Roundtable on Refugee Reporting hosted by Professor Chris Frost, chair of the NUJ's Ethics Council
In March 2021, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced a New Plan for Immigration. It’s a policy which bears many hallmarks to tough laws that were introduced in Australia that led to thousands of asylum seekers being detained in offshore camps.
Already, we’re seeing weekly reports in the press about rising numbers of Channel crossings. As families fleeing danger seek sanctuary in the UK before the new plan takes effect, it's crucial that reporting on these crossings is anti-racist and maintains high ethical standards.
As we saw in Australia, increasing secrecy around the asylum system and detention makes it tougher to critique, and expose, the brutal conditions and treatment that refugees and asylum seekers face both on- and offshore.
This roundtable is an opportunity for UK journalists to hear specifically from reporters and campaigners in Australia, about how they navigated ethical issues in refugee reporting and ensured coverage was moral, dignified, nuanced, and told the true story of people fleeing danger.
The conversation will be hosted by Professor Chris Frost, chair of the National Union of Journalists' Ethics Council — in collaboration with Dignity for Refugees, a new initiative aimed at promoting dignity for refugees in politics.
