We all know that the media as a whole plays an important role in how people view one another. With that comes a great deal of misconception, judgement, and even hatred, especially when it comes to topics where there should be a “bad” guy. And no one wants to look like that bad guy, right?
Therefore, when it comes to controversial issues like wars and refugees, the media, and especially that of the west, can contribute to the dehumanization of others. In short, dehumanization takes place when someone stops seeing another as fully human. When someone sees another as less of a human, hostility and aggression can become justified in their mind. In addition, dehumanization can stem from seeing someone as less.
An article written in 2015 shows that people tend to dehumanize those they perceive as “less evolved”. Not only that, but with stereotypes, prejudice and media telling us that certain people are terrorists, criminals or violent can activate automatic dehumanization for some. For instance, one research shows that when media outlets depict refugees as bogus, terrorists or even victims resulted in the automatic dehumanization of refugees. The research even highlights that there is a correlation between media and viewing refugees as animals.
But the problem does not only lay in what the media feeds the public, but also in the words it chooses. When talking about the genocide happening in Palestine, several western news outlets opt to use words such as “Israeli-Palestinian conflict” to describe the situation in Palestine. However, despite the fact that Human Rights Watch have condemned the acts of Israel and referred to it as ethnic cleansing and point blank apartheid, the use of inaccurate and misleading words still persists.
Furthermore, if we take a look at the devastating situation taking place in Afghanistan, one can see that western media is shedding light on the foreigners whose lives were lost, not mentioning many details about the Afghan victims. Adding to the misery of their displacement, the problem of not being fully accepted in the new countries they seek refuge in.
The fact that international media outlets tend to focus on people from certain countries more than others only comes to show that they tend to see other nationalities as less of humans. Very few world leaders talk about preserving human dignity, like Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan and fewer entities listen, certainly not the biased media.
The front page of The New York Times for Aug. 27, 2021. pic.twitter.com/KjB6jHOr5s
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 27, 2021
Take an early look at the front page of The Wall Street Journal https://t.co/qFxTNTzmCB pic.twitter.com/SAcuEBekze
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 27, 2021
Furthermore, internal country policies play a vital role in the dehumanization of certain people or races. For instance, when Trump issued the Muslim ban, there was a significant increase in attacks against Muslims and immigrants. When countries label and speak about groups of people in a hateful and dehumanizing manner, one cannot be surprised when people start dehumanizing one another.
Therefore, it is imperative that the way news is covered doesn’t result in dehumanization or any kind of prejudice against others. News has to be reported truthfully, transparently and without dehumanizing “others” to justify one's violence or war crimes against them.
