Between Two Crises: News Framing of Migration during the Greek-Turkish Border Crisis and COVID-19 in Greece

Abstract

ABSTRACT Migration has been one of the most divisive issues in global politics and media has played a significant role in how people perceive and respond to it. This study employs peace journalism and framing theory to examine how Greek media portrayed migration to Greece during a dual crisis in early 2020: a Greek-Turkish border crisis and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It contributes to previous literature in two important ways. First, by offering insights of news coverage of migration in the aftermath of the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe. Second, by examining the less-researched topic of media representations of migration during the pandemic. Results indicate that refugees and migrants are dehumanized in media discourse, portrayed as “enemies at the gate” of Europe and as carriers of the virus. The content analysis finds variations between different media outlets including language, approach, problem/threat definition and stereotypes. The article also identifies important similarities in news coverage; most notably, the dominance of political elites as sources across all media content, the absence of refugee/migrant voice and the focus on policies of border control and enforcement. We suggest that these patterns ultimately function to obscure the complexity of the refugee and migration issue.