Routes to Inclusion? Migration and the New and Old Media

Discourses about migration are used to talk about the state’s relationship both with those both outside and inside its borders. In the UK, the topic of migration has been used by politicians, public figures and commentators alike to discuss broad-ranging ideas about the nation, the Other, race, citizenship, class-dynamics and the border. As Crawley et al. note, in recent years, news-media coverage of migration has become increasingly negative, whilst a recent report by the United Nations University noted the prevalence across Europe of xenophobic news coverage related to migration. In recent years, discussions in the news-media about migration has not only reflected public opinion but shaped it. There is a growing consensus that this has a similar impact on policy-making. The way in which the news-media frames its coverage about migration therefore has consequences not only for how migration – and migrants – are seen by society, but also for the way in which society and government responds to the idea of migration. The first part of this paper discusses (a) what ‘xenophobic’ media coverage of migration means (b) the impact of discriminatory coverage and the under-inclusion of migrant voices and (c) the relationship between media framings of migration and policy-making. If these relationships were not already sufficiently complex, contemporary developments in media, technology and information dissemination present additional challenges to (a) representations of migration in the media (b) migrants’ narrative access to media coverage and (c) policy-shaping and making. The United Nations University report on media and migration suggests that improved media coverage of migration by new and old media alike has the potential to improve both public opinion and better inform policy-making. The second part of this paper therefore considers how new media presents challenges and opportunities for migrants, media institutions and policy-makers. 1. Crawley et al. 2016 2. Desmares, 2017 In the final part of the paper, we respond by highlighting the subsequent importance for both news-media coverage and policy-making of (1) improved narrative access in the media for migrants (2) improved representational practices by the news media (both old and new) and (3) consideration of the ethics of access and representation in the rapidly changing new-media context.