as Lebanon was the most neighboring country to be affected by the Syrian crisis through waves of Syrian exodus to Lebanon and whose pace was directly related to the situation in Syria.
Faced with this recent reality, the topics of life and living associated with the displaced Syrians in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian crisis were imposed upon the agenda of the Lebanese print, broadcast and online media; the coverage of those topics has become part of the daily work of the journalists.The coverage varied between daily news stories, features and editorials looking beyond the daily events. This has prompted the Lebanese media to keep pace with those consequences, in their every detail, since they have become part of the details of the everyday life in Lebanon.
This leads us to raise questions related to news coverage of the topic of the displaced Syrians in the various Lebanese media; we start with media coverage of the topics and the ethics of media coverage, finishing with some conclusions regarding news coverage of the displaced Syrians issue in Lebanon.
Notes on Media Coverage Process
Media scholars define news coverage as the process of obtaining information and details related to a specific event, briefing its causes, the place of the incident, the names of the participants therein, how and when it occurred and other information that render the event worthy of being published.
And if the subject of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon - since the beginning of the war in Syria, which has led to successive waves of displacement into the Lebanese regions - is the event that requires obtaining information and details related thereto, then the news coverage of this issue has been, over the past years, the daily bread of the Lebanese, Arab and foreign media. At the level of local media, the subject of displaced Syrians has often come before other local issues given the impact it has left on the Lebanese scene and the presence of large numbers of displaced people compared with the number of Lebanese citizens; the ratio of which has exceeded the internationally applicable ratios, as indicated by international organizations.
In a report issued by the Peace Building for Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon Project-UNDP, which includes a study by Maharat Foundation (2015) on «Monitoring Racism in the Lebanese Media: the Representations of the «Syrian» and «Palestinian» in the News Coverage,» it appeared that the topic of the Syrian displacement is predominant on the news coverage as it received 75% of the main coverage of the Lebanese newspapers during the monitoring and analysis period (from February 5 to 25, 2015) given the social, political and security issues that the Syrian displacement raises.
Although the subject of the displaced Syrians has maintained a significant presence at a daily pace in the Lebanese media, it is also noted that the volume and type of coverage of the issue of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon varied depending on factors linked to the daily journalistic work cycle and the pace of the numerous news. The news coverage focused on the following matters:
1- The weather and climate conditions and their effects on the displaced; the local newspapers and the Lebanese channels have published and broadcasted reports over the conditions of the Syrians in the Bekaa camps during blizzards and displaced people’s lack of access to shelter and heating means;
2 - The health conditions of the displaced Syrians, whether regarding the outbreak of diseases or the difficulty in receiving treatment;
3- The living conditions with the retreat in aids from the international organizations and donor states;
4- The educational conditions of the children of the displaced Syrians and their impact on public education in Lebanon;
5- The inspection visits by representatives of international entities in Lebanon and meeting with the officials and ministers concerned with the file of the Syrian displacement in Lebanon;
6- The inspection visits by foreign officials to the displaced persons camps in the Beqaa or public schools in Bourj Hammoud and other areas, to take a closer look at the situation of the displaced persons;
7- The conferences supporting the displaced Syrians in Lebanon and the neighboring countries hosting the displaced, held in Beirut, Kuwait and other countries.
If we try to shift from public to private, we notice that the Lebanese media coverage came either as introductory focuses on obtaining related details and information, or as reports, occurring after the event takes places, and follow ups, addressing new results or developments. This is manifest when following the media materials that are being published or broadcast; the Lebanese newspapers have allocated their pages to the subject of the displaced Syrians, and the TV news bulletins of all the Lebanese channels extensively covered the issue through the reports of their on-the-ground correspondents across the Lebanese territories.
In terms of content, it was predominantly based on neutral coverage where only facts were provided, with information explaining what is being presented along with the facts. In some cases, the coverage was somehow biased; focus was on a particular aspect of the story, and certain facts were being deleted, overused or distorted.
And according to the above-mentioned report «Monitoring Racism in the Lebanese Media: the Representations of the «Syrian» and «Palestinian» in the News Coverage,» the media tone appearing in the Lebanese press varied during the monitoring period; the neutral tone scored the highest percentage of 49%, followed by the negative tone at 27% of the coverage related to security news such as raids, security measures and coverage of crimes committed by Syrians, and the positive tone at 24% in news coverage addressing subjects of securing aid for the displaced and securing housing and schools for the children of the displaced, as well as the subject of disasters and accidents suffered by the displaced people in the times of hardship.
Ethics of Coverage
Section three of the «Monitoring Racism in the Lebanese Media: the Representations of the «Syrian» and «Palestinian» in the News Coverage» Report referred to the topic of Lebanese media and racism. An extensive sample of the media material published in the newspapers, on online sites or broadcasted on Radio or TV channels in Lebanon, was analyzed. The said report cited several headlines carrying connotations that suggest racism, such as the use of the feelings of fear and anxiety of the other where the displaced Syrians have become a threat to the national identity, a burden upon the state and a cause for the high rate of crimes, the circle of hatred and words of racism, such as in designating the other, the rhetoric of numbers and the use of war metaphors like «ticking time bombs».
These references to the subject of racism in the Lebanese media against the displaced Syrians pull us back to part of what came in the Journalists’ Pact for Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon (launched by the UNDP Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon) and that can guide us to address the ethics of media coverage of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.
In this regard, several matters, inter alia, are to be considered:
1- The commitment of the Lebanese media institutions to rejecting the principles of racial discrimination, regarding the displaced Syrians issue, and refraining, directly or indirectly, from challenging the dignity of people.
2- The commitment of the Lebanese media institutions to addressing the subject of hate speech with professionalism and social responsibility.
3- The commitment to accuracy and objectivity in drafting, editing and disseminating information, documents, images and scenes related to the displaced Syrians.
4- The commitment to avoid mistakes or the use of the vocabulary of libel and slander, defamation and discrimination in matters related to the subject of the displaced Syrians.
Some conclusions
Based on what has been already addressed, some conclusions regarding the subject of news coverage of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon can be stated.
At the professional level, the news coverage of the subject of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon was comprehensive in addressing all aspects of the subject. In this context, the field follow-ups were comprehensible through the work of the reporters and correspondents and the adequate coverage of what was taking place on the event site. The neutral and positive tone was predominant in the media coverage, while observing some negative coverage in some media institutions. More than often, the focus of news coverage revolved around the humanitarian aspect through conveying the suffering of the displaced Syrians and the media’s attempt at contributing to the provision of assistance through the display of the suffering.
At the ethics level, the news coverage of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon was conducted according to professional and ethical standards in general. However, the results noted in the above-mentioned report draw attention to that part of the news coverage of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon took a racist turn. This makes it imperative for the media to approach the topic in accordance with the standards set out in the Journalists’ Pact for Strengthening Civil Peace in Lebanon.
Finally, and facing a crisis of this magnitude in Lebanon, the Lebanese media institutions acted more than often professional under such difficult circumstances.