top of page

Representation of people of colour in the media


Within the media, it is clear that people of colour are treated very unfairly. Above is one example of this, as it states in big, bold letters 'Rescue boats? I'd use gunships to stop migrants'. This disturbing title is just an insight into the inequality that people of colour deal with daily.


We are immediately drawn to the title due to its large font and bold lettering, but also the use of the small question. From the title, we already know that this article is going to have a negative view upon migrants. They also use an image, or a mugshot, in the centre of this article, which also catches the readers attention once again. The use of the mugshot is almost like a mockery of migrants, especially as the image takes up a large fraction of the page.


We could imply Gilroy's ideas that Britain's failure to mourn the loss of the empire has influenced attitudes towards non-white people as in the article shown above, it is clear that these negative attitudes towards people of colour are still ongoing. This article isn't just the only one that expresses this view, as it is very easy to find multiple other articles which express the same or similar attitudes towards migrants.


Moreover, the image used also suggests the writer's idea that migrants are criminals, as it is in the same format/layout as a mugshot. This imagery gives the audience an overall negative view of migrants due to this.



Another example of people of colour being represented negatively is one of the front pages of 'The Sun' newspaper.


The title, which is bold, large, capital lettering, is seen to be xenophobic in the way it represents immigration. The front page also involves the audience with the personal pronoun 'you', which suggests that this is something we as individuals should read and take into consideration straight away.


This also reinforces Gilroy's ideas about the attitudes towards non-white people in Britain as the background image highlights the UK. The fact that these attitudes towards migrants are still happening suggests that the UK is still stuck with the same ideologies it's had since postcolonialism.

20 views1 comment

Recent Posts

See All

1 commentaire


Nick Saward
Nick Saward
24 oct. 2020

Well, I thought I'd seen the last of Katie Hopkins until you posted this old article - thanks very much!!! Seriously though, I think this is an incredibly significant moment in recent tabloid history. Hopkins' views are often abhorrent bordering hate speech (she also compared refugees to cockroaches), whilst claiming to be the voice of a 'silent majority'. Thankfully it seems that these days she is only able to peddle her nonsense to other far right hatemongers overseas after realising that the majority of Britains couldn't stand her brand of racism and weren't going to be silent about it! Whilst Hopkins herself will hopefully be little more than a footnote of history, the reason this is so interesting is the…

J'aime
bottom of page