Melody House, Karen Boyle & Talat Yaqoob
Over the past year and a half, COVID-19 has become a permanent feature of mainstream news. In our first round of analysis 39.3% of all stories were about COVID. Although this dropped in the election period to 14.9%, it was still a significant presence. In our second coding period (1-9 May 2021), there were two key developments: the easing of restrictions in Scotland from 26th April, and the rapid spread of the Delta strain of the virus, then still referred to as the “Indian” variant.[i] Although the Delta variant was still predominately in India at this time, given its catastrophic impact, we expected there would be some acknowledgement of how this affected the Indian-based families, friends, and colleagues of diasporic communities in Scotland. However, only 9 stories in our sample of 3843 focused on the Delta strain: this accounted for 1.6% of stories about COVID. As our focus was on stories about Scotland, we excluded stories reporting on the situation in India which did not include a Scottish angle. However, these were not particularly prominent in our news sample and – where they did appear – tended to be short articles focused on statistics about the spread or the responses of other governments, as, for instance, in a report on The Nine (3rd May) about the Australian government’s decision to ban entry to anyone from India.
The wider global context where both politicians and media organisations have been criticised for deploying racist rhetoric in their response to the virus is important to acknowledge here. From former American president Donald Trump’s comments about the “Chinese virus” to misleading, race-baiting headlines, racism in COVID-coverage has been linked to a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in both the USA and the UK. Indeed, the Scottish Daily Mail ran a story on this during our sample week (3rd May, p.17), focused on the increase in hate crimes targeting Chinese communities in Scotland. This included an interview with Dr Shan-Jan Sarah Liu, professor of gender and politics at the University of Edinburgh. Liu – who is on the Pass the Mic expert database – is quoted at length, noting, among other things, how phrases such as the “Chinese Virus” have racialised the discourse around the pandemic, fuelling the rise in hate crimes.
It is striking, however, that the same awareness was not extended to reporting on the “Indian” variant. Indeed, the few stories which did consider this variant in relation to Scotland showed some of the enduring limitations in this kind of reporting.
Take, for example, this article from the Herald titled “Coronavirus: The Indian variant is on the rise – and public health experts are worried”. This framing is a good example of the “othering” and fear mongering many news organisations employ when writing about the experiences of the virus in the global south. We are told of “weeks of denial and downplaying” by Indian ministers, “very low vaccination rates”, and “catastrophically lax public health measures”. The article fails to mention the UK and other western countries’ role in this crisis: their refusal to waive the intellectual property of the vaccine and patents on the components, for instance. Instead, the UK is at threat. This type of framing has a stigmatising affect – which was partly why the WHO made the decision to rename variants.
The Indian government’s response should of course be subject to journalistic scrutiny in Scotland as elsewhere. But it is the way these stories are told which concerns us: what they are about, who is called upon to offer expertise, who is photographed and so on.
There were only two stories in our sample which explored the personal impact of the situation in India. The first, from the Herald, focuses on a “Scots Student who fears for her life” (see also print edition, 1st May, p.7). The subject of this story is Raveena Singi Reddy, an international student who had returned to India after studying in Scotland. The article not only includes a photograph of Reddy, it quotes her at length, and leaves room for her to discuss the fear and anxiety experienced by her and her family.
However, the article is not without problems. For instance, the lack of lockdown restrictions and public health measures are discussed, and Reddy herself makes an explicit comparison between India and Scotland: “At least in Scotland I knew if I took ill, I would get care, but not here”. Reddy also compares the job market in India and Scotland, reinforcing the framing of Scotland as “the better place” while furthering the “othering” of India and its crisis. The main photograph used in the print version of this story underlines this point. It features an unnamed family group lighting a funeral pyre at a crematorium in Jammu, India. All of the family members are wearing protective gear over their clothing and faces which makes them unrecognisable, though the men’s turbans are clearly visible. Unlike Reddy, these are generic “Indians” whose suffering is spectacular but impersonal. The story focuses exclusively on Reddy – against the backdrop of a generic, fiery, and frightening India – and makes no reference, for instance, to Indian experts or commentators who could have put her story in context.
The second story, in the National (print 2nd May, pp. 14&15; Web and Twitter), focuses on Sikhs of Scotland’s fundraising appeal. It includes extensive commentary from the Director of Sikhs in Scotland, Charandeep Singh alongside Reverend Moumita Biswas (Church of North India) and Kuppuswamy Jagannathan (co-founder and president of the Hindu Temple of Scotland). WhilstSingh, Biswas and Jagannathan all comment on the experiences of Indian-based friends and family, their commentary extends to offer an analysis of the Indian government’s response and detail how particular sectors, such as education, have been impacted. Though this is still framed as a Scottish response, it means that people of colour are not simply victims-in-need-of-western-rescue in this story. Nevertheless, the lead photo (Figure 1) again depicts India as a dark, fiery, frightening place. Like the Herald photograph discussed above, the figures visible in this image are ethnically marked by dress and location, but are not presented as distinct individuals, as news subjects.
However, the starkest example of the saviour narrative was an article in the Daily Record on 3rd May (also appearing online). Headlined “Leitch: I’ve lost friends in India” the subject of the story is Scotland’s (white) medical director, Jason Leitch, and his long-standing charitable association with an orphanage in India. The main photograph shows a smiling Leitch with a group of Indian men. In print, the picture is captioned: “Helping out: Scottish medical director Jason Leitch with Emmanuel Rebba and his colleagues”. Notably, the caption does not identify which of the men is Rebba and, indeed, in the online version, only Leitch is mentioned in the caption (“Jason Leitch has had a close affinity with India for years”). An inset to the main article gives an update of COVID-cases and deaths in India. The accompanying photograph is of three unidentified men carrying a shrouded corpse against a backdrop of funeral pyres.
As our discussion so far has suggested, these stories are not one-dimensional and – from our perspective – have both positive and negative elements. Most problematically, the individuality, agency and expertise of people in India is missing. Even a small change could have been significant here. For instance, clearly identifying Rebba within the photograph would have subtly but importantly shifted the emphasis by making him a recognisable individual. More welcome still would have been a refocusing of the story to decentre Leitch. It is also important to think about where people of colour can be brought in as experts. In the Daily Mail’s story about anti-Chinese racism, Liu’s expertise not only allows readers to better understand the problem, she also provides an alternative representation in a story
focused on Chinese people as victims. Similarly, in the National’scharity story, Singh, Biswas and Jagannathan are presented as active members of their communities, leading the charitable response from Scotland, and helping readers understand the political and social context in India.
Over the course of the pandemic there are a number of people of colour who haveoccupied prominent roles in the media: these include England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam, and the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Devi Sridhar. However, in our first sampling period, Professor Sridhar achieved greatest prominence in a story about Piers Morgan “defending” her from misogynist trolls. This centring of a white male journalist who has been widely criticised for his own comments on women of colour, in a story about a woman of colour’s experiences of online trolling, is troubling to say the least.
In the context of the Indian-focused human interest stories we have discussed in this blog, it might be unrealistic to expect journalists working in Scotland to source public health or politics experts in India. But The Pass the Mic database is a great resource which allows journalists to access experts based in Scotland. In addition to Professor Sridhar –Professor in Global Public Health – the database includes three otherwomen of colour with relevant expertise. Dr Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra is a Lecturer and Chancellor’s Fellow in Bioethics and Global Health Ethics at the University of Edinburgh, Manira Ahmed works with Public Health Scotland and Dr Poonam Malik works on public health and infection control.
Pass the Mic has partnered experts like Dr Ganguli-Mitra with media partners and feminist organisations, to develop new content and foster longer-term relationships. Since partnering with STV through Pass the Mic, Dr Ganguli-Mitra has been contacted regularly by STV on public health matters and has also written for the STV website. She told us: “the interaction I’ve had with the media was really respectful and supportive. That’s helped me gain confidence as well. So I’m happy to have been part of this.”
Where Dr Ganguli-Mitra sees room for further development is in linking to her specific areas of expertise in global health ethics. In the Delta stories discussed in this blog, thinking about global health ethics could have brought a different angle to the scrutiny of government decisions, in India and the UK. As Dr Ganguli-Mitra said:
When they say ‘we’re just following the science’ that’s not quite true because when you’re marking decisions you’re making decisions about values. You’re weighing some interests versus others.
Whose interests are being prioritised in decisions about holding large gatherings, implementing restrictions or vaccine rollout? Whilst some of these issues can be addressed in a news soundbite, there is also potential for developing longer features and commentary pieces. In this way, Pass the Mic can have longer—term benefits for both women of colour experts and our media partners.
Dr Ganguli-Mitra’s experience points to the successes of Pass the Mic.
But this monitoring project also reminds us how far we still have to go until women of colour – as experts, spokespeople, news subjects and, indeed, as journalists – are genuinely embedded in Scottish news.
[i] WHO made an announcement on 31st May about changes to the designations of variants.