Immigrant representation : a content analysis of media narratives of immigrants in U.K. and U.S. publications

Immigration crises are not just indicative of the issues in countries that people are leaving. They represent major humanitarian crises that reflect the fears and beliefs of destination countries that include the United States, as well as the United Kingdom. The news media in both the United States and United Kingdom cover immigrants and their issues in different ways, depending on the new host country's political ideals. This research uses framing theory to analyze primary sources of the U.S. publications The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, as well as the U.K. publications The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and i. A qualitative content analysis of these publications revealed how immigrants are represented. It was discovered that in U.K. publications, immigrants were more likely to be represented in "politics," "immigrants as victims," or "immigrant support" frames. In U.S. publications, the articles were more likely to represent immigrants in "source of conflict," "immigration as a threat," and "immigration control" frames. This study indicates that the country of origin and that country's citizens' political ideals can affect immigrant representation in the media. -- Abstract.