Issue in the media today Essay Example for Free

Issue in the media today Essay Why is asylum such an important issue in the media today? More countries joined the EU recently, and it is expanding. People in the Eastern countries get low wages and so are attracted to Britain. 100-150,000 Poles have come to live in the UK illegally, to find work. The media reflects public concerns over mass immigration. Secondly, we are getting more immigrants than emigrants, so more people are entering than leaving the country. This also raises concerns about overcrowding. Thirdly, terrorism has become increasingly worrying, and people link asylum seekers to the recent murder of a police officer in Bradford. The general public dont believe that the government are effectively handling immigration, where only 25% of asylum cases get rejected, but NOT deported; leading the public to wonder where these people go. Asylum is an issue locally, because there is a Home office (Asylum Centre) in Croydon. These results in many asylum seekers come to Croydon. In this coursework I am going to compare two contrary newspaper articles on the issue of asylum. The point of view expressed by THE SUN is that asylum seekers should not be allowed to come into the UK and stay here. THE SUN wants people to read this article and get angry about those coming into the UK, at the experience of British tax payers. THE SUN believes that some asylum seekers are terrorists, and are using this to convince people to be against asylum seekers and write letters to the government against so much immigration. There are very strong elements of bias present in THE SUN because it gives only the point of view against asylum seekers staying in Britain. It is a very one sided article and though full of opinion, the opinion are put forward as facts. However, the point of view expressed in THE GUARDIAN is liberal, and is trying to give readers more information about the topic, so that they can come to their own decision. This newspaper gives different examples to show that not all asylum seekers are terrorists or coming here for free money. It also makes out that other newspapers are deliberately trying to give false impression to the public to try to scare them. The newspaper, however, is biased, as it only gives the point of view for immigration to be continued, rather than giving information for both sides of the story. However it is clearly an opinion piece and the photograph of the writer reinforces this. THE SUN makes the reader angry using phrases like Every day 1000 people or refugees claim free treatment on the NHS without being entitled to it, and The Government plans to fork out millions of Tax payers money buying luxury Hotels and more estate to house asylum seekers. These phrases make the reader angry if they think that they are paying taxes and asylum seekers are living in luxury hotels for free using their money; making them feel it is unfair. The language used by THE GUARDIAN is more sophisticated than THE SUN; the words used have more complex meanings whereas THE SUN uses simple language to make its points. This shows that the readership of each paper is very different; where THE GUARDIAN is read by people who are typically more educated then those of THE SUN. Its uses language such as tolerance, ethnicity and liberal progressives, which are effective because they make the reader feel that the issue is not in such a dangerous position as others make out. THE SUN uses other techniques to persuade its readers, such as photos and graphs. These are effective because the images used to make you want to read the topic and you can imagine what THE SUN is talking about when looking at the pictures. The graphs are eye-catching and show you the differences between spending in other countries and the UK; it shows the differences here very clearly. The cut-out letter to Tony Blair makes it easy for people to complete, and gives them a sense of power to do something. The bold writing used is catchy because you can see it instantly, and your eye looks at the different writing because it shows you the main points clearly. THE GUARDIAN uses a cartoon to persuade its readers because it is complicated, and vague, so makes them think about its meaning. The photograph is effective because it shows the person who is writing the article, and you realise that this persons opinions are written here. However, THE SUN makes opinion sound like facts which is misleading. I find THE SUN more persuasive because it is simple and effective words which most people are able to understand. It also shows the picture where I think people are able to understand. It also shows the picture where I think people are climbing over the fence having scarves on, which is not showing there full face, this makes the reader think that the people are terrorists or criminals. The article makes me feel angry towards the newspaper because it gives a very biased point of view, and doesnt tell me about genuine asylum cases. My point of view is that asylum seekers should be allowed to move from their country to any country they wish, because they are also humans as we are and they are just unlucky that they cant live in their own country because of many reasons like war and persecution. The main reason that people move from their country to the UK is because they need to reach a place of safety. Secondly, they choose the UK in preference to other destinations which tells us that they know of the UK but I dont think they will have a detailed knowledge of our immigration and/or our benefits systems. I think that the people should make more effort to understand the difference between asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are people who move to settle in another country or region, temporarily or permanently, in violation of the law or without documents permitting them to settle in another country or region, temporarily or permanently, in violation of the law or without documents permitting them to settle in that country. I can understand that some people may get upset by so many people moving here, because it is hard to find jobs anyway, hospitals and schools are overcrowded and there is a lot of crime, people may feel that asylum seekers only add to the problem.