Helpers at wrong end of stories

A study by Lingnan University has found unfair reporting by local Chinese media of foreign domestic helpers involved in mistreatment cases.

Researchers from Lingnan's Department of English analyzed 398 news reports between 2010 and 2019 from three local Chinese-language media and found news stories distanced the community from the sufferings of foreign helpers.

They said reports tended to exonerate perpetrators and blame victims or encouraged readers to attribute causes of mistreatment to perceived shortcomings of helpers.

Another main point of the reports was sensationalism to gain readers' attention and provoke emotional responses.

"These oversimplified, overly sexualized narratives inevitably served to misrepresent the issues and people involved, increasing the scope for perpetrator exoneration and victim blaming as well as harmful stereotypes and structural inequalities," the survey team said.