other institutions, the media is self-governing. There is no independent body to which the media is accountable. Uniquely, this is essential if the media is to remain unfettered by political parties and popular opinion. This means, however, that it remains relatively unaccountable for its less laudable actions.
It is essential, nevertheless, to pursue press complaints at every opportunity, and where appropriate, to make the CRE aware of the situation. There are a series of guidelines issued by the media to be followed when pursuing a complaint, either for items covered by television or in newspapers and these are outlined below.
Scotland’s Gypsies/Travellers: A resource for the media
This booklet contains information about the key issues that affect Gypsies/Travellers, advice about terminology and how to deal with issues of concern.
It is intended primarily for journalists but may also be of interest to others.
The CRE produced this booklet to promote accurate and balanced Scottish media-reporting of Gypsy/Traveller issues that doesn’t contain inaccuracies. While many journalists have a legitimate interest in this area (as do many members of the public) they may have had little experience and exposure, not only to the issues but to Gypsies/Travellers themselves. The CRE hope that this booklet will go someway to addressing this.
The CRE’s aim is to encourage more balanced media reporting which can help to foster understanding between and within communities and encourage action to address the issues that impact on both Gypsies/Travellers and the settled community.
You can download this booklet as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) file here:
Scotland’s Gypsies/Travellers: A resource for the media (pdf, 355kb)
Also read the CRE’s Guidance for Journalists
The Press Complaints Commission
The Press Complaints Commission Code of Practice is updated annually and can be accessed from their website: http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html
A full guide to complaining to the Press Commission can be found on their website: http://www.pcc.org.uk/complaints/process.html including an online complaints form.
Compliants to the Broadcasting Media
(extracts from George Mobiot’s ‘An Activists’ Guide to Exploiting the Media’)
If you’ve got a small complaint, take it up with the programme concerned - preferably with either the programme producer or the series editor. If you don’t get satisfaction, try one of the following:
If it’s a BBC TV or radio programme: The BBC Programme Complaints Unit, BBC Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA
If it’s an ITV programme: The Independent Television Commission, 33 Foley Street, London W1P 7LB
If it’s an independent radio programme: The Radio Authority, Holbrook House, 14 Great Queen Street, London WC2B 5DG
If you have a major complaint, contact the Broadcasting Standards Commission, as well as one of the above. BSC, 7 The Sanctuary, London SW1P 3JS.
In all cases, make sure you include the name and date of the programme. Be prepared for a long wait, and keep on their case.
Cumbersome and slow as it is, complaining about unfairness in the broadcast media can be spectacularly worthwhile, as the producers of Channel 4’s Against Nature series found to their cost. Following thousands of viewers complaints, the Independent Television Commission delivered one of the most damning verdicts in it history, with the result that Channel 4 had to make a humiliating prime-time apology and the series director, Martin Durkin, had to resign from the company he works for.
- Hear Jack Straw’s comments on travellers in August 1999, (requires Real Player).
FFT reported him to the Commission for Racial Equality as a stirrer of race hatred.
convert this post to pdf.
