Migrants, Minorities and the Media: Information, Representations and Participation in the Public Sphere

Abstract

Scholars of political communication have stressed the critical role of the media in modern liberal democracies (Bennett and Entman 2001;Chong and Druckman 2007; Koopmans and Statham 2010;McCombs 2004;Norris 2000). The media inform the public, provide a communicative bridge between political and social actors, influence perceptions of pressing issues, depict topics and people in particular ways and may shape individuals' political views and participation. Despite this critical role, students of migrants and minorities have rarely used systematic media analysis in their scholarship. We believe that the time is ripe to review how a focus on the media can help advance a field that traditionally has been explored with other types of data. In this special issue, we showcase a diverse set of new research to illustrate the ways in which media analysis advances our knowledge about migrants and minorities in the public sphere.Understanding the factors that shape media coverage of migrants and minorities, as well as the effect of that coverage on public attitudes, policy outcomes or social relations, has a modest but growing foundation. To further advance our knowledge, this special issue is oriented around a comparative approach. Media coverage may be copious or minimal, positive or negative, social or political. These axes of difference can be examined across time; across regions, countries or cities; between media outlets of different types, political stripes or economic ownership structures; and with reference to a wide range of migrant or minority groups and issues, spanning asylum to security, integration to racial discrimination. Comparative analysis connects

Media Representations of Separated Child Migrants

“…Any study of media coverage involves crucial decisions about the choice of sources, as the sample will have consequences deriving from diff erences in ownership, audience, distribution, and affi liation with political parties (Bleich, Bloemraad, and de Graauw 2015). Our sample includes the print versions of the three most read national British papers (National Readership Survey 2016), all of which are tabloids.…”

“…Th e decision to focus on national media was about maximizing breadth. Further, local papers oft en pick up stories from news wires or national media sources (Bleich, Bloemraad, and de Graauw 2015).…”

Whose ideas are worth spreading? The representation of women and ethnic groups in TED talks

“…The important question therefore arises how disadvantaged groups across societies are affected by this development and to what extent they are represented in the digital sphere. While a large body of literature is available on representation and negative dispositions towards these groups in traditional media and entertainment outlets (Bleich, Bloemraad, and Graauw 2015;Shor et al 2015), few research has been done with special focus on digital platforms.…”

Framing the Refugee Crisis in Online Media: A Romanian Perspective

“…In other words, the way in which migrants and refugees issues are described, categorized and represented has a great importance, especially when it is done by news media "whose 'cultural authority' is premised upon speaking truth to power and representing the world of events to us" (Berry et al, 2016, p. 13). The media coverage and interpretation of topics related to refugees actively contribute to people's understanding of events -what the events are about, and how people should further relate to them (for an overview of social representations of refugees and the refugee crisis in the media, see Bleich, Bloemraad, & de Graauw, 2015;Horsti, 2008;Licata & Klein, 2002;Mengistu & Avraham, 2015). As Strömbäck et al (2011, p. 161) show, "what the media cover and how they cover it thus become highly important".…”