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Guidance
for Journalists
In
order to help the media report asylum issues fairly and accurately,
UNHCR in co-operation with the National Union of Journalists
and the Information Centre on Asylum and Refugees (ICAR), has published a guidance leaflet
for journalists. The leaflet is available here,
and the full text is contained in this section.
Asylum and immigration issues are controversial areas of public
policy and debate. Media coverage of refugee issues is frequently inaccurate, misleading or distorted.
There is wide-spread confusion over what constitutes an asylum seeker or a refugee, and how this differs from an illegal immigrant or an economic migrant.
Imprecise or sensationalist reporting can result into increasing suspicion towards refugees and asylum seekers, causing an atmosphere of fear and hostility within the community.
The NUJ/UNHCR leaflet is designed to be of practical assistance to journalists seeking to report on these issues accurately and fairly.
Asylum-seekers and refugees who have already fled conflict and persecution, and communities identified with them, have been subjected to xenophobic attacks in the UK. Alarmist media coverage has been blamed for encouraging or validating such attacks.
In October 2003 the Press Complaints Commission issued a guidance note to editors warning of “the danger that inaccurate, misleading or distorted reporting may generate an atmosphere of fear and hostility that is not borne out by the facts” - and could be a breach of Clause 1 of the industry Code of Practice.
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