Media and migration: Comparative analysis of print and online media reporting on migrants and migration in selected countries

Author(s) : Marie McAuliffe, Khalid Koser, Warren Weeks

Source : http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4016/pdf/ch11.pdf

Abstract:

By its very nature, international migration is transnational. The movement of people across borders necessarily relates to more than one state, and given the increase in scale and diversity of international migration over recent decades, nearly all countries in the modern era are affected by international migration (Castles, de Haas, & Miller, 2014). Some countries, including some of those within the scope of this project, are affected by migration significantly, both positively and at times negatively. Immigration has become a first order public policy issue in many countries in the world. It is unsurprising, then, that the topic of international migration is often included in public opinion surveys, although arguably the political significance of migration often outweighs its numerical significance.

Analysis of print and online media in the UK, for example, has shown that the substantial political interest in this complex public policy topic can be put in a somewhat different perspective by examining overall media coverage by themes.