Problematizing the Changing Media Narratives of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

In September 2017, I came across a family who sheltered Rohingyas in their courtyard during my first visit to Ukhia, where many of the Rohingya camps were being built. I was touched at the sight of a Bangladeshi family selflessly providing to strangers for an unforeseeable period. I asked their thoughts about the Rohingyas staying in their courtyard. The lady of the family said, “they have lost their home, family…their everything, this (providing shelter) is the least we could do.” This was not just her, but the entire country of Bangladesh seemed to be of more or less of the same opinion in terms of their support for the Rohingyas. However, the attitude changed significantly over the next few years and “Rohingya” became a derogatory phrase with a connotation of being a “free rider” or being “impoverished” (Siraj, 2019). The media or newspaper portrayals of refugees follow the same shifting trend. In the first few months, except for a few headlines focusing on security concerns, the majority of the reports were imbuing an empathetic attitude toward refugees (Ubayasiri, 2019). Headlines and contents of reporting gradually changed as Rohingyas’ stay in Bangladesh seems to be a perennial issue. Hereby, I am not suggesting that the popular perspective is solely influenced by the mass media or the politics that often maneuver the media discourse. Rather, I indicate that newspapers’ representation of a critical issue mediates a particular meaning of social reality that is in line with the popular perspective and, in doing so, mass media ignores their responsibility toward the subject of the news. As such, I particularly problematize the representation of the news on Rohingya issues which tends to ignore the media’s responsibility toward a vulnerable population. My aim here is thus twofold: one, to analyze how media contents are organized or stylized in situating the news with popular narratives. Two, what is the nature of responsibility towards refugees do newspapers articulate?