More on this once the story gets posted in the morning. But the use of the word 'rob' is clearly hugely problematic and exceptionally inflammatory.
For now, a reminder of what the PCC's guidance note on reporting on immigration says:
Similarly, the Commission – in previous adjudications under Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Code – has underlined the danger that inaccurate, misleading or distorted reporting may generate an atmosphere of fear and hostility that is not borne out by the facts.
UPDATE: Inevitably, the Express' article (and editorial) was based on (copied and pasted from) a Migrationwatch briefing paper. Sarah Mulley has explained 'Why Migrationwatch is wrong' in a blogpost for New Statesman.
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Fuck me. If the BNP put this shit out in shops around the country, people would be up in arms and rightly so. Yet this will just slip in, another day, another covert racist broadcast. The PCC will not help here. Is there any lawful angle in which to fight against this disgraceful racism? Surely it is bordering on being unlawful?
ReplyDeleteShameless, even by the Express's standards.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the spineless, pointless and utterly redundant PCC will not act and will sit on their collective hands since almost all those involved in the PCC are somehow guilty of similar stories. Self-regulation must now be considered a very unfunny failed joke and time to scrap the PCC in favour of a body that can regulate and take robust action against this type of rubbish (also see below the Star, Daily Mail etc etc).
ReplyDeleteLooks like this is based on a MigrationWatch study. Must be true.
ReplyDelete"Have Your Say is unavailable for this story".
ReplyDeleteBah!
Mind you, this one: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/194103 is priceless.
Proff?
The logic behind those "x% of new jobs taken by foreigners" is complete cobblers anyway. No-one has the stats on exactly who got the jobs that were created. It's easily sorted though...
ReplyDeleteI have a job. My company creates a new post which I apply for and get. My old job is advertised and someone born abroad applies for it and gets it.
Bingo! 1 new job created, 1 foreigner employed. In a 'new job'.
See, how easy was that? Instant outrage.
Having only had a quick look at the MigrationWatch study, it is already obviously bad. It only looks at areas with high immigration for a start.
ReplyDeleteThey obviously didn't do much proffreading there...
ReplyDelete5CC - Yes. Two problems jump out to me. One, why not start with areas where youth unemployment is highest. Two, they have looked at no other single factor other than immigration.
ReplyDelete"Migrants", "rob", "foreigners come in" and "youth unemployment soars"
ReplyDeleteAll this language is inflammatory, but because headlines are editorial space they aren't covered by the PCC. The Express becomes more and more overtly racist as the months pass. Quite often, the truth of these stories is buried in the text somewhere, but how many of their readers actually get past the headline and the first couple of paragraphs?
Shamefully the front page is the bit that everyone sees with this and it's what they remember. No matter how much rubbish it is.
ReplyDeleteI'm with mrtompkins!
ReplyDeleteI hate, loathe, despise, detest and abhor both the Daily Heil/Excrement with a blue-flame burning passion bordering on insanity. Seriously, I'd love to burn down their headquarters and slaughter the lazy Nazis who squelch out this guff, particularly on this occasion. Absolutely vile stuff. Just as well most people don't really take their headlines at face value at all - seriously, I'd go mad if this tidal wave of shit, this daily torrent of out-and-out blaming and hatred of "others", sailing well into the waters of racism continued to go unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work! You wade through this dreck so I don't have to, and for that I am eternally grateful!
I work in a library in a racially mixed inner city area and I'm ashamed to say we keep the Express. I complained to the PCC about one of their recent anti-Gypsy headlines only to find it was a complete waste of time as I wasn't directly mentioned in the story.
ReplyDeleteThe Press Complaints Commission is a waste of time fig-leaf for the racist right wing press and the sooner it is closed down and replaced by statutory regulation the better.