Unless you have been living in a box or under a rock you will have undoubtedly heard about the humungous scale of the refugee crisis sweeping through Europe, mostly from Syria. There have been so many tragedies happening to these people that it would be near impossible to write about all of them. Therefore, I want to talk about one of the positives that has come from the situation.
One of the main positives that I have noticed is that much of the mainstream media are finally treating refugees like human beings. Instead of the constant bigoted, inflammatory nonsense about how, 'PEOPLE ARE COMING HERE TO STEAL ALL YOUR JOBS', I'm actually seeing lots of reporting and news stories that are instead focusing on stories of the difficulties that these people are going through as well as ways in which people are trying to help them and suggestions on what we can do to help.
How have we finally got to this point? I think that part of it is that the crisis is now so huge that people and the media have had to face more truths about what is actually happening. The situation in Syria not getting any better, charities not having enough resources and people getting increasingly desperate to find somewhere safe to live have all contributed to the truth of the situation becoming more obvious. The other reason is the story of a little boy who drowned on a beach, Alan Kurdi, going viral. The incredibly powerful and upsetting image from the story gave many people a focus for compassion and empathy over the situation.
Obviously, not enough is being done by our countries to help these people. However, some of the truthful and sensitive reporting towards this crisis is a step in the right direction for the media.
