Tuesday

The Media Sharks


The amount of times I have disagreed with the media opinion can’t even be counted. I hate the way their stories lean into the same opinion as their sponsors.

Recently there has been a lot of press on Romanians and Bulgarians immigrating to the UK.  I was shocked to see the daring of some media sources in strongly fighting against this just to change their mind halfway through 2013.

Taking the Guardian as an example they started off in January 2013 with a huge anti-Romanians and Bulgarians campaign. They launched a challenge to their audience to come up with the worst things that characterise England and create visuals that would then be used in the 2 eastern European countries. I was shocked to see how the English could lower themselves to talk badly about their own country just to achieve such goals. You’d think they’d have more respect then that.


These were the products of the challenge.





                             

           


                       



      

Just thinking about the fact that these are opinions of English people about their own culture and country makes me wonder what happened to the great English reputation about its people being loyal to the queen and country.


But getting back to the subject of media hypocrisy, after the summer 2013 it started being clear that the impending so called ‘invasion’ could not be stopped so suddenly the Guardian has changed its opinion and started supporting it.  The articles now reveal the fact that the fear of immigrants comes from myths and tales about mafia and kidnappings etc. They reinforce the idea that a society should not be generalised as bad just because of the few bad people. Every country has them and it should not be discriminated because of it.  

The sad part is that the media still have a high influence over people and their mentality and it will continue on manipulating the public unless we do something about it.  So, what are we going to do about it?


7 comments:

  1. Anonymous08:56

    Apparently people are ignoring the fact that Bulgarians and Romanians failed to flood the country on the 1st of January 2014. The truth is, whoever has come to the UK or is planning to come, will most likely do so regardless of whether they have a work permit or not. I have a work permit since my first year as a student, but that does not mean that I have stolen the job from a British person. I have had the same chances as them, I hope, based not on nationality, but relevant skills and experience to perform a specific job.
    One more thing I would really like to point out. It is insulting to be put under the same term as people without any education and upbringing, from minorities and poor backgrounds. Yes, such people may want to come to the UK and get a low-level job picking vegetables or something like that. I will soon be a Master of Science and I have grown up in an educated and well-funded family and I want nothing less but to be perceived as having come to this country to sell at the tills. After all, I am paying bills, rent, taxes, university and I do not in any way owe anything to the UK for being here. I will not accept to be compared either to the average Bulgarian, or to the average British person either, for that matter.
    The position that I will be looking to work in, I can do either here or anywhere around the world, but UK's attitude towards Bulgarians and Romanians may drive away to few of us that are actually capable of contributing knowledge and skills to this economy. If we are that unwelcome here, we will leave soon enough.
    Moreover, many UK businesses have been seen to outsource their service centres in Eastern Europe, because it's cheaper and easier in legal terms. So just as we may have a benefit of being here, they are also exploiting the opportunities in our region. This is called the knowledge movement, which for some means brain drain, for other brain gain. It is up for each country to decide this.

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    1. Anonymous09:33

      I must agree with you. Although so far and probably in the future, uneducated people from both Bulgaria and Romania (as well as other countries, which are for some reason not the topic of this whole discussion) will still come to work. The point is that these people are not in any way taking any high-profile jobs here in the UK - they may want to, but they certainly can't. What they do indeed is work in construction, pick vegetables or wait tables, which in my opinion is not a significant threat to anyone. Immigrants have been doing these jobs for many years around here, and I do not see the problem with a little competition from somewhere else. A say 'a little' because obviously the outrageous projections of millions of immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania are not true and cannot be. We saw what happened on the 1st of January, and the fact that everybody is ignoring this now is concerning me deeply. As a Bulgarian who left his homeland to come and study here, pay taxes, rent and other necessary fees of some sort, I want nothing more than to be accepted as the value I represent - whether it is my degree that is valued or my experience or any of my other abilities, it matters not to me. What I do not like however, is having to conform to a higher level of security/payment/standard and then be disregarded for being from the very same origin which put me in that position.
      On the other hand, and I am sharing the opinion of Louis C.K. saying this, but if someone comes from a different country without an education or knowing the language, and that very same person takes your job, then MAYBE you deserve it.

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  2. Anonymous09:03

    I completely agree with you. One of the things I hate most is being put in the same category with the Roma people. Nothing personally against them but they have made a reputation for themselves. I just really wish people with differentiate between 'Romas' (as they're being referred to) and Romanians.

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  3. Anonymous09:37

    I just find it offensive that Bulgarians and Romanians are considered to be such a threat to the employment rates in the UK, considering the fact that this country has for a long time been inhabited by many people from different countries (even before the Bulgarian and Romanian "invasion") and we could argue that they have actually contributed to sustaining the local economy.

    Also, I could not agree with the first comment more, as it is a fact that Western European countries outsource their production in Eastern Europe due to the more favourable employment environment, which allows companies to benefit from the cheap labour and the loose employment protection rights. Then after they have exhausted the resources of these countries, they just move their production to another location until they drain it's resources as well and move on again and again and again.

    But hey, it is only Bulgarians and Romanians benefiting from the British economy, right? ;)

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  4. Anonymous09:41

    Theres a new law coming into place in the UK. Where international family's won't get housing benefits and are only allowed in the country if they are actively looking for jobs, so they can start paying taxes and putting money into the country instead of taking money out.

    Any way i know there are loads of untaken jobs in the UK, its just the lazy people who are not out looking for them and relying on benefits because its easy.. using the 'no jobs out there' as an excuse!! people need to get off there lazy asses and get a job and help rebuild the economy.
    I think the english should move to romania, its cheap, beautiful, hot weather in summer, snowy in winter, nice beaches, beautiful women and beautiful countryside.
    Im going to start packing...

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  5. I agree with Abby. I am coming from Bulgaria and I've been wanting to study in the UK since I was a little kid. Now I meet people every day who are laughing with me, having a nice conversation and when I tell them where I'm from they just reply with "Oh...." and walk away.

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  6. Ioana19:57

    We have to gather the information ourselves from actual people from Bulgaria and Romania in this situation. Basically people get the wrong impression only from what they hear on the media. The law restriction was only when it comes to work. The people who are coming after 01.01.2014 are the well educated people who actually want to work. A lot of people are ignorant and don`t understand the issue.

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