![]() ![]() Representations of mobility by Britain’s left-wing and centre-right newspapers reproduce visions of ‘invasion’ that, although in different ways, produce an image of a ‘threat’ to the British nation. The study historicizes these media representations and reveals that the discourse they employ advances the racialised mix of knowledge and historical amnesia. This paper uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse a sample of 400 articles from two national quality newspapers, The Guardian and The Times, and compares coverage across the political spectrum. These 4 years form the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ and the UK’s debate on its relationship with the European Union (EU) and the free movement of people that it entailed. This paper contributes to our understanding of public debates over migration by examining dynamics within press coverage of arrivals of migrants and refugees in the UK between 20. ![]() Through editorials and news generated during periods of intense debate over the costs and benefits of population influx and anxiety over ‘undesirable’ immigration, newspapers have provided an important platform for a national conversation on various aspects of British migration, inclusion and exclusion from national citizenship and belonging. ![]() In the newspapers, debates have centred around the wisdom and utility of high rates of emigration from Britain, to fear and hostility to increasing immigration into Britain from Ireland, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East (Dorling and Tomlinson, 2019). While much of the population movement has over the years generated little comment (Bhambra, 2016), at other times, it has become a topic of heated debates. British communities have never been static, with people moving in, out, and about. The paper considers the exclusion of history and migrant voices from stories told to the British audience and reflects on their domestic and international implications.įor most of its history, Britain has been a migrant country. History, that could explain the causes of ‘migration’, the distant conflicts and Britain’s role in them, is also nowhere to be found. Migrant voice is largely missing from the coverage. The study historicizes these media narratives and reveals that the discourse they employ advances the racialised mix of knowledge and historical amnesia and reproduces the age-old hierarchies of the colonial system which divided humans into superior and inferior species. The paper argues that media representations turn refugees into ‘migrants’ and portray them as either a threat to the national economy and security or as passive victims of distant circumstances. Based on a sample of 400 articles from two national newspapers, The Guardian and The Times, the paper compares the content and discourse between the left-wing and right-wing press. This paper looks at how the British media addressed the issue of migration in Europe between 20, four years when the topic was high on news and political agendas, due to the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ and the UK’s debate on Britain’s relationship with the European Union and free movement of people. ![]()
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