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[PDF] Introduction to Communication and Media Studies

   

Added on  2021-04-17

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Running head: MEDIA STUDIESThe 2015 European Refugee Crisis Name of the Student:Name of the University:Author Note:

MEDIA STUDIES1In the year 2014 and 2015, the watched a new humanitarian crisis in the form of refugees.Hundreds and thousands of people were risking their lives in order to enter European Union.These refugees were experienced lack of shelter, food and water; battled through the differentproblems; endured ill-treatment and indemnity; forged rivers, climbed upon the barbed wires;walked great distances and crossed seas. These refugees were requesting and seeking asylum inthe Europe. The massive influx of the refugees into Europe is due to the fact that Syria wasexperiencing a brutal civil war for around 5 years that has devastated the country and its people.It was that during the civil war in a country, none of its citizens can lead a normal healthy life.The day to day living conditions becomes so toxic that it is hard for the citizens to sustain thecrisis. The crisis comes in the form of shortage of food, shelter, and security1. No human cansustain for a long period when all the conditions are against him. Thus, the people of Syria tookup the escape plan and were trying to get asylum into Europe. When is a situation of crisisarrives, people always want to move where they can feel safe and lead a normal life away fromall the chaos. The same was done the Syrian refugees because Europe is the best destination withrespect to the wealth, safety and job opportunities and the better living conditions. Europe beingin close geographical proximity made it a favourable refugee destination. Whereas, crossing theMediterranean Sea was the major hurdle. There were media reports in which it is seen that theboats in which the refugees were trying flee drowned leading to the death of the severalrefugees2. Media reports were generally based on the humanitarian crisis and highlighted on thefleeing of the refugees from Syria and the neighbouring areas. The later media reports were1 Dallal Stevens, 'Asylum, Refugee Protection And The European Response To Syrian Migration' (2017) 9 Journalof Human Rights Practice.2 Marjoleine Zieck, 'The European Refugee Crisis From A Vantage Point Of View' (2016) 45 Netherlands Journal ofLegal Philosophy.

MEDIA STUDIES2generally based on the problems being faced by the several countries of the European Union.There were reports which suggested that the several countries of the European Union were evennot ready to accept the refugees and were even ready to deport the incoming flux of the refugees.This study is based on the major themes and the frames that were commonly used by the mediawhen the media were covering issues on the asylum seekers, migrants and the refugees3. Thestudy also focusses on the refugees and the migrants in terms of the occupation, place of birth,age, and gender and how the media reports focussed on them; whether the media coverage inGermany and UK changed in the later part of 2015 and the major difference in the differentmedia coverages. Major themes and the frames used by the media- the media used a variety of themes forthe purpose of covering the refugee crisis in Europe. For example, the Italian media reports weremajorly based on the humanitarian themes in comparison to the Spanish, German and Britishpress. While threat themes which are similar to the cultural threats and the threats to the welfaresystem are used by the media of Britain, Spain and Italy. The Swedish press was more of apositive in comparison to the other countries, while the press of the United Kingdom was havinga negative attitude towards the refugee influx and was for most of the time polarised. Among thecountries surveyed, the right-wing media of Britain was more aggressive in the campaignsagainst the migrants and the refugees. In the wide range of the themes that were used by themedia were distinctly different in between the different countries. The percentage of thehumanitarian themes presented in the media reports of the different countries are: Italian mediashowed emphasized 50.6 percent which is the highest in comparison to the other Europeancountries. The Spanish reporting was 32.5 percent, German media was 37.1 percent, British3 Nicole Ostrand, 'The Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Comparison Of Responses By Germany, Sweden, The UnitedKingdom, And The United States' (2015) 3 Journal on Migration and Human Security.

MEDIA STUDIES3media was 37.3 percent, and Swedish media was 47.1 percent. The humanitarian theme wascoded as major theme then the differences came out to be far higher. It was found that about 31.3percent of the Italian media focussed on the humanitarian themes in comparison to the othercountries and it ranged from 9 percent to 13.1 percent4. The reason was more likely because theItalian reports were majorly focussed on the events occurring in the Mediterranean region andthe reports emphasized on the plight of the migrants and the refugees. Significant differenceswere also observed in the themes of the threat. The migrants and the refugees were depicted asthreats to the national security and the mention of threats in the Italian media was 10.1 percent,in Sweden and Germany it was 2.3 percent, in Britain it was 8.5 percent and in Spain, it was 9.2percent. The mention and the discussion of the migrants and the refugees as a cultural threat tothe cohesion of the community in the British media which was 10.8 percent. This was followedby the newspapers of the following countries Sweden (8.2 percent), Italy (8.1 percent), Spain(7.4 percent), and Germany (5.3 percent). Another major finding is that is mention of the threatsto the health and the welfare systems in the United Kingdom. The incidence these threat reportwas higher in the UK media and it was 18.3 percent and it has alarmingly high in the othercountries, especially Spain, Italy, Germany, and Sweden which was 6.7 percent, 7.3 percent, 7.9percent and 11.4 percent respectively. Negative refugee frames were highly prevalent in theBritish media which was reporting incidents based on the crime with respect to the migrant andthe refugees and the percentage was 8.2 of the overall reports. Whereas in the other Europeancountries like Spain, Italy, Germany and Italy the weight of these reports was 1.7 percent, 2.6percent, 3.7 percent, and 4.3 percent respectively4. There were themes like the German mediawere reporting on the subjects like post arrival integration and it's significantly large in4 Berry, Mike, Inaki Garcia-Blanco, and Kerry Moore, ‘Press coverage of the refugee and migrant crisis in the EU:A content analysis of five European countries.’ (2016) Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

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