Rationale:
The original article (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/11/23/over-a-thousand-african-migrants-arrive-in-italy-wednesday/) is a Breitbart article, about one
thousand migrants arriving in Italy, and mentions it in context with the
migrant crisis and how the more conservative/right-leaning parties sought to
solve the crisis. Recently Breitbart has become rather famous (to be more
precise, it’s more like infamous) for being part of the ‘alt-right’ media
selection, especially since Steve Bannon was, and still is, heavily involved in
it, in an executive role. The original article employs the use of bias by
omission to a certain degree – the right-leaning political point of view on the
issue is given far more text, and uses quotes from right-leaning politicians,
whilst not having any quote from the other sides – not even the side that is
actually governing the country nor the UN. Furthermore, a lot of the language
carries bias, for example the ‘migrant’ word rather than ‘refugee’, despite
Libya being in a state of civil war, lessening potential sympathy the audience
has for these people. The specification of ‘African’ in the headline is used to
create an ‘us vs. them’ atmosphere, by putting distance between them and the
readers of this article, and may even connotate imagery of ‘invasion’ in the
audience – and appeal to their sense of patriotism as a result. The image
selected also factors in – despite the mention of women being on board these
ships (i.e. the woman who gave birth), the image included with the article only
contains men, which may also work to cause the audience to be less sympathetic
to them.
The parody of the article I wrote is a sort of
reversal of the political positions that the parties actually take. I took the
quotes that the Northern League politicians actually said, and used them in a
context that suggests they are pro-migration. Throughout the entire article
this is the case, portraying them as a pro-migrant party, fighting to have
better conditions and more for migrants coming from Libya – using irony to a
large extent. Instead of changing the word migrant to refugee, I chose to keep
it, as if the political party was not only pro-refugee hosting, but also
pro-migration, deepening the irony.
Article:
Disaster was narrowly averted when the Italian
Coast Guard decided to kindly bring over – and save – over one thousand
travellers to Italy. The migrants had set out from the coast of Libya in 10
rubber boats and one small wooden vessel, but were luckily picked up by the
Coast Guard and brought to Italy before they had gone far into the Strait of
Sicily. A small miracle also happened on board, when a woman gave birth. The
arrival of migrants has fallen due to a deal made with the Libyan government,
after public opinion in Italy shifted. Despite efforts by government figures,
and political opposition to curb migrants traveling to Italy, these 1000
migrants were brave enough to carry on, and the intricate logistic apparatus
Italy and the EU have set up, in order to avoid tragedy in the sea, saved them
from possible disaster.
Matteo Salvini, of the notoriously humanitarian
and pro-migrant Northern League party tweeted that he would bring legal charges
against the Italian government, for “abetting illegal immigration” by offering
a free shuttle service from Libya to the Italian peninsula. While this
statement may at first appear anti-immigration, it is important to note that
the Northern League part is outspoken in its support for migrants, and alluding
to opening up the travel route to competition – which would allow the migrants
to theoretically get better deals or conditions on their journeys.
Senator Roberto Calderoli, also of the Northern
League party, went into detail about Italian policy over this route in
particular, asking a rhetorical question: “Why did vessels from our Coast
Guard, Frontex, of EUNAVFOR Med and the usual NGOs conduct operations off the
coast of Libya and then take immigrants to Italian ports rather than to Tunisia
or Malta?”. He then answered his own question with a statement reflective of
Northern League policy, “Simply because we want immigrants to come here”.
The current Italian government, which the Northern League is in
opposition to, has taken measures to try and curb migration, despite criticism
from the United Nations, by making a deal with the Libyan government – as mentioned
earlier, however, Libya is in a state of civil war, meaning that their capacity
to implement policy – such as keeping people in the country is rather limited
and even in some cases unsafe. Calderoli’s words, “…we want immigrants to come
here” are a reminder that not all Italians agree with the crackdown on
migrants, and shows the political party’s strong support of migrants and migrant
rights.
Assignment:
You will be identifying a news article or opinion column that contains bias towards a social or political issue and as a result displays a specific ideology. You will be rewriting the article demonstrating the use of bias techniques from a different ideology to form either a parody or pastiche.
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