| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
As seen in Table 14 there are very few stories on the human-interest aspect of the issue and there is almost no investigative reporting or interviews with experts.
In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, data and a library of stories was accessible as there was an in-country media monitoring service (Media Insite). Coverage of TIP in Trinidad and Tobago as a percentage of all news stories is 0.2% between June 2021 and June 2023 which is a total of 319 stories over the two-year period. In Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia, the stories are typically presented as isolated incidents, and there is very little effort to connect them to broader social issues. The victims are mainly female, and the perpetrators or traffickers are mainly male. There is no attempt at background research or investigative pieces on how the trafficking matter arose and the extent of trafficking within the wider context of crime, signed conventions, and other related macro-environment perspectives. The media’s portrayal of the victims often displays empathy but does not go into any detail or attempt to pull back the layers of the story to review their journey, emotional considerations, and other sensitivities. The perpetrators of human trafficking are addressed based on police reports and, again, there is a lack of deep dives to connect them to possible organized crime, investigate their backgrounds or examine their history. The material reviewed did not indicate instances of sensationalism. This is perhaps because there was a high dependence on strict law-based police reports. There were a few attempts at incorporating sensitivity and awareness in the public’s interest. These stories often involved interviews or comments from representatives of the counter-trafficking units in the countries under review. In the analysis, the research showed that there were very few examples of the exploitation of sensitive content as in the case of children in the excerpt of the online publication in the Caribbean Alert, 23 rd February 2022. There was an adherence to ethical policies and guidelines with special attention being paid to stories involving children. Based on discussions with newsrooms, there are no documented internal media house policies, however guidance is taken from legislation such as in the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the Sexual Offences Act 2019 and the Children Act 2012. Minors are protected in reporting. The Children’s Protection Act in Trinidad and Tobago and attention to the UN Convention on the Rights of Children are often employed.
70 A Media Analysis of the Coverage of Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence and Trafficking in Persons (June 2021 to June 2023) in the Eastern Caribbean
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