Answer: In 2014, more than 200,000 refugees and migrants fled for safety across the Mediterranean Sea.
Crammed into overcrowded, unsafe boats, thousands drowned, prompting the Pope to warn that
the sea was becoming a mass graveyard. The early months of 2015 saw no respite. In April alone
more than 1,300 people drowned. This led to a large public outcry to increase rescue operations.
Throughout this period, UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations, engaged in a series of
large-scale media advocacy exercises, aiming at convincing European countries to do more to
help. It was crucial work, setting the tone for the dramatic rise in attention to the refugee crisis
that followed in the second half of 2015.
But the media was far from united in its response. While some outlets joined the call for more
assistance, others were unsympathetic, arguing against increasing rescue operations. To learn
why UNHCR commissioned a report by the Cardiff School of Journalism to explore what was
driving media coverage in five different European countries: Spain, Italy, Germany, the UK and
Sweden.
Researchers combed through thousands of articles written in 2014 and early 2015, revealing a
the number of important findings for future media advocacy campaigns.
Most importantly, they found major differences between countries, in terms of the sources
journalists used (domestic politicians, foreign politicians, citizens, or NGOs), the language they
employed, the reasons they gave for the rise in refugee flows, and the solutions they suggested.
Explanation: BRAINLESS PLEASE
