Volume index - Journal index - Article index - Map ---- Back

Comunicar Journal 71: Hate speech in communication: Research and proposals (Vol. 30 - 2022)

A systematic literature review of the representations of migration in Brazil and the United Kingdom

https://doi.org/10.3916/C71-2022-04

Isabella Gonçalves

Yossi David

Abstract

In recent decades, increased scholarly attention has been paid to the interactions between immigration, media coverage, framing, and the rise of populism. This paper draws on these interactions to systematically review peer-reviewed articles related to media representations of immigrants and refugees in Brazil and the United Kingdom (UK). The objective was to identify the tone used in such representations and the research methods applied in the articles. This is the first systematic literature review that compares studies on media and immigration including both Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) and non-WEIRD countries. This paper uses Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) to collect, map, and systematize 47 peer-reviewed articles published in the past two decades. The findings show that, in the studies we analyzed, the tone of representation of refugees in the media in both countries is negative. Mass media underrepresent the main actors and use stereotypes and discourses of otherization. This paper contributes to our understanding of the differences between studies, including those conducted in the UK and Brazil, and calls for more comparative studies that include countries from the global south and global north. It also demonstrates the standardization of frames and tone of representation on immigration in both countries, suggesting similar patterns across different countries.

Keywords

Immigrants, refugees, representation, systematic review, mass media studies, scientific production

PDF file in Spanish

PDF file in English

References

Albuquerque, A. (2012). On models and margins: Comparative media models viewed from a Brazilian perspective. In D.C. Hallin, & P. Mancini (Eds), Comparing media systems beyond the western world (pp. 72-95). https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139005098.006

Almeida, C., & Brandão, B. (2015). Imigração, mídia e sociabilidade dos Haitianos [Immigration, media and the Haitian sociability]. Revista Observatório, 1(3), 62-79. https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.2447-4266.2015v1n3p62

Amores, J.J., Calderón, C.A., & Stanek, M. (2019). Visual frames of migrants and refugees in the main western European media. Economics and Sociology, 12(3), 147-161. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2019/12-3/10

Aragão, T., & Santil, V. (2018). Somos migrantes: O uso das redes sociais na produção midiática alternativa sobre a migração venezuelana em Roraima [We are Migrants: The use of social networks in alternative media production on Venezuelan immigration in Roraima]. Aturá Revista Pan-Amazônica de Comunicação, 2(1), 136-156. https://bit.ly/3s2eYKx

Araújo, B., & Prior, H. (2020). Framing political populism: The role of media in framing the election of Jair Bolsonaro. Journalism Practice, 15(2), 226-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2019.1709881

Aydemir, N., & Vliegenthart, R. (2018). Public discourse on minorities: How discursive opportunities shape representative patterns in the Netherlands and the UK. Nationalities Papers, 46(2), 237-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1342077

Balabanova, E. (2019). Communicating cosmopolitanism during times of crisis: UNHCR and the World Refugee Day campaign in the UK and Bulgaria. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 11(3), 467-485. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huz029

Bates, D. (2017). The "red door" controversy: Middlesbrough's asylum seekers and the discursive politics of racism. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 27(2), 126-136. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2300

Benson, R. (2013). Shaping immigration news: A French-American comparison. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139034326

Bilewicz, M., & Soral, W. (2020). Hate speech epidemic. The Dynamic effects of derogatory language on intergroup relations and political radicalization. Political Psychology, 41(1), 3-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12670

Brignol, L.D., & Costa, N.D. (2018a). A saga e o sofrimento do outro senegalês: A construção do racismo em representações midiáticas da migração [Saga and suffering of the Senegalese other: building racism into media representations of migration]. Chasqui, 138,135-151. https://bit.ly/2Y7QC5I

Brignol, L.D., & Costa, N.D. (2018b). Diáspora senegalesa e mediação tecnológica: Entre tempos e lugares na observação do Magal de Touba. Contracampo, 37(1), 9-29. https://doi.org/10.22409/contracampo.v0i0.1079

Chakravartty, P., Kuo, R., Grubbs, V., & Mcilwain, C. (2018). #CommunicationSoWhite. Journal of Communication, 68(2). 254-266. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy003

Cogo, D. (2018). O Haiti é Aqui: Mídia, imigração haitiana e racismo no Brasil [Haiti is here: Media, Haitian immigration and racism in Brazil]. Chasqui, 139, 427-448. https://bit.ly/39Rs82F

Cogo, D., & Silva, T. (2015). Entre a “fuga” e a “invasão”: lteridade e cidadania da imigração haitiana na mídia brasileira [Between escape and invasion: otherness and citizenship of Haitian immigration in the Brazilian media]. Revista Famecos, 23(1), 21885. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2016.1.21885

Consterdine, E. (2018). State-of-the-art report on public attitudes, political discourses and media coverage on the arrival of refugees. CEASEVAL Research on the Common European Asylum System. https://bit.ly/3oRAgIV

Costa, T. (2015). A b-on e a preservação digital de periódicos eletrónicos: O projeto Portico. In Ligar. Transformar. Criar Valor. 12º Congresso Nacional de Bibliotecários, Arquivistas e Documentalistas. Évora. https://bit.ly/3AWs0uT

Dadalto, M.C. (2013). Imigração e permanência do sonho [Immigration and staying in the dream]. Matrizes, 7(2), 249-263. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1982-8160.v7i2p249-263

Eberl, J.M., Meltzer, C.E., Heidenreich, T., Herrero, B., Theorin, N., Lind, F., Berganza, R., Boomgaarden, H.G., Schemer, C., & Strömbäck, J. (2018). The European media discourse on immigration and its effects: A literature review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 42(3), 207-223. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2018.1497452

Evans, G., & Mellon, J. (2019). Immigration, Euroscepticism, and the rise and fall of UKIP. Party Politics, 25(1), 76-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068818816969

Fengler, S., Bastian, M., Brinkmann, J., Zappe, A. C., Tatah, V., Andindilile, M., Assefa, E., Chibita, M., Mbaine, A., Obonyo, L., Quashigah, T., Skleparis, D., Splendore, S., Tadesse, M., & Lengauer, M. (2020). Covering migration —in Africa and Europe: Results from a comparative analysis of 11 countries. Journalism Practice, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1792333

Froio, C., & Ganesh, B. (2019). The transnationalisation of far-right discourse on Twitter: Issues and actors that cross borders in Western European democracies. European Societies, 21(4), 513-539. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2018.1494295

Gibson, S., & Booth, R. (2018). "An Australian-style points system": Individualizing immigration in radical right discourse in the 2015 U.K. General election campaign. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 24(4), 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000267

Hallin, D.C., & Mancini, P. (2004). Comparing media systems: Three models of media and politics. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511790867

Hamlin, R. (2016). "Foreign criminals", the human rights act, and the new constitutional politics of the United Kingdom. Journal of Law and Courts, 4(2), 437-461. https://doi.org/10.1086/687409

Harper, C.A., & Hogue, T.E. (2019). The role of intuitive moral foundations in Britain's vote on EU membership. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 29(2), 90-103. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2386

Heidenreich, T., Lind, F., Eberl, J.M., & Boomgaarden, H.G. (2019). Media framing dynamics of the "European refugee crisis": A comparative topic modelling approach. Journal of Refugee Studies, 32(1), 172-182. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez025

Hughes, C. (2019). It's the EU immigrants stupid! UKIP's core-issue and populist rhetoric on the road to Brexit. European Journal of Communication, 34(3), 248-266. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323119830050

Javorski, E., & Brignol, L. (2017). Journalists and their role in selecting and building news on contemporary transnational migrations. Brazilian Journalism Research, 13(2), 28-45. https://doi.org/10.25200/bjr.v13n2.2017.985

Kaleda, C. (2014). Media perceptions: Mainstream and grassroots media coverage of refugees in Kenya and the effects of global refugee policy. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 33(1), 94-111. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdt025

Koopmans, R. (2004). Migrant mobilisation and political opportunities: Variation among German cities and a comparison with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(3), 449-470. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830410001682034

Kroon, A.C, Trilling, D., Van-der-Meer, T.G.L.A, & Jonkman, J.G.F. (2020). Clouded reality: News representations of culturally close and distant ethnic outgroups. Communications, 45(s1), 744-764. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2019-2069

Lams, L. (2018). Discursive constructions of the summer 2015 refugee crisis: A comparative analysis of French, Dutch, Belgian francophone and British centre-of-right press narratives. Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies, 7(1), 103-127. https://doi.org/10.1386/ajms.7.1.103_1

Langer, A.I., & Gruber, J.B. (2021). Political agenda setting in the hybrid media system: Why legacy media still matter a great deal. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 26(2), 313-340. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161220925023

Lawlor, A. (2015). Local and national accounts of immigration framing in a cross-national perspective. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41(6), 918-941. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.1001625

Levy, D., Aslan, B., & Bironzo, D. (2016). UK press coverage of the EU referendum. Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. https://bit.ly/39P5Rm6

Lima, M., Ávila, O., & Silva, A. (2016). Aspectos da representação dos imigrantes haitianos no jornal Gazeta do Povo, de Curitiba/PR. Intexto, 35, 51-75. https://doi.org/10.19132/1807-8583201635.51-75

Lima-Pimentel, M., & Castro-Cotinguiba, G. (2014). Wout, raketè, fwontyè, anpil mizè: Reflexões sobre os limites da alteridade em relação à imigração haitiana para o Brasil [Wout, raketè, fwontyè, anpil mizè: Reflections on the limits of otherness in relation to Haitian immigration to Brazil[. Universitas: Relações Internacionais, 12(1), 73-86. https://doi.org/10.5102/uri.v12i1.2861

Lugo-Ocando, J. (2020). The 'changing' face of media discourses on poverty in the age of populism and anti-globalisation: The political appeal of anti-modernity and certainty in Brazil. International Communication Gazette, 82(1), 101-116. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748048519880749

Mancini, P., Mazzoni, M., Barbieri, G., Damiani, M., & Gerli, M. (2021). What shapes the coverage of immigration. Journalism, 22(4), 845-866. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884919852183

Masini, A. (2019). Consonance and diversity of voices and viewpoints: A new paradigm to study actors' cumulative influence on viewpoints in immigration news. International Journal of Communication, 13, 674-692. https://bit.ly/2YaUbry

Masini, A., Van-Aelst, P., Zerback, T., Reinemann, C., Mancini, P., Mazzoni, M., Damiani, M., & Coen, S. (2018). Measuring and explaining the diversity of voices and viewpoints in the news: A comparative study on the determinants of content diversity of immigration news. Journalism Studies, 19(15), 2324-2343. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2017.1343650

Matthes, J., & Schmuck, D. (2017). The effects of anti-immigrant right-wing populist ads on implicit and explicit attitudes: A moderated mediation model. Communication Research, 44(4), 556-581. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215577859

McCombs, M., & Valenzuela, S. (2007). The agenda-setting theory. Cuadernos.Info, 1(20), 44-50. https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.20.111

McCombs, M.E., & Shaw, D.L. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(2), 176-187. https://doi.org/10.1086/267990

Mizga, L.S., & Trovão, S.S. (2018). Conflitos contemporâneos: A categoria refugiado no telejornalismo brasileiro [Contemporary conflict: The refugee category in brazilian telejournalism]. Revista Observatório, 4(5), 512-535. https://doi.org/10.20873/uft.2447-4266.2018v4n5p512

Moher, D., Shamseer, L., Clarke, M., Ghersi, D., Liberati, A., Petticrew, M., Shekelle, P., Stewart, L.A., & Group, P.P. (2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic Reviews, 4(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/2046-4053-4-1

Morais, V.M., & Santos, L.C. (2017). Mediações e cibercultura: Estudo de comentários em matéria jornalística sobre a imigração venezuelana em Roraima [Mediation and Cyberculture: Study of journalistic comments on Venezuelan immigration in Roraima]. Aturá, 1(2), 120-144. https://bit.ly/3inBqIi

Moreira, S., Sousa, M., & Fortuna, V. (2019). Imigrantes sem voz: A produção de silêncio na cobertura jornalística das manifestações anti-imigração [Voiceless immigrants: The lack of press coverage on anti-immigration demonstrations]. Contracampo, 38(2), 23-35. https://doi.org/10.22409/contracampo.v38i2.28514

Moreira, S.V. (2005). Trends and new challenges in journalism research in Brazil. Brazilian Journalism Research, 1(2), 9-24. https://doi.org/10.25200/bjr.v1n2.2005.51

Novoselova, O.V. (2020). Peculiarities of modern nationalist messages in online political communication: The analyses of Donald Trump’s and Jair Bolsonaro’s election campaigns. Changing Societies and Personalities, 4(3), 350-371. https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2020.4.3.105

Paz, M.A., Montero-Díaz, J., & Moreno-Delgado, A. (2020). Hate speech: A systematized review. SAGE Open, 10(4), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020973022

Pereira-Lima, R.C., & Faria-Campos, P.H. (2015). Campo e grupo: Aproximação conceitual entre Pierre Bourdieu e a teoria moscoviciana das representações sociais [Field and group: A conceptual approximation between Pierre Bourdieu and the social representation theory of Moscovici]. Educação e Pesquisa, 41(1), 63-77. https://doi.org/10.1590/s1517-97022015011454

Pruitt, L.J. (2019). Closed due to 'flooding'? UK media representations of refugees and migrants in 2015-2016- creating a crisis of borders. British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 21(2), 383-402. https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148119830592

Ranincheski, S., & Uebel, R.R.G. (2018). “Polícia Federal deporta 450 imigrantes ilegais venezuelanos de Roraima”: Um estudo sobre remediation, positivismo e pós-positivismo no jornal O Globo. Diálogo, 37, 39-52. https://doi.org/10.18316/dialogo.v0i37.3879

Risam, R. (2018). Now you see them: Self-representation and the refugee selfie. Popular Communication, 16(1), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2017.1413191

Ryan, C., & Reicher, S. (2019). An analysis of the nature and use of promigrant representations in an antideportation campaign. Political Psychology, 40(3), 583-598. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12526

Sacramento, I., & Machado, I.B. (2015). A imigração como risco para a saúde: Análise das representações do imigrante africano na cobertura da Folha de S. Paulo sobre o ébola. Comunicação e Sociedade, 28, 25-47. https://doi.org/10.17231/comsoc.28(2015).2269

Scalvini, M. (2016). A crisis of religious diversity: Debating integration in post-immigration Europe. Discourse and Communication, 10(6), 614-634. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481316674779

Schemer, C. (2012). The influence of news media on stereotypic attitudes toward immigrants in a political campaign. Journal of Communication, 62(5), 739-757. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01672.x

Schumann, S., Osborne, D., Gill, P., Fell, B.F., & Hewstone, M. (2020). Radical news? Immigrants' television use, acculturation challenges, and support for terrorism. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 13(4), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/19434472.2020.1779782

Seate, A.A., & Mastro, D. (2017). Exposure to immigration in the news: The impact of group-level emotions on intergroup behavior. Communication Research, 44(6), 817-840. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215570654

Shan-Jan, S.L. (2019). Framing immigration: A content analysis of newspapers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 9(4), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2019.1674162

Shehaj, A., Shin, A.J., & Inglehart, R. (2021). Immigration and right-wing populism: An origin story. Party Politics, 27(2), 282-293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068819849888

Silva, A.L. (2020). Imigrações na América Latina em tempos de globalização e mídia [Immigration of populations in latin america in globalization times and the media] Tópicos Educacionais, 26(1), 183-204. https://doi.org/10.51359/2448-0215.2020.245667

Skoric, M.M. (2014). The implications of big data for developing and transitional economies: Extending the triple helix? Scientometrics, 99(1), 175-186. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-013-1106-5

Theodoro, H., & Cogo, D. (2020). Sociocommunicational (in)visibilities in the/of the queer diaspora. Palabra Clave, 23(3), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2020.23.3.2

Tonus, J.L. (2018). Migrantes e refugiados: À (a) espera de uma narrativa? Letras De Hoje, 53(4), 476-483. https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-7726.2018.4.33009

Vasconcelos, D. (2004). Biblioteca do conhecimento online: um novo impulso para a sociedade da informação. Cadernos BAD, 2004(1), 116-123. https://bit.ly/3ii2Csc

Vautier, E. (2009). Playing the "race card": White anxieties and the expression and repression of popular racisms in the 1997 UK election. Patterns of Prejudice, 43(2), 122-141. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313220902793880

Walter, S. (2019). Better off without you? How the British media portrayed EU citizens in Brexit news. International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(2), 210-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218821509

Winiewski, M., Hansen, K., Bilewicz, M., Soral, W., ?widerska, A., & Bulska, D. (2017). Contempt speech, hate speech. Report from research on verbal violence against minority groups. Stefan Batory Foundation. https://bit.ly/2ZX2RCS

Wirz, D.S., Wettstein, M., Schulz, A., Müller, P., Schemer, C., Ernst, N., Esser, F., & Wirth, W. (2018). The effects of right-wing populist communication on emotions and cognitions toward immigrants. International Journal of Press/Politics, 23(4), 496-516. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218788956

Zanforlin, S., & Cogo, D. (2019). Mídia, mobilidade e cidadania no contexto do capitalismo global: Reflexões a partir da trajetória de um refugiado sírio [Media, mobility and citizenship in global capitalism: reflextions based on the trajectory of a Syrian refugee]. Contemporânea, 17(1), 7-28. https://doi.org/10.9771/contemporanea.v17i1.25222

Zelenkauskaite, A., & Bucy, E. P. (2016). A scholarly divide: Social media, big data, and unattainable scholarship. First Monday, 21(5). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v21i5.6358