From refugees to terrorists

How the media can help and hurt the perception of people

Lebanon is a small country with a diameter of 10452 square kilometers. It has a population of 4M Lebanese citizens and 2M Syrian refugees.

What makes this country so special is that no one cared about the refugee crises until one of the villages recently faced ISIS bombings. Only after this moment did citizens and municipalities start accusing the Syrian refugees. The Lebanese citizens became so racist that municipalities actually set a curfew for the Syrian refugees in order to prevent them from going down the streets at night.

How the Media plays into the narrative

Depending on the media group, the problem becomes framed from 2 perspectives. Some TV channels are pro-Syrian government and actually stands against those refugees, treating them as traitors. Others operate against the government and help refugees .

The media has a responsibility to the people. Some media channels help share hatred and others share love. Due to all those misunderstandings the Lebanese people are stuck between hatred and love toward the refugees.

But on social media, most people are showing sympathy toward these refugees. Back in 2006, when a war took place in Lebanon, the Syrians in Syria opened their houses for the Lebanese people to flee the war. I hope what happens on the streets is what will be covered by the media and remembered by the people.

This personal narrative was written at the 2016 Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change. It exists as part of a digital publication called MOVE which aims to educate readers on the social, political, and cultural impacts of global migration. All stories published in MOVE were created at the 2016 Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change by students and faculty from around the world.