Below is a report on the release of infographics designed to identify hate speech and xenophobia in the media, created by Xarxa BCN Antirumors.
On Wednesday, May 31st, the three infographics created by the communications group of the Xarxa BCN Antirumorswere presented during a training session led by Xavier Giró, who accompanied the group throughout the months-long reflection process.
The training session, titled “Media Discourse Toward Racialized Communities”, began with a practical exercise that involved crafting a 55-word headline based on four news articles. Through this exercise, we began to see the explicit and implicit elements hidden within news reports—elements that we often overlook.
From there, we identified the issues that enable journalism to counteract racism and xenophobia—namely, those that help to break down stereotypes, de-ethnicize crime, foster diversity, promote solidarity, convey complexity, take a stand against discrimination, engage in debate, be proactive, and focus on finding solutions.
Through real-life news examples, we were able to observe how the mainstream press, on many occasions, contributes to creating a mental model of reality that, rather than contributing to peace, generates hatred and violent actions toward certain groups or minorities. A journalistic model that, instead of questioning an unjust system, contributes to reproducing the very same logic that violates rights.
This reality proves that, as readers, we should be able to identify hate speech and distinguish not only the explicit messages conveyed in the news, but also everything that is left unsaid—all the implicit elements that contribute to creating mental frameworks which, in practice, legitimize racist actions.
At this point, we put into practice the infographics designed to help us question everything we encounter, so as not to fuel or spread racist discourse and, thereby, help delegitimize racist actions.
More information:
These are three infographics aimed at communication professionals and anyone who wants to critically analyze the content they receive.
The infographics are the result of a full year of internal work by the group, which was supported by Xavir Giró of the Observatori de la Cobertura de Conflictes and training sessions led by communication experts, as well as members of the communications group itself.
These training sessions have enabled us to begin the dissemination process by designing and creating three infographics that capture the lessons learned and expand upon them to address topics we consider strategic. Rather than seeking universal formulas, this approach allows us to ask specific questions from an intercultural perspective.
The infographics are available here, in both Spanish and Catalan.
