Refugees in the news: Comparing Belgian and Swedish newspaper coverage of the European refugee situation during summer 2015
-
Rozane De Cock
, Stefan Mertens
, Ebba Sundin , Lutgard Lams , Valeriane Mistiaen , Willem Joris and Leen d’Haenens
Abstract
This comparative content analysis of Belgian and Swedish newspaper coverage of the ‘refugee situation’ in 2015 (N=898) revolves around responsibility indicators, news actor characteristics, and thematic emphasis. As they are a potential influential factor in the public-opinion formation process, the studying of media portrayals is an essential first step in investigating the dynamic interplay between media discourse and societal reactions. Belgium and Sweden differ with respect to migration policy, integration indicators, and the number of incoming refugees. They also differ in terms of journalistic cultural values. As a result, they make for an excellent case study of intercultural differences and similarities in how refugees are reported on. Our analysis made clear that Belgian news coverage shows regional diversity, with Francophone Belgian journalists showing more tolerance towards migrants and thus tending to be more in line with their Swedish counterparts. Still, refugees are seldom allowed to speak for themselves. This warrants attention and action by news professionals.
References
Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C., & McEnery, T. (2013). Discourse analysis and media attitudes: The representation of Islam in the British press. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511920103Search in Google Scholar
Benson, R., & Wood, T. (2015). Who says what or nothing at all? Speakers, frames and frameless quotes in unauthorized immigration news in the UK, Norway, and France. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(7), 802–821.10.1177/0002764215573257Search in Google Scholar
Berry, M., Garcia-Blanco, I., & Moore, K. (2015). Press coverage of the refugee and migrant crisis in the EU: A content analysis of five European countries. Cardiff: School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.Search in Google Scholar
Billiet, J., Maddens, B., & Frognier, A. P. (2006). Does Belgium still exist? Differences in political culture between Flemish and Walloons. West European Politics, 29, 912–932.10.1080/01402380600968802Search in Google Scholar
Chouliaraki, L., & Zaborowski, R. (2017). Voice and community in the 2015 refugee crisis: A content analysis of news coverage in eight European countries. The International Communication Gazette, 79(6–7), 613–635.10.1177/1748048517727173Search in Google Scholar
CGRS, Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (2015). Asylum statistics – Survey 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2017 from www.cgrs.be/en/news/asylum-statistics-survey-2015.Search in Google Scholar
De Cleen, B., Zienkowski, J., Smets, K., Dekie, A., & Vandevoordt, R. (2017). Constructing the ‘refugee crisis’ in Flanders. Continuities and adaptations of discourses on asylum and migration. In M. Barlai, B. Fähnrich, C. Griessler & M. Rhomberg (Eds.), The migrant crisis: European perspectives and national discourses (pp. 59–78). Berlin: LIT Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
De Cock, R., & Du Pont, K. (2016). Comparison of news reporting on Islam and Muslims in Wallonia and France. In S. Mertens & H. de Smaele (Eds.), Representations of Islam in the news. A cross-cultural analysis (pp. 109–130). Lanham: Lexington Books.Search in Google Scholar
d’Haenens, L., & Bink, S. (2007). Islam in the Dutch press: With special attention to the Algemeen Dagblad. Media, Culture and Society, 29(1), 135–149.10.1177/0163443706072002Search in Google Scholar
European Commission (2016). Standard Eurobarometer 85, May. Public opinion in the European Union. Brussels.Search in Google Scholar
Eurostat (2014). Migrant Integration Statistics 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2016 from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Migrant_integration_statistics.Search in Google Scholar
Eurostat (2015). Migrant Integration Statistics 2015. Retrieved June 9, 2016 from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Migrant_integration_statistics.Search in Google Scholar
Eurostat (2016a). Asylum in the EU member states. Record number of over 1.2 million first time asylum seekers registered in 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2017 from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-press-releases/-/3-04032016-AP.Search in Google Scholar
Eurostat (2016b). Asylum in the EU member states. More than 410 000 first time asylum seekers registered in the third quarter of 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2017 from http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_quarterly_report.Search in Google Scholar
Fotopoulos, S., & Kaimaklioti, M. (2016). Media discourse on the refugee crisis: On what have the Greek, German and British press focused? European View, 15, 265–279.10.1007/s12290-016-0407-5Search in Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.Search in Google Scholar
Gans, H. J. (2011). Multiperspectival news revisited: Journalism and representative democracy. Journalism, 12(1), 3–13.10.1177/1464884910385289Search in Google Scholar
Jacobs, L., & Hooghe, M. (2015). Worden we overspoeld door immigratie(nieuws)? Een onderzoek naar de berichtgeving over immigratie in de Vlaamse televisiejournaals. [Are we being flooded by immigration (news)? A study on the news coverage of immigration in Flemish television news]. Nieuwsbrief Steunpunt Media.Search in Google Scholar
Jacobsen, S. J., Jensen, T. G., Vit, K., & Weibel, K. (2013). Analysis of Danish media setting and framing of Muslims, Islam and racism (working paper). Retrieved September 10, 2017 from https://pure.sfi.dk/ws/files/224036/WP_10_2013.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Jones, M. (2007). Hofstede – Culturally questionable? Paper presented at Oxford Business & Economics Conference, Oxford, June 24–26, 2007.Search in Google Scholar
Len-Rios, M. E., Rodgers, S., Thorson, E., & Doyle, Y. (2005). Representation of women in news and photos: Comparing content to perceptions. Journal of Communication, 55(1), 152–168.10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02664.xSearch in Google Scholar
Lams, L. (2018). Discursive constructions of the summer 2015 refugee crisis: A comparative analysis of French, Dutch, Belgian Francophone and British center-of-right press narratives. Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies, 7(1), 103–127.10.1386/ajms.7.1.103_1Search in Google Scholar
Leong, C. H., & Ward, C. (2006). The influence of cultural values on attitudes toward immigrants and multiculturalism: The case of the Eurobarometer survey on racism and xenophobia. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30(6), 799–810.10.1016/j.ijintrel.2006.07.001Search in Google Scholar
Masini, A., & Van Aelst, P. (2017). Actor diversity and viewpoint diversity: Two of a kind. Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research, 42(2), 107–126.10.1515/commun-2017-0017Search in Google Scholar
McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. L. (1972). The agenda-setting functions of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176–187.10.1086/267990Search in Google Scholar
Mertens, S., & de Smaele, H. (Eds.) (2016). Representations of Islam in the news: A cross-cultural analysis. Lanham: Lexington Books.Search in Google Scholar
Migrationsverket/Swedish Migration Agency (2016). Nearly 163,000 people sought asylum in Sweden in 2015, January 12, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2017 from https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/About-the-Migration-Agenda/News-archive/News-archive-2016.Search in Google Scholar
MIPEX (2015). Migrant Integration Policy Index. Retrieved September 7, 2017 from http://mipex.eu.Search in Google Scholar
Philo, G., Briant, E., & Donald, P. (2013). Bad news for refugees. London: Pluto Press.10.2307/j.ctt183p4bmSearch in Google Scholar
Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam. Media representations and British Muslims. London: Tauris.10.5040/9780755604579Search in Google Scholar
Poole, E. (2016). The U.K.’s Reporting of Islam and Muslims: Reviewing the field. In S. Mertens & H. de Smaele (Eds.), Representations of Islam in the news. A cross-cultural analysis (pp. 21–36). Lanham: Lexington Books.Search in Google Scholar
Potter, W. J. (1993). Cultivation theory and research: A conceptual critique. Human Communication Research, 19(4), 564–601.10.1111/j.1468-2958.1993.tb00313.xSearch in Google Scholar
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (1967, January 31). Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted on 28 July 1951 by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons convened under General Assembly resolution 429 (V) of 14 December 1950. Entry into force: 22 April 1954, in accordance with article 43 (p. 1). New York.Search in Google Scholar
Rush, R., Oukrop, C. E., & Sarikakis, K. (2005). A global hypothesis for women in journalism and mass communications. International Communication Gazette, 67(3), 239–253.10.1177/0016549205052226Search in Google Scholar
Sigona, N. (2018). The contested politics of naming in Europe’s “refugee crisis”. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41(3), 456–460.10.1080/01419870.2018.1388423Search in Google Scholar
Sondergaard, M. (1994). Hofstede’s consequences: A study of reviews, citations and replications. Organization Studies, 15(3), 447–456.10.1177/017084069401500307Search in Google Scholar
Strömbäck, J., Andersson, F., & Nedlund, E. (2017). Invandring i medierna – hur rapporterade svenska tidningar åren 2010 – 2015? [How did Swedish newspapers cover immigration in the years 2010–2015?] Stockholm: Delmi/Statens Offentliga Utredningar.Search in Google Scholar
Sumuvuori, J., Vähäsöyrinki, A., Eerolainen, T., Lindvall, J., Pasternak, R., Syrjälä, M., & Talvela, A. (2016). Refugees and asylum seekers in press coverage. A comparative content analysis of texts published in Helsingin Sanomat and Aamulehti (FI), The Guardian and The Times (UK) and Le Soir and De Morgen (BE) newspapers in the time period from 1 January to 31 January 2016. London: The Finnish Institute in London.Search in Google Scholar
Szcepanik, M. (2016). The ‘good’ and ‘bad’ refugees? Imagined refugeehood(s) in the media coverage of the migration crisis. Journal of Identity and Migration Studies, 10(2), 23–33.Search in Google Scholar
United Nations (s.d). What is a refugee? Retrieved at September 12, 2017, from http://www.unrefugees.org/what-is-a-refugee/.Search in Google Scholar
United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1998). Report of the working group of intergovernmental experts on the human rights of migrants submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1997/15. Fifty-fourth session, Geneva: Intergovernmental working group of experts on the human rights of migrants.Search in Google Scholar
United Nations General Assembly (1951, July 28). Convention relating to the status of refugees. United Nations, Treaty Series, 189.Search in Google Scholar
Vandenberghe, H., d’Haenens, L. & Van Gorp, B. (2013). Hoe divers is de Vlaamse pers? Leeftijd, gender en etniciteit in het Vlaamse krantennieuws [How diverse is the Flemish press? Age, gender and ethnicity in Flemish newspaper news]. Nieuwsmonitor 15: Steunpunt Media. Retrieved September 7, 2017 from www.steunpunt.be/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Nieuwsmonitor-15.pdf.Search in Google Scholar
Van Gorp, B. (2005). Where is the frame? Victims and intruders in the Belgian press coverage of the asylum issue. European Journal of Communication, 20(4), 484–507.10.1177/0267323105058253Search in Google Scholar
Van Gorp, B. (2006). Framing asiel. Slachtoffers en indringers in de pers [Framing asylum. Victims and intruders in the press]. Leuven: Acco.Search in Google Scholar
Welzel, C. (2013). Freedom rising human empowerment and the quest for emancipation. New York: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139540919Search in Google Scholar
Williamson, D. (2002). Forward from a critique of Hofstede’s model of national culture. Human Relations, 55(11), 1373–1395.10.1177/00187267025511006Search in Google Scholar
Wohlers, T. (2015). The role of risk perception and political culture: A comparative study of regulating genetically modified food. In J.-M. Mercantini & C. Faucher (Eds.), Risk and cognition (pp. 21–59). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.10.1007/978-3-662-45704-7_2Search in Google Scholar
World Values Survey (s. d.). Retrieved October 21, 2017 from http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp.Search in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Special issue: Representations of immigrants and refugees: News coverage, public opinion and media literacy
- Editorial introduction. Representations of immigrants and refugees: News coverage, public opinion and media literacy
- Refugees in the news: Comparing Belgian and Swedish newspaper coverage of the European refugee situation during summer 2015
- The Syrian refugee crisis in Scandinavian newspapers
- Who drove the discourse? News coverage and policy framing of immigrants and refugees in the 2016 U.S. presidential election
- Welfare restrictions and ‘benefit tourists’: Representations and evaluations of EU migrants in the UK
- The relationship between media use and public opinion on immigrants and refugees: A Belgian perspective
- Critical media literacy through making media: A key to participation for young migrants?
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Special issue: Representations of immigrants and refugees: News coverage, public opinion and media literacy
- Editorial introduction. Representations of immigrants and refugees: News coverage, public opinion and media literacy
- Refugees in the news: Comparing Belgian and Swedish newspaper coverage of the European refugee situation during summer 2015
- The Syrian refugee crisis in Scandinavian newspapers
- Who drove the discourse? News coverage and policy framing of immigrants and refugees in the 2016 U.S. presidential election
- Welfare restrictions and ‘benefit tourists’: Representations and evaluations of EU migrants in the UK
- The relationship between media use and public opinion on immigrants and refugees: A Belgian perspective
- Critical media literacy through making media: A key to participation for young migrants?