The Politics of Photography: Visual Depictions of Syrian Refugees in U.K. Online Media

Abstract

Research indicates that news images of refugees have become increasingly negative, often portraying them as either innocent victims, who lack political agency, or as security threats, with the potential to threaten the host country's national security and identity. This article explores how Syrian refugees have been visually portrayed in the U.K. online media by employing a visual quantitative content analysis of 299 photographs of Syrian refugees in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Independent. It looks at photographs published after images of Alan Kurdi, a young Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, made global headlines. The findings suggest that Syrian refugees are regularly securitized and cast by the media as “Others” who exist in the state of exception.

Notes

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⁸ See, for example, Williams (2003); McDonald (2008); Hansen (2011a, 2011b).

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¹⁰ Balzacq (2005), p. 175.

¹¹ Buzan et al. (1998), p. 27.

¹² Buzan et al. (1998), p. 23.

¹³ Buzan et al. (1998), pp. 23–24.

¹⁴ Buzan et al. (1998), p. 25.

¹⁵ Altheide (2006).

¹⁶ Buzan et al. (1998), p. 25.

¹⁷ Entman (1993), p. 52.

¹⁸ Vultee (2007).

¹⁹ Foucault (1998), p. 40.

²⁰ Foucault (1980a).

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²² Agamben (1998).

²³ Zembylas (2010).

²⁴ Agamben (2005).

²⁵ Agamben (1998).

²⁶ Buzan et al. (1998).

²⁷ Foucault (1980b).

²⁸ Fisher (2006), p. 51.

²⁹ Zembylas (2010).

³⁰ Agamben (1998).

³¹ Hansen (2011a).

³² Agamben (1998), p. 8.

³³ Zembylas (2010).

³⁴ Duffield (2004).

³⁵ Fluri (2011).

³⁶ Phillips (2011).

³⁷ Enloe (1993).

³⁸ Phillips (2011).

³⁹ Nyers (2003).

⁴⁰ Hardt & Negri (2009), p. 33.

⁴¹ See, for example, van Dijk (1997); Herman & Chomsky (1988); Hall (1997).

⁴² See, for example, Dalton, Beck, & Huckfeldt (1998); Shah, Watts, Domke, & Fan (2002).

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⁴⁴ Lewis & Reese (2009).

⁴⁵ Foucault (1991).

⁴⁶ Mitchell (2011), pp. 2–3.

⁴⁷ Wright (2002).

⁴⁸ Batziou (2011).

⁴⁹ Wardle (2007).

⁵⁰ Burgin (1982), p. 147.

⁵¹ Hall (1973).

⁵² Hamilton (1997), p. 85.

⁵³ Hamilton (1997), p. 86.

⁵⁴ Möller (2007), p. 179.

⁵⁵ Williams (2003), p. 526.

⁵⁶ Williams (2003), p. 526.

⁵⁷ Möller (2007).

⁵⁸ Henley, Grant, Elgot, McVeigh, & O'Carroll (2015).

⁵⁹ Wintour & Watt (2015).

⁶⁰ National Readership Survey (2015).

⁶¹ Wring & Ward (2010).

⁶² Ipsos MORI (2016).

⁶³ Preston (2015a).

⁶⁴ Preston (2015b).

⁶⁵ Thurman & Walters (2013).

⁶⁶ Batziou (2011).

⁶⁷ Krippendorff (2004).

⁶⁸ Lombard, Snyder-Duch, & Bracken (2004).

⁶⁹ Lombard et al. (2004).

⁷⁰ Neuendorf (2003), p. 145.

⁷¹ Holsti (1969).

⁷² Carter & Scott (2009).

⁷³ Lombard et al. (2004).

⁷⁴ Bleiker, Campbell, Hutchinson, & Nicholson (2013).

⁷⁵ Batziou (2011).

⁷⁶ Bleiker et al. (2013).

⁷⁷ Batziou (2011).

⁷⁸ Batziou (2011); Bleiker et al. (2013).

⁷⁹ Batziou (2011).

⁸⁰ Banks (2012).

⁸¹ Batziou (2011).

⁸² Eldridge (1005).

⁸³ Insch, Moore, & Murphy (1997).

⁸⁴ Foucault (1991).

⁸⁵ For a discussion on this, see Batziou (2011).

⁸⁶ UNHCR (2016).

⁸⁷ This includes the 2.1 million Syrian refugees registered in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, the 2.7 million registered in Turkey, and the 29,000 registered in North Africa. It does not, however, include the refugees registered in the European Union.

⁸⁸ Devichand (2016).

⁸⁹ Walker (2015).

⁹⁰ Dathan (2016).

⁹¹ Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2015).

⁹² Lee (2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Annabelle Cathryn Wilmott

Annabelle Wilmott holds a Master of Science degree in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics. Her research focuses on protection issues in the context of forced displacement and the role of faith-based organizations in humanitarian crises. E-mail: [email protected]