Daily mail newspaper & online in representing refugees on 2015-2017 European Refugee Crisis : a content analysis

Abstract

The Refugee Crisis in Europe has become a part of the history of world mobility which has invited many actors to be involved in it, one of which is the Daily Mail as a media actor. The Daily Mail in this crisis became crucial considering that the media played their role in representing refugees to national and international readers. Through social categorization carried out with negative terminology in their journalism activities, the news produced by the Daily Mail affects the process of receiving information from its readers which then triggers the emergence of public opinion and attitudes that tend to reject and be hostile towards refugees. Although the role of the Daily Mail is theoretically considered to be 'minimal' in shaping public opinion and readers' negative attitudes towards refugees, the terminology used in the Daily Mail's journalism activities tends to be constant and aggressive. Thus, by using analytical content, this study aims to answer, “How does Daily Mail’s online and printed news have represented refugees to its readerships/audience on the European refugee crisis in 2015-2017?”. This study aims to analyze more deeply the reporting activities carried out by the Daily Mail in representing refugees to their readers. This study examines the content of the Daily Mail news which is narrated and uses negative terminology. Using three thinking concepts; media as a representative, social category, public opinion, and negative attitude, this study confirms that there is a role for the Daily Mail online and print in the emergence of public opinion and negative attitudes of readers towards refugees through reporting activities that use negative terminology.