Learning how to be Biased: writing a biased article

The following is an attempt at rewriting this article: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/tripped-refugee-heading-spain-football-academy-150916142230899.html by portraying an ideology different than the one portrayed in it.

Syrian Refugee Crisis a Hoax?

Recently Osama Abdul Mohsem, the refugee who was tripped by the Hungarian camerawoman Petra Laszlo was discovered to be a football coach back in Syria and was taken in by a football academy in Spain to come and work as a coach. This wonderful humanitarian act would not have been possible without the media's constant repeated reporting of the seemingly awful story of the Hungarian camerawoman's actions. However, how many people have stopped to think about why the camerawoman tripped the man in the first place?

The Syrian refugee crisis is perhaps the most reported and continued news story that we've had in a while. But is the way that the media portrays the crisis actually truthful? Is the tale of the “Syrian refugees” truly as sad as we have been demonstrated it is? Part of it is. It is undeniable that Syria is right now going through a time of crisis and that the conflict has caused large displacements of the population both within the country and outside of it. But is the flood of refugees in Europe we've been hearing so much of actually made up of fleeing families?

It turns out that the media has been skewing our perception of the refugee crisis in Europe. While it is true that tragic stories like that of Osama Abdul Mohsem are a reality, the media focuses far too much attention on stories like this.

Out of all the “Syrian” refugees arriving at Europe, it is quite often that as many as 90% of the refugees claiming to be Syrian do not actually have the documents to prove it. As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Syrian refugees that are interviewed by the media state that the thing that they want the most is to return to Syria, so that their lives can go back to normal. If that is the case, then why are there so many refugees making the perilous journey all the way to Germany, when the UN's convention relating to the Status of Refugees states that countries are obligated to grant asylum to anybody who declares a refugee status in the first country that they report in? Clearly Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt are already over-saturated, with refugees, so then considering that the Arab Gulf states don't want to offer any help to their Muslim brothers, the next option in line is Europe. But why go all the way to Germany when all the other countries are capable of providing asylum? Eastern Europe may not be economically developed enough to provide optimal conditions for refugees, but neither are Lebanon and Egypt, at least in comparison to the likes of Germany. It is obvious that these “refugees” are looking for more than just a place to stay in until the conflict subsides. They are looking for a country where they will be showered with money.

Despite this, countries like Hungary have received a tremendous backlash in the media for not accepting refugees. But with a real calamity waiting behind the floodgates, one can truly understand the reasoning behind Hungary's decision. The culture that all these refugees carry with them is completely opposing to the standards of European culture. It would be extremely difficult for any country to not be gravely affected by the sudden massive influx of refugees. There have even been reports of a school in Germany close to a refugee camp having to ban miniskirts for the fear of possible rape by refugees. And this is in fact not as far fetched of a statement, considering that there have already been rapes of women and children within a refugee camp in Europe.

The massive, rapid influx of refugees means that the refugees are not having to adapt to Europe; Europe is having to adapt to the refugees. These refugees, who could easily be Pakistanis or Jordanians who threw their passports to the sea and then claimed to be Syrian upon arrival, are bringing in a massive and abrupt change to the European way of life. Perhaps it is about time for the media to begin to understand that Syria is not the only country with problems. As the saying goes: “You can't take care of others if you can't take care of yourself.” Perhaps it is time that the NATO affiliated countries stopped complaining about Russia and Bashar Al Asad, and found a way to stop the violence once and for all so that the senseless mass migration can stop and Syrians can go back to where they truly want to be: “Home.”





Rationale:

The article was meant to go against the ideology of Al Jazeera regarding the Syrian refugee crisis about how the refugees are victims and anybody who doesn't want to offer them help is the enemy. The article is a continuation to all the series of news stories regarding the reporter that tripped the refugee, so it is following the ideology of the refugees being victims and the non-conforming Europeans being the aggressors.

The main idea of my article is to shift that focus and, while still keeping the idea that refugees are victims, show that the European states have a point when they say they don't want to accept refugees. The ideology in my article does not go against the Syrian refugees, but rather it goes against Western media in general, by claiming that their focus on the problem is not only ignoring the negative aspects of that the refugees are bringing to Europe; but also portraying their focus in the media as "wrong" and not focused on where the real issue lies: in the governments' incapacity to cooperate together.