Malta’s maritime search and rescue, 2012. Demotix/Ian Pace. All rights reserved.With almost 60 million people on the move around the world, it’s not surprising that the migration story dominates the global news agenda. It’s an issue which brings out the worst in some politicians and divides communities like no other. This is the reason why journalists need to be careful and sensitive in their reporting.
But sometimes the words we use get in the way of the story. Barry Malone, an editor from Al Jazeera, has sparked an intense debate over media coverage by arguing that we should ditch the term “migrant.” He argues this catch-all term has become a blunt pejorative that “has evolved from its dictionary definitions into a tool that dehumanises and distances.”
He may be right. Certainly in many parts of Europe the word “migrant” has a toxic quality. In many cases it is used by the media to sensationalise and to feed deep uncertainties within settled communities over the hundreds of thousands of people on their borders seeking to start new lives or desperate to escape war, poverty and social dislocation.
