Media Construction of Migrant Crisis

• Main Author: Želimir KEŠETOVIĆ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje 2018-12-01
• Series: Bezbednosni Dijalozi
• Subjects: media; migrant crisis; perception; agenda setting; serbia
• Online Access: http://periodica.fzf.ukim.edu.mk/sd/SD%2009.2%20(2018)/SD%2009.2.04%20Ke%C5%A1etovic,%20%C5%BD.%20-%20Media%20Construction%20of%20Migrant%20Crisis.pdf

We are living today in the media-constructed reality, so media reporting is of utmost importance for public perceptions of different problems, issues, and phenomena. This particularly refers to the migrant crisis that European countries are increasingly facing in the last few years. The media reporting on the migrant crisis that emphasizes threats to the national welfare system and culture might increase racism, xenophobia, and islamophobia. On the other hand, insisting on humanitarian themes might increase solidarity and tolerance. There are significant differences in media reporting on the migrant crisis between media in European countries that are influenced by state policy, the system of values, traditions, media systems, and other factors. There is even no terminological consensus so different terms are used to address the phenomenon. Germany and Sweden, for example, overwhelmingly used the terms ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’, whilst Italy and the United Kingdom press preferred the word ‘migrant’. In Spain, the dominant term was ‘immigrant’. These terms had an important impact on the tenor of each country’s debate. In this review paper a comparative overview on media reporting on the migrant crisis in five EU countries, Croatia and Serbia will be given, based on conducted researches, followed by the attempt to explain the differences and construct the models of media reporting on the migrant crisis. Media reports and texts often burdened by ignorance, stereotypes, and prejudices should be replaced by analytic texts based on ethical norms and standards of the journalist profession and basic human values.