Publication
Title
Back to reality : the complex relationship between patterns in immigration news coverage and real-world developments in Dutch and Flemish newspapers (1999-2015)
Author
Abstract
Although prior studies investigating immigration news typically documented a dominant focus on negativity and threats, only limited empirical research is available, which scrutinizes the way real-world developments affect these patterns in immigration news. This study aims to fill this void. First, we report results of a large-scale and longitudinal content analysis (N=4,340,757) of trends in immigration news coverage in two Western European cases, Flanders (the northern, Dutch-speaking, largest region of Belgium) and the Netherlands, from 1999 to 2015. Both the salience of immigration as a news topic on itself and its linkages with three prominent issues (i.e., crime, terrorism, and socioeconomic issues) are explored. Second, this study builds on previous insights by comparing dynamics in immigration news to real-world events and developments. Overall, the results show that the linkage of immigration to issues of crime, terrorism, and the economy in Flemish and Dutch newspapers was considerable throughout the 17-year period under study. Yet there is limited evidence for a close relationship between news and real-life developments; hence, trends in immigration news seem largely unaffected by trends in society.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Mass communication & society. - Mahwah, N.J., 1998, currens
Publication
Abingdon : 2018
ISSN
1520-5436 [print]
1532-7825 [online]
DOI
10.1080/15205436.2018.1442479
Volume/pages
21 :4 (2018) , p. 473-497
ISI
000435699000004
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
UAntwerpen
Publication type
Subject
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 12.03.2024
Last edited 23.09.2024
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