Page 276 - Culture Society and the Media

266 HOW THE MEDIA REPORT RACE
maintain there is no argument as to what constitutes news and that their duty is
simply to publish it. Critics of media coverage within academic circles and
among the various race relations bodies in Britain say that the media should
acknowledge special responsibilities in reporting race and ought to handle
racerelated stories with kid gloves. In their view to adhere to normal news values
will exaggerate the extent of racial conflict and this will inevitably make race
relations worse. Most journalists would probably consider these criticisms to be
misplaced, mainly because this would be to demand ‘news as we would like it to
be’ rather than ‘news as it is’.
Of course, this implies that news is somehow immutable, unchanging and
obvious: that it ‘reports itself’, whereas critics of media coverage would say that
news is variously manipulated, manufactured, shaped and suppressed. It is to
throw light on what constitutes news in our society that the media coverage of
race will be examined.

NEWS AS WE WOULD LIKE IT TO BE OR NEWS AS IT
IS
The claimed difference between ‘news as we would like it to be’ and ‘news as it
is’ is best exemplified by the contrast between editorials and news columns.
While the news pages seem to be full of conflict and tension, editorials are likely
to emphasize harmony and the need for good race relations. For example,
referring to the arrival of the Malawi Asians the Daily Express editorialized:

There is bound to be some dismay at the news that a further 25,000 Asian
immigrants will be heading for Britain in the next few years…. Yet in a
very real sense Africa’s loss is our gain. For in the main, these people are
not layabouts looking for a cushy billet, but hard-working, ambitious and
efficient traders. (10 May 1976)

On the same day, the front page headline in the Express ran, ‘£1,000 PROBLEM
OF A REFUGEE—REFUSED WELFARE—BUT I’LL SETTLE FOR A
COUNCIL HOUSE’, and the story underneath ran:

at Gatwick Airport yesterday Mr. Maroli knew the question to ask. ‘How
do I get in touch with the British Welfare? I have been told that they can
help me?’ But Mr. Maroli will have to fend for himself—the Officials at
Gatwick knew about his £1,000 nest-egg.

Butterworth’s analysis of the reporting of an outbreak of smallpox in Bradford in
1962 is a valuable study of the contrast between what is written in the editorial
columns and what appears on the news pages. The Yorkshire Post reported under
the headline ‘ANGER IN BRADFORD’ that though there had as yet been no
physical violence between blacks and whites, ‘there was open evidence that the