Three narratives to avoid in conversations about unauthorized immigration
*This was written for journalists, but it’s pertinent to everyone who engages in conversations about immigration. If we’re to change the Latino narrative the first effort should be to change the frame, and these three basic things are a good start: stop framing unauthorized immigration as Mexican-specific; stop casting Trump as a focal point; and remember to contextualize individual narratives. It’s worth you time to read this piece.
By Julia Barajas, Columbia Journalism Review (4 minute read)
Editor’s Note: This post was produced as part of a graduate course on media writing and storytelling taught by the editors of Columbia Journalism Review.
THE STAKES ARE HIGH for immigration coverage. The Supreme Court is slated to rule this year on President Barack Obama’s executive actions, which could grant millions of unauthorized immigrants reprieve from deportation and the ability to apply for work permits. The political battle to succeed him, meanwhile, has been largely driven on the Republican side by Donald Trump’s calls for mass deportations and a more restricted border.
Level-headed reporting and analysis are all the more important with so much on the line. And three common narratives pose a particular threat to that coverage, often obscuring—rather than illuminating—a highly complex issue.
FRAMING UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRATION AS MEXICAN-SPECIFIC
Media attention toward unauthorized immigration has long been trained on the southern border, partly in response to the millions of Mexicans who entered the United States in recent decades. But the trend line in recent years has pointed away from Mexico. Singular focus on that country serves to exclude millions of stakeholders from coverage.
Click HERE to read the full story.
[Photo by U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Flickr]
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