Victims or Attackers? Deconstructing the Mediatic Image of Migrants at the Romanian-Serbian-Hungarian Border with the Use of Multidimensional Instruments

Abstract

This study innovates the way in which digital ethnography techniques can be applied in the analysis of complex phenomena, in this case the wave of migrants and refugees at the border between Romania, Serbia, Hungary and Ukraine, in the last two years (2021 - 2022). Thus, we regard this paper as an example of multidimensional education for both students and practitioners of media studies that struggle to address broad, transdisciplinary topics. The present research aims to present a multidimensional approach of the manner in which journalistic materials portray people who have arrived at the border between the three states in their attempt to travel further to the countries of Western Europe. Our methods consist of non-participatory content analysis on some communication products in the mass media from Great Britain and Romania, sentiment analysis and critique of professional practice. We used digital ethnography to reveal interesting data for a comparative analysis of the way different types of migrants are portrayed in British and Romanian media. The comparative analysis was conducted by using data provided by Dchipher Analytics and ZeList Monitor, ensuring a high degree of confidence in the results.