Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 1

Midge Carter
Dr. Maureen Eke
CGL 496
25 April 2017
Media Bias in Coverage of Global Immigration

On December 7, 2015, Donald Trump, then a candidate for the United States

presidency, released a press release calling for a total and complete shutdown of

Muslims entering the United States (Trump). Following his January 20 inauguration into

the office of President, Trump followed through on this edict, signing an executive order

banning travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States.

Since then that initial ban, and its nearly identical successor, have been ruled

unconstitutional in two separate federal courts. However, the Trump administration

continues to promote nationalistic and anti-globalist views, and public opinion still holds

in favor of the ban (Ipsos Public Affairs, Immigration Ban), demonstrating not only that

anti-immigrant sentiment is prevalent in America, but also that it can have an affect on

policies relating to globalization.

It is no secret that immigration policy is a heated and emotional topic. Negative

public opinion of immigrants is neither a new phenomenon, nor a uniquely American

one. Immigration, like any issue examining the validity and effect of state borders, is

inherently global. However, immigration is unique in that is offers a visual representation

of how bodies interact with those global borders, in essence demonstrating the effect of

globalization on nation states. Individuals immigrating to America have historically

struggled against discrimination, including battling against prevailing negative public

opinions, stereotypes, and tropes. This is in part due to media coverage of immigration

across the globe. How media represents immigration affects public policy on both the
 Carter 2

national and international scale. This paper argues that the portrayals of immigration

and immigrants in mass media demonstrates not only overwhelmingly negative bias, but

that it is a dangerous practice that hinders critical thinking, effective public engagement,

and healthy globalization practices.

To begin any conversation about immigration, one must trace the history of

migration across the world, a difficult task to say the least. Humans are a traditionally

migratory group, and as Pieterse says, in a historical sense, we are all migrants

because our ancestors have all traveled to the places where we have come from (36).

Steger argues that migratory patterns began in the prehistoric period, as bands of

hunters and gatherers traveled to the southern tip of South America (20-23). The

conquests, invasions, and population transfers that occurred as European explorers and

conquerors traveled and colonized regions of the world were a turning point in the

construction of new migratory patterns. When the Industrial Revolutionary brought new

technology, trade, and wealth on the backs of the colonized, national borders solidified.

Modern migration patterns in the West formed in the late nineteenth century, with World

War II acting as a proponent for international mass migration programs designated by

the states (Migration and History).

Since the 1970s, the United States has legally admitted more immigrants than

any other country, currently taking in about 20 percent of the worlds immigrant

population (Top 25 Destinations of International Migrants). Immigrants comprise 13

percent of the total United States population, and 27 percent of the immigrant

population is comprised of immigrants from Mexico (Zong et al). Of the 1.38 million
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 3

foreign-born individuals who moved to the United States in 2015, the majority of

immigrants moved from Mexico, India, and China (Zong et al).

The country that took in the second largest amount of immigrants in recent years

is Germany. In 2015 Germany took in 1.14 million immigrants, which was described by

Germanys Federal Statistics Office as the highest net immigration of foreigners ever

recorded in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany (Sander). The majority of

those crossing into Germany, and other areas of the EU, were refugees fleeing from

war torn countries in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The flow of people from these

countries has been dubbed a refugee crisis, and the topic of immigration has heavily

influenced policy decisions in European countries. In March of 2016, German

Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with other leaders of countries in the European Union,

signed a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of immigrant traffic into the EU (Rossenberg),

as a result of public outcry against the progressive immigration policies she had

previously put in place.

Many native born citizens in both the EU and the USA oppose immigration, for

reasons that include a fear of terrorism and job loss. However, despite this public

attitude, there is overwhelming empirical evidence that immigration can strengthen a

nation. For example, one of the strongest arguments against immigration is that it takes

away jobs from native-born citizens. However, in a report following the UKs 2016

Brexit vote, the London School of Economics discredited this idea, which they refer to

as the lump of labor fallacy. This logical fallacy works to discredit the idea that

immigration takes away jobs, arguing that this would only be true if there were a fixed

number of jobs available (Wadsworth et al). However, because immigrants are also
 Carter 4

consumers of local products, the influx of people results in a comparable amount of

spending. There is also evidence to suggest that immigrants will fill in the gap left as the

Baby Boomer generation retires (Passel and DVera). New workers moving in helps to

avoid a deficit of working adults in the countries they are entering, maintaining stronger,

more stable economies. And yet despite this evidence, there is still overwhelmingly

negative sentiment towards immigrants in native populations.

This occurs even in countries such as America, a country founded because of

immigration to the New World and the colonization of the native people living there. If

the native people living on the continent had defined state borders, the European

immigrants that came to their shores would be considered illegal. They did not have

visa, green cards, or follow any system of legal immigration when moving to America.

However, current sentiment is that immigration in modern times is more illegal than

before. Simply put, this is a fallacy. As former President Barack Obama has said, "It's

not like everybody on Ellis Island had all their papers straight. The truth is, the history of

our immigration system has always been a little bit haphazard, a little bit loose (Lee).

However, the perception of illegal immigration being a new phenomenon is a

dangerous one that criminalizes people, in many ways through news bias.

As migratory patterns have changed, the language used to describe them has

changed as well. In 1951, 145 State parties ratified the UNs Refugee Convention to

define the terms refugee and migrant, and determine what legal obligations those

designations brought, (The 1951 Refugee Convention). The UN has defined a refugee

as any person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of

race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is

Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 5

outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is

unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country (Ruz), but defined a

migrant as a person that in comparison, may leave his or her country for many reasons

that are not related to persecution (The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of

Refugees and It's 1967 Protocol).

Recently however, the International Organization for Migration has argued that

traditional state-led classification of migration is out of date, as migratory patterns

stretch beyond what the original laws were designed for. In their opinion, those

designations are now largely meaningless since most countries now send migrants,

receive migrants, or have migrants pass through their points of entry (Migration and

History). Terms such as refugee, migrant, immigrant, alien, and asylum seeker all carry

with them the weight of those who have traveled under those terms. They also differ in

simple semantics, which is especially evident in regards to news biases.

Bias in the news media is mainly found in framing, a term coined by

communication theorist Erving Goffman in 1974. Framing refers to the practice of using

specific language when presenting an audience with an idea or concept to that in turn

influences their attitudes toward that topic (Davie). This is accomplished through a

number of ways, but is most visibly seen within word choice and the selection of visual

media used in conjunction with the news story. Framing is an inherently biased practice,

as it presents information with the intent to persuade rather than disseminate.

The terms used to describe those crossing borders are one example of how bias

occurs in the news. The Migration Observatory in Oxford, England has spent the last

decade recording and studying how the British press covers the topic of immigration.
 Carter 6

Their findings show significantly that the language used in the medias discussion of

immigration, migration, and refugees has changed over time. They noted trends in

terminology, specifically that the volume of press coverage mentioning immigration or

migration declined from 2006 to 2011 before rising each year from 2011 to mid-2015

(A Decade of Immigration in the British Press). They also found that the term

immigrant was more prevalent than both refugee or asylum seeker, and that 30

percent of the time terminology specifically related to illegal immigrants. The term

illegal used in conjunction with a person has a negative bias. It presents the people

themselves as illegal or inherently wrong, rather than the action of crossing a border as

such. By describing an immigrant as illegal, news organizations link the individuals

they are talking about to the crime that they have committed, in many ways using the

crime to describe the person.

Visual images used by media outlets to represent immigrants and immigration

can also be biased, and in some ways have more of an impact than textual information.

Visual material is heavily linked to emotional pathways, and is also thought to be more

vivid, salient, and memorable to viewers. Helene Joffe of the International Council for

Philosophy and Human Studies argues that visual images are more persuasive

because they are readily absorbed in an unmediated manner because viewers are not

generally provoked to reflect on or deconstruct them in the way that occurs in relation to

verbal material. Not only that, but they can be dually biased if the text used to caption

or describe and image is biased. When that occurs, the emotional reaction the audience

experiences are to the use of the two elements in conjunction, which can be more

significant.
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 7

Historically, visual news coverage of immigrants has been heavily linked to

negative attributes. In 2008 J. David Cisneros argued that the media portrayal of

immigrants in California drew upon a message of immigrants as pollutants. He found

that visual images used in media broadcasts relating to immigrants were parallel to the

type of imagery used in new reports about toxic pollution, dangerous spills, and the

governments response to both. In 2002 a group from the National Kapodistrian

University of Athens took comprehensive look at depictions of refugees in Greece and

Spain in photojournalism, specifically looking at how immigrants were presented as an

other. They found that the vast majority of photos portrayed immigrants as

expressionless, void of symbolic communication, and in large groups with other

immigrants (Batziou 41-60). They also noted that when immigrants were shown with

members of the local community it was usually with public service officers such as

policemen, hospital workers, or other rescuers. The combination of these elements

leads to a representation of immigrants as indistinguishable groups, who are devoid of

original story lines and are burdens to the local community. They also noted that within

newspapers, those that were traditionally conservative in leaning emphasized the

stereotypical otherness of immigrants more than traditionally liberal-leaning

organizations.

The media is in many ways a gatekeeper, choosing what events the public

knows about, and giving them the initial language to describe those events. Because of

this, the media can both choose to highlight issues or remove them from public

discussion (Happer and Philo). The media not only frames specific stories, but often

whole public narratives as they choose which stories are news worthy and what bias will
 Carter 8

be applied in reporting them. This shapes public opinion because it shapes what events

people know about, giving individuals a limited range of issues to care about.

And yet, when viewed alone these trends in terminology and visual

representation do not prove bias or its effect. To prove the effect of framing, one must

look to social science, particularly in regards to the construction of social identities and

the effect of ethnocentrism, prejudice and stereotyping.

Social identity theory defines identity as part of an individuals self-concept

which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a social group (or groups)

together with the emotional significance attached to that membership (Tajfel 65-93).

This leads to the construction of in-groups and out-groups. In-groups comprised of

individuals who share specific characteristics, such as race, gender, class level, or

ability. In regards to immigration any times these groups are formed between individuals

native to the country and those who are immigrating into it.

Being totally immersed within an in-group fosters ethnocentricity as in-group

members view those who are similar to them more positively and give each other the

benefit of the doubt. Ethnocentricity is defined in the common vernacular as an attitude

that ones own group is superiority and defined by social scientists as the tendency for

any people to put their own group in a position of centrality and worth while creating and

reinforcing negative attitudes and behaviors toward out-groups (Neuliep 205-209).

Sociologist James Neuliep conducted several studies regarding ethnocentricity and

came to the conclusion that ethnocentrism feeds into prejudice and discrimination,

noting that prejudice determines how people feel or think about a particular group, and

discrimination is the behavioral outcome (209). As a result of reinforcing ethnocentric

Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 9

nationalistic groups, the media serves to increase prejudice towards immigrants, which

effectively leads to discrimination.

To be fair, these prejudices are rarely created by the news organizations that tout

them. Rather, they enhance them, as news organizations create what Christian

Schemer of the University of Zurich refers to as enhanced accessibility of stereotypes.

By constantly presenting immigrants and other minority groups negatively, news

organizations increase the number of connections between negative emotions and the

topic of immigration. Unless thinking critically, the natural connections that people make

regarding policy decisions are those that happen quickly, organically, and easily. Thus,

when presented with a situation regarding immigration, a person makes the easiest

connection, which are those that are most readily available. Media perpetuation of

negative immigrant tropes keeps those stereotypical views at the forefront of

conversation and thought, making them the easiest connections. As such people are

likely to react to the topic of immigration negatively, both internally and when engaging

in public discourse.

The causes of these biases, and the effects they cause, are a complex cyclical

process that relates to where press information comes from, and who that information

benefits. It is important to note that many countries do not have an effective, functioning

press corps at all. In 2012 the Freedom House, a DC based non-profit that investigates

journalistic practices around the globe, found that only 13 percent of the world has

access to news where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is

guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to

onerous legal or economic pressures, bringing press freedom to the lowest levels in 12
 Carter 10

years (Freedom of the Press). In countries without a free press, there is no effort made

to curb bias, and the interests presented belong to the States, which not only cripples

freethinking and democracy, but also is a standard practice of autocratic and dictator led

governments.

Even in those countries with a democratic government where the press is free, it

is not without interests or biases, as often those media sources are owned not by the

state, but by private corporations. While there are ethical codes presented by various

professional organizations such as the Society of Professional Journalists and

Associated Press that attempt to provide guidelines for media coverage, business

interests can overcome those ethical codes. In the United States media ownership is

consolidated so heavily that six companies (Comcast, News-Corp, Disney, Viacom,

Time Warner and CBS) own 90% of all media outlets (Lutz). News Corp currently owns

the top newspaper in the US, Australia, and the UK. News Corp also owns Sky, the

large UK TV station, which is second only to the BBC, which is owned by the FOX

Corporation (Who Owns the UK Media).

There has been much criticism about the over-consolidation of media

organizations. One of the strongest arguments against monopolization of media has

pertained to an understanding that diverse media outlets lead to a healthy press, and

that diversity does not thrive under consolidation. Vertical integration leads to a limited

number of corporations selecting what media is consumable for the masses. Cohen-

Almagor and Seiterle argue that this consolidation is harmful to democracy, which

requires a free and healthy press to disseminate information to citizens so that they can

engage in a critical thinking process. In their opinion, excessive media ownership might
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 11

hinder pluralism of ideas, creating a media market that is tightly controlled by a few

decision makers who use their power and influence to project views that conform to

their partisan interests.

Consolidation of news organizations also contributes to an echo-chamber

phenomenon. In echo chambers, like-minded individuals consume the same media

outlets, receive the same information, and then make assumptions about those who are

portrayed by the news and who are consuming news from other sources then

themselves. This is a result of individuals increased ability to curate news that they

want to hear, which leads to denial of contradicting news sources when done in an

uncritical manner. Former US President Barack Obama has noted the danger of this,

stating that media consolidation leads to a situation in which everybody is listening to

people who already agree with them and are further and further reinforcing their

realities, to the neglect of a common reality, that allows us to have a healthy debate and

then try to find common ground and try to move solutions forward.

This is in part because it is not to the medias benefit to have solutions move

towards a common interest and away from polarized partisan interests. Within media

outlets, partisan interests often coincide with monetary interests. As corporations, it is in

the interest of the media to make money, and in order to generate money, whether it be

through ad sales or subscriptions, it is necessary to have a solid base of followers. In

the 24-hour news cycle, this requires not only turning out a constant stream of news

stories that will generate attention, but also being the first news outlet to break a story.

This leads to the selling of sensationalist, unreported stories, which is exacerbated by

functioning in a capitalist economy that relies on competition.

 Carter 12

It can also be argued that the consuming public has a responsibility to demand

news that is unbiased, and that lazy media consumption is in part responsible for lazy

journalism being accepted. The media, despite the lofty ethics that their professional

organizations aspire to, are in the end corporations with the aim to make money. As

such, there is a preference towards stories that will get attention, that are sensational

and emotional. Audience demand and interest shapes what news organizations cover,

because audience interests translate directly into money. Branton and Dunaway have

argued if audiences have a demand for news stories that are consistent with their

political viewpoints, this may give news organizations the incentive to slant news stories

in order to cater to a particular clientele.

Audience interests incentivize news outlets to produce stories that are biased

about more than merely politics. When news is treated as entertainment, the most

entertaining news sells. Many times this is news that is bloody, violent, or criminal.

According to the Pew Research Center, for the past two decades Americans have

shown a preference towards news stories that were in essence disasters and of those

that involved human causes, the top stories were about war, terrorism, or crime

(Robinson). A recent study by the American Press Institute argued that when looking at

news headlines online, people are more likely to engage with headlines that are

relevant to personal interests or happened nearby, news that gives them something to

talk about, and news that provokes emotional responses (Stroud). As such it makes

sense for corporations to want to write stories that are relevant, local, and emotional.

This is in and of itself not an inherently bad practice. However, it becomes insidious

when fair reporting is sacrificed for sensationalist and entertaining news. With
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 13

immigration, this local sensationalism is occurring at the expense of entire groups of

people, and has tangible consequences.

However, there is more to curating an engaging news story than proximity and

general emotion. News stories are more potent when they invoke personal fear. Curtis

Brainard argues in the Columbia Journalism Review that people interact with emotional,

local news that they believe will affect their life in a negative way. He argues, in

essence, that peoples' interest in news is much more intense when there is a perceived

threat to their way of life (qtd. in Greenslade). As such, it is in the economic interests of

news corporations to portray immigrants as violent, bloody criminals who are coming

into a country and harming the natives way of life. Stories of the other attacking are

far more prevalent in regions where there are larger immigrant populations. This relates

to research by Branton and Dunaway that found negative news bias towards immigrants

was correlated with proximity to the Mexican border, and that states sharing a border

with Mexico had both an increased number of stories about immigration and that they

were more biased. As such, there is an incentive to portray those moving into the

country as a threat, because people will engage more in those news stories, which

leads to increased profits. It is a cyclical process that is spurred on because news

corporations are capitalist organizations.

It is vitally important the public receives unbiased and truthful information about

immigration. This is true for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being that

immigration is by its very nature a global issue, affecting millions of people. The reasons

that people cross borders are nuanced and vast, and generally divided between those

who choose to move and those who are forced. Forced migration is a global
 Carter 14

humanitarian crisis caused by large-scale tragedies. People are pushed to migrate from

countries because of war, natural disaster, poverty, or persecution. These are massive

issues, which require global solutions. In order to ensure that nation-states are able to

work together to formulate and execute cohesive and sustainable migration solutions,

the populations of those countries must be accurately informed about what is happening

around the globe. This can only occur if the information that they are receiving is

accurate and unbiased.

This is becoming increasingly essential as political elections around the globe

become focused on immigration. Terrorism, foreign policy, and immigration were all in

the top six issues that Americans cared about during the 2016 presidential election

(Top voting issues in the 2016 election). Immigration is seen as the top influencer for

British voters as they went to the polls for the Brexit referendum. National sovereignty,

an issue directly linked to immigration, is poised to be the most important factor of the

2017 Presidential election in France (Johnstone). This is not an era in which nation

states can survive by purely nationalistic policies, and globalization as a political issue is

inherently present in immigration. As long as borders remain, there will also be those

who cross them, and there will be news organizations that are responsible for explaining

those events. If immigration continues to be an issue that heavily affects global politics,

then it is increasingly important that the information that voters have about immigration

is not only factual, but also emotionally accurate. In order to make informed decisions,

the public needs to understand the full implication of their public actions, particularly as

is pertains to affecting the lives of those crossing borders in the midst of a humanitarian
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 15

crisis. News organizations have the job of ensuring that the public receives that

information.

With the understanding that media bias is a deeply complex and vast problem,

there is then the question of what is to be done. Several options present themselves as

promising solutions. The first requires a severance of news interests and economic

interests, ideally by increased funding for and usage of publicly funded media such as

NPR and PBS in the United States. Public funding gives news organizations economic

freedom and allows them to pursue stories that require detailed, nuanced reporting.

There is less pressure to engage viewers for money, and that leads to less

sensationalist news stories. Public networks also have less pressure to write stories that

suit the narrative of the government in office at the time. As stated in a 2009 report on

public broadcast and political independence from New York University, not only have

public broadcasters continued to provide high-quality, diverse programming, they have

also been responsible for airing critical investigations of government performance

(Benson and Powers). The independence granted by being publicly funded leads not

only to better reporting, but to higher trust in media organizations, making their

messages more salient in the long wrong. An increase in the number of publicly funded

media organizations available will leads to an increase in neutral, thoughtful, accurate

reporting.

Similarly, there must be a change in the language and images used to describe

and depict immigrants. When describing migratory events, it is the responsibility of news

organizations to choose descriptors that provide the fullest image of the truth without

any bias. The Hutchins Commission, a meeting of new leaders about the rules of
 Carter 16

freedom of the press that occurred after World War II, lays out guidelines for ethical

journalism in regards to the social responsibility that news organizations have when

presenting and framing information. Among these include a requirement that the press

provide a truthful, comprehensive, and intelligent account of the days events in a

context which gives them meaning as well as one that projects a representative

picture of the constituent groups in society (Kuypers). These ethics hold true today, and

as the conversation about refugees, migrants, and immigrants happens in the news,

word choice matters, as discussed previously.

Encouragingly, some news organizations have already begun the process of

altering their word choice to stymie bias. The AP Stylebook, which provides guidelines

for how to use terms in journalism, stopped sanctioning usage of the term illegal

immigrant in 2013. They announced this, saying, that illegal should describe only an

action, such as living in or immigrating to a country illegally rather than the people

themselves (Colford). This is a response to the effect that bias can have, and a way to

avoid part of the sensationalist nature of media. Other news organizations have set their

own guidelines for discussing immigration. Al-Jazeera has moved away from using the

term migrant when describing those leaving war-torn countries, in an effort to use

language that accurately depicts experience. Instead they prefer to use language that

truthfully describes the situation that border crossers face without sanitizing it in any

way. Al Jazeera made this decision after acknowledging that when news organizations

apply reductive terminology to people, we help to create an environment in which a

British foreign minister can refer to "marauding migrants," and in which hate speech and

thinly veiled racism can fester (Malone). Removing language that intentionally
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 17

negatively frames events allows readers to construct an unbiased and fact-based

opinion of events, which fosters critical thinking about global events and the effect of

globalization.

One of the most progressive steps that news organizations can take is to include

the stories of refugees and migrants, as told from their perspective. Too often the lives

of migrants are reduced to impersonal and damaging statistics that leave out the human

aspect of being an immigrant or refugee. Emotion leads to empathy, and empathy is the

key to increased tolerance and understanding beyond cultural and country differences.

Some non-news networks are working to do this already, and the effect is clear. In 2015

Brandon Stanton, a photojournalist and the creator of the popular Humans of New

York blog, spent two weeks sharing the photos and stories of individuals and families

who were fleeing the Syrian war and had been granted asylum in the United States.

Stanton began a fundraiser to provide financial support to the 13 families he profiled,

and spurred on by the emotional stories and the images he had shared, managed to

raise over $750,000 for the 13 families (Sparks). This is evidence not only of the

generosity that humans can extend to each other, but how sharing stories can lead to

increased empathy, and in turn action.

It may never be possible to completely remove bias from news stories, as the

humans who write them will always write from their own lens, perspectives, and

personal bias. This is true of news in every country and will affect discussions of global

issues such as immigration, whose complex ties to foreign policies lead to varying levels

and saliencies of bias. However, it is possible to identify bias and hone critical thinking

skills that allow readers to parse through facts and fiction and determine what they
 Carter 18

believe to be true. By increasing their media and news literacy, which is in essence the

ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and critique the various forms that media takes,

individuals help to remove some of the effect that bias has.

There is also hope to be found in that media bias does not have the same effect

on all viewers. Schemer conducted a study looking into the long-term effects of media

bias on immigration attitudes, where he concluded that while the effects of media bias

were pervasive in the long term, they were more salient in those who were poorly

informed about immigration issues. To counteract this, individuals must inform

themselves about world events while also working to be analytical in their consumption.

Schemer recommends being critical of both the source and content of news in regards

to all controversial issues, not just pertaining to immigration. This requires education

about stereotypes so that they can be actively suppressed and individuals can

counteract the implicit stereotypical attitudes they receive from news organizations. But

first individuals must recognize the effects of negative biases and stereotypes in order

to realize their capacity to control and correct them. As Schemer states, the extent to

which individuals exert this control depends on their capacity and motivation to do so. It

is therefore pertinent to increase education not only about what stereotypes media

encourage, but the effects they have.

Immigration and globalization are deeply intertwined, and the attitudes that

people have about both are affected by the information available to them. A free and

unbiased press is necessary to support a functioning global system and to maintain

positive international relations between nation states. Unfortunately, this is not the kind

of journalism that is available across the globe today, particularly in regards to

Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 19

immigration. It is pertinent to curb the bias in the media pertaining to immigration. Its

effects are persistent, profound, and generally negative. In order to achieve this, media

publications would need to separate themselves from the sensationalist tendencies that

a consumer environment requires.

Perhaps unbiased coverage of immigration is a lofty dream. It would necessitate

sharing stories from the perspective of immigrants, using neutral terminology, and

working to increase empathy. However, if the media can achieve this, than it can serve

to increase global empathy, mobilize people to solve international humanitarian crisis,

and works towards healthy and culturally aware globalization. The media has immense

power to influence opinion, and by shaping stories around globalization ethically they

can encourage global practices that are beneficial to all involved.

 Carter 20

Works Cited
"A Decade of Immigration in the British Press." The Migration Observatory at the
University of Oxford, University of Oxford, 7 Nov. 2016,
www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/reports/decade-immigration-
british-press/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
Batziou, Athanasia. "Framing otherness in press photographs: The case of immigrants
in Greece and Spain." Journal of Media Practice, vol. 12, no. 1, 2011, pp. 41-
60. EBSCOhost. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.
Benson, Rodney, and Matthew Powers. "PUBLIC MEDIA AND POLITICAL
INDEPENDENCE: Lessons for the Future of Journalism from Around the
World." Free Press, Foundation to Promote Open Society.,
https://www.freepress.net/sites/default/files/stn-legacy/public-media-and-political-
independence.pdf. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Branton, Regina P., and Johanna Dunaway. "Slanted Newspaper Coverage of
Immigration: The Importance of Economics and Geography." Policy Studies
Journal, vol. 37, no. 2, May 2009. Wiley Online Library. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
Cisneros, J. David. "Contaminated Communities: The Metaphor of "Immigrant as
Pollutant" in Media Representations of Immigration." Rhetoric and Public Affairs,
vol. 11, no. 4, 2008, pp. 569-601. JSTOR,
https://www.jstor.org/stable/41940396?seq=11#page_scan_tab_contents.
Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.
Cohen-Almagor, Raphael, and Stefan Seiterle. "Excessive Media Ownership and Its
Potential Threats to Democracy: A Comparative Analysis." Annual Review of Law
and Ethics, vol. 12, no. 1, 2004, pp. 437-63. JSTOR. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
Colford, Paul. "'Illegal Immigrant' No More." The Associated Press, The Associated
Press, 2 Apr. 2013, https://blog.ap.org/announcements/illegal-immigrant-no-
more. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
Davie, G., Framing Theory. Weblog entry. Mass Comm Theory. 2015. Web. 1
https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/framing-theory/. 7 April 2017.
"ethnocentric." Def 1. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/ethnocentric. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
"Freedom of the Press 2016." Freedom House, Freedom House,
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016. Accessed
18 Apr. 2017.
Greenslade, Roy. "The good news about bad news - it sells." The Gaurdian, The
Gaurdian, Sept. 2007, https://www.theguardian.com/media/green
slade/2007/sep/04/thegoodnewsaboutbadnewsi. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Goffman, Erving. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience.
Northwestern University Press, 1974, https://is.muni.cz/el/1423/podzim2013/S
OC571E/um/E.Goffman-FrameAnalysis.pdf. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.
Happer, Catherine, and Greg Philo. "The Role of the Media in the Construction of Public
Belief and Social Change." Journal of Social and Political Psychology, vol. 1, no.
1, 2013. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
"Immigration Ban 1.31.2017." Ipsos Poll Conducted for Reuters, Ipsos Public Affairs,
Feb. 2017, www.ipsos-na.com/download/pr.aspx?id=16379. Accessed 10 Apr.
2017.
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 21

Joffee, Helene. "The Power of Visual Material: Persuasion, Emotion and

Identification." Diogenes, International Council for Philosophy and Human
Studies, 2008, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helene_Joffe
/publication/251061419_Le_pouvoir_de_l'image_persuasion_emotion_et_identifi
cation/links/544501b40cf2534c7660293d.pdf. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.
Johnstone, Diana. "The Main Issue in the French Presidential Election: National
Sovereignty." CounterPunch, CounterPunch, 21 Apr. 2017. Accessed 24 Apr.
2017
Kuypers, Jim A. Press Bias and Politics: How the Media Frame Controversial Issues.
Westport, Praeger Publishers, 2002, pp. 200-01.
Lee, MJ. "Obama re-emerges in public after avoiding political spotlight." CNN, CNN, 25
Apr. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/04/24/politics/obama-first-public-speaking/.
Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Lutz, Ashley. "These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America." Buisness
Insiders, 14 June 2012. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
Malone, Barry. "Why Al Jazeera will not say Mediterranean 'migrants' The word migrant
has become a largely inaccurate umbrella term for this complex
story." AlJazeera, AlJazeera, 20 Aug. 2015, www.aljazeera.com/blogs/editors-
blog/2015/08/al-jazeera-mediterranean-migrants-150820082226309.html.
Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
"Migration and History." Regional Conference on Migration, International Organization
for Migration, www.rcmvs.org/documentos/IOM_EMM/v1/V1S03_CM.pdf.
Accessed 10 Apr. 2017.
Neulip, James. Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach. 6th ed., SAGE,
2015, pp. 205-09.
Obama, Barack. "Post Presidency Interview." University of Chicago, 25 Apr. 2017,
Chicago, barackobama.com. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Passel, Jeffery S., and D'Vera Cohn. "Immigration projected to drive growth in U.S.
working-age population through at least 2035." Pew Research Forum,
PewResearch Center, 8 Mar. 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2017/03/08/immigration-projected-to-drive-growth-in-u-s-working-age-
population-through-at-least-2035/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Pieterse, Jan Nederveen. Globalization and Culture: Global Melange. Third ed.,
Lanham, Maryland, Rowman and Litterfield, 2009.
Robinson, Michael J. "Two Decades of American News Preferences - Part 2: News
Interest across Decades." PewResearch Forum, PewResearch Center, 22 Aug.
2007, www.pewresearch.org/2007/08/22/two-decades-of-american-news-
preferences-2/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.
Rossenberg, Andrea. "EU-Turkey migrant deal done." DW, Deutsche Welle,
www.dw.com/en/eu-turkey-migrant-deal-done/a-19127595. Accessed 17 Apr.
2017.
Ruz, Camila. "The battle over the words used to describe migrants." BBC, 28 Aug.
2015, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34061097. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
Sander IV, Lewis. "Two million: Germany records largest influx of immigrants in
 Carter 22

2015." DW, Deutsche Welle, 21 Mar. 2017, www.dw.com/en/two-million-

germany-records-largest-influx-of-immigrants-in-2015/a-19131436. Accessed 17
Apr. 2017.
Schemer, Christian. "The Influence of New Meida on Stereotypic Attitudes Toward
Immigrants in a Political Campaign." Journal of Communication, vol. 62, 2012,
pp. 739-53. JStor. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
Sparks, Kira. "Humans of New York Smashes Goal to Raise $750,000 for Syrian
Refugees." Indiegogo, Indiegogo, 9 Feb. 2016,
https://go.indiegogo.com/blog/2016/02/humans-of-new-york-syrian-
refugees.html. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. Third ed., Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2013.
Stroud, Natalie J. "Why We Click on News Stories." American Press Institute, American
Press Institute, 14 Mar. 2017, https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/
publications/research-review/why-we-click-on-news-stories/. Accessed 25 Apr.
2017.
Tajfel, Henri. "Social Identity and Intergroup Behavior." Social Science Information, vol.
13, no. 2, pp. 65-93. SAGE, journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/05
3901847401300204. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
"The 1951 Refugee Convention." The U Refugee Agency, UNHCR,
www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0e466.html. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
"The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and It's 1967 Protocol." The
UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/en-us/about-
us/background/4ec262df9/1951-convention-relating-status-refugees-its-1967-
protocol.html. Accessed 11 Apr. 2017.
"Top voting issues in 2016 election." People Press, PewResearch Center, 7 July 2016,
www.people-press.org/2016/07/07/4-top-voting-issues-in-2016-election/.
Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Top 25 Destinations of International Migrants." Migration Policy Institute, MPI, 2015,
www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/charts/top-25-destinations-
international-migrants?width=1000&height=850&iframe=true. Accessed 17 Apr.
2017.
Trump, Donald J. "Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing Muslim Immigration." ,
Donald Trump Presidential Campaign, 7 Dec. 2015,
https://www.donaldjdrumpf.com/press-releases/donald-j.-trump-statement-on-
preventing-muslim-immigration. Accessed 10 Apr. 2017.
Wadsworth, Jonathon, Swati Dhingra, Gianmarco Ottaviano, and John Van Reenan.
"Brexit and the Impact of Immigration on the UK." The London School of
Economics and Political Science, Centre for Economic Performance, 2016,
cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/brexit05.pdf. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017.
"Who Owns The UK Media." Media Reform Coalition, Media Standards Trust,
www.mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Who_owns_the_
UK_media-report_plus_appendix1.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr. 2017.
Zong, Jie, and Leanna Batalova. "Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and
Bias in Media Coverage of Global Immigration 23

Immigration in the United States." Migration Policy Institute, MPI, 8 Mar. 2017,
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-
immigration-united-states#CurrentHistoricalNumbers. Accessed 17 Apr. 2017