Introduction
Over half of million people crossed EU borders in 2016, coming from Middle East, Africa and Asia (Frontex, 2017). There is a significant decrease in comparison to 2015, when 1.8 million people illegally crossed the European borders, but the numbers are still high in comparison with the arrivals from 2010-2014 (Frontex, 2017). This research analyses how the Scandinavian media covered this new wave of migrants and refugees, in 2016. The research is part of the Story Seekers project which aims to increase advocacy capacity of NGOs or grass-root organizations working with migrants or refugees in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
The research goal is to discover the narratives about the new wave of migrants and refugees of the relevant media and/or bloggers from the four Nordic countries. Thus, the research addresses both the gap literature on the stories told by the media about the refugees and migrants (few articles and reports were published so far on Sweden, Finland and Norway,
The research goal is to discover the narratives about the new wave of migrants and refugees of the relevant media and/or bloggers from the four Nordic countries. Thus, the research addresses both the gap literature on the stories told by the media about the refugees and migrants (few articles and reports were published so far on Sweden, Finland and Norway, in regards to this issue – UNHCR, 2015; Horsti & Nikunen, 2013; The Norwegian Directorate of Integration and Diversity, 2014), and the need of the nonprofit sector, working in the field and willing to strengthen its voice in the community, to have an overview of the media’s discourse about the new arrivals.
Moreover, the research helps in finding the common ground for NGOs and media in regards to migrants and refugees. First, the paper investigates the current narratives of media about migrants and refugees using online panels of experts from the four countries. Then, through content analysis, the narratives of relevant media outlets, from the four Nordic countries.
Through the research, the following issues are analyzed: the voices included in the narratives (national/international politicians, UN, UNHCR, citizens, migrants / refugees, experts, EU institutions, etc.), the explanations given for the new wave of refugees and migrants, the individual or group portraits of the migrants and refugees, the groups of migrants or refugees that received the most coverage, the labels used to describe them, and the stories that are missed or received less attention from the media. The paper provides important insights on the four countries’ media patterns in reporting the current migrants and refugees crisis, insights that can be used by NGOs working in the field for preparing their next advocacy and storytelling campaigns.