ABSTRACT
The concept of "media campaigns" has largely been defined by political communication studies and Public Relations (PR) literature. This chapter reconsiders traditional notions of media campaigns in the light of the role they have played in shaping race relations and immigration policy in Scotland. It contends that the media coverage of asylum seekers by London-based tabloids constitutes a media campaign and that it should be assessed alongside other more traditional PR efforts despite its apparent lack of intentionality. The main thesis here is that, to define a media campaign as such, one should look at the features pertaining to agency rather than intentionality. The chapter examines the way in which anti-immigration campaigns are implemented in Scotland by the British national press, drawing some comparisons with more traditionally structured and explicit media campaigns on asylum seekers developed by the Scottish Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
