We have all
heard of the phrase, ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity,’ which is
accredited to Phineas T. Barnum, the 19th century American showman and circus
owner. However, the idea that publicity can do no harm is very disputable.
During my
immigration policy senior seminar last semester, I researched four common human
trafficking misconceptions to analyze how the media perpetuated these false
beliefs. The four common misconceptions I focused on for Michigan included that
human trafficking only:
1. Involves sex trafficking,
2. Happens across international
borders and not in the U.S.,
3. Involves powerful gangster or
strangers that randomly kidnap individuals, and
4. Affects women and not men.
As a result of
my research, I discovered that media coverage of human trafficking contradicts
Barnum’s phrase, because in reality there is such a thing as bad publicity, which
leads to common misconceptions.
In today’s
post and then again next week, I will be sharing some of the information I
learned about how media coverage can be misleading about human trafficking.
Journalists
use several techniques to perpetuate common misconceptions and to shape public
opinion. A necessary goal for media outlets is to receive high ratings and make
a profit, even if the information they are relaying is not completely accurate.
Contrary to academic researchers who write for very specialized journals with a
professional audience, news writers adjust their work to capture the attention
of the general public.
Newspaper
journalists have the capacity to shape social agendas because the public uses
news stories to attach meaning to certain events and groups of people. This is
largely accomplished through the language that is used because reporters are
able to steer the readers in whichever direction they wish and encourage the
sort of reaction they want. Certain patterns I noticed throughout my research
were the:
·
Us
verses them dichotomy, which illustrates how
reporters categorize victims as either criminals
or innocent targets;
·
Willing
and unwilling victims;
·
Illegal
verses undocumented or irregular migrants;
·
Strangers verses familiar traffickers; and
·
Sensationalized
text (more on this next week).
Take
Action: In this fast paced world
most of us quickly read an article or listen to a reporter without analyzing
the language and questioning what is being said. As individuals who are concerned that the publicly receives
the correct information about human trafficking, let’s continue to pay close
attention to the language media uses and point out to others how it is often
misleading.
Next weeks
topic will be Sensationalizing Sex
Sona Movsisyan is a senior
at Michigan State University, studying in the James Madison College. Her aspiration is to be a human rights attorney and an advocate for victims of
human trafficking.
