The European “migration crisis” and the media: A cross-European press content analysis

This report presents the main findings of our cross-European analysis of the press across eight European countries, as well as in the two main European Arabic language newspapers. This was a systematic content analysis which focussed on three peak moments in the crisis, in the 2015 summer, early autumn and late autumn. Developing a content analysis of influential press in a six-month period across eight European countries plus two of Europe’s major Arab language newspapers, this report offers a cross-national comparative perspective on the dynamics of news reporting. The study consequently provides a comprehensive view of variations in the representation of migrants and refugees across national press cultures and across time, offering reflections on the implications these have on European media as spaces of representation for distant others.