The “Refugee Crisis” as a Eurocentric Media Construct: An Exploratory Analysis of Pro-Migrant Media Representations in the Guardian and the New York Times

Abstract

This article presents a critical analysis of how two elite media publications in the United States and the United Kingdom, the New York Times and the Guardian/Observer respectively, represented the so-called European refugee crisis in their editorials. The study foregrounds a media aporia of why Europe did not abide with human rights and democratic values vis-à-vis the refugee drama and a subsequent nostalgia for a European past of democracy and transnational unity that never really existed. These media representations, although sympathetic towards migrants, are inherently Eurocentric, helping to reproduce the existing repressive global migration regime because they do not see the crisis as a continuation of its coloniality but as a rupture.

Migrant Racialization on Twitter during a border and a pandemic crisis

“…The threatening representation appeared to be prominent in relation to the Evros crisis and the humanitarian representation was prominent in relation to the refugee camps, that is when migrants were already in the Greek reception context but not when they were en route to Greece. This fits the problematization of both positive and negative migrant representations as inherently Eurocentric ( Avraamidou, 2020 ), because in the case of the camps the migrants fit well within the victims/voiceless/helpless frame, justifying calls for humanitarianism, this time on health grounds. In the case of Evros, the other fits the Eurocentric frame of violent/male/inferior ( Gutiérrez, 2018 ) and thus unwanted other, who may also be a virus spreader.…”

“…Specifically, humanitarianism in media concerns the promotion of care and compassion to migrants ( Chouliaraki et al, 2017 ); UK media emphasized justice for migrants when their human rights were overwhelmingly violated ( KhosraviNik et al, 2012 ), and in Canada, migrants were represented as needed in some economic sectors, but still unwanted ( Bauder, 2005 ). During the 2015 refugee crisis, national media in Europe stressed generosity towards refugees ( Dahlgren, 2016 ; Kadianaki et al, 2018 ), and UK and US media emphasized migrant contributions to the economy while underlining the alarming numbers of people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea to raise sympathy ( Avraamidou, 2020 ). However, by depicting migrants merely as sufferers or as economic assets, media contribute towards legitimizing discrimination against those not fitting in these frames ( Kadianaki et al, 2018 ), like sketching economic migrants as undeserving for not fitting the refugee frame ( Kyriakides, 2017 ).…”

“…The study of the relation between traditional media and migration is a well-travelled trail ( Cohen, 2002 ; Cooper et al, 2020 ; Xu, 2020 ), which is increasingly focusing on social media and migration ( Ekman, 2018 ; Lee and Nerghes, 2018 ; Ozduzen et al, 2020 ; Rettberg and Gajjala, 2016 ) and their intersections ( Pöyhtäri et al, 2019 ; Siapera et al, 2018 ). The representational field, offline and online, around migrants and refugees in the Global north moves between securitization and humanitarianism ( Siapera et al, 2018 ) shaped by Eurocentrism and orientalism ( Avraamidou, 2020 ; Xu, 2020 ). As argued, media remain trapped in post-colonial mentalities representing Europe as civilized or generous and its former colonies as underdeveloped and weak ( Cioban, 2016 ).…”

Migrants as ‘pawns’: Antimigrant debates on Twitter and their affinity to European border politics and discourses

“…Himmel and Baptista (2020) explored migration discourses in German and Portuguese media between 2011 and 2017 and found, for example, that when migrants or refugees were assigned as ‘the Other’, being European was equaled to not being Muslim. Interestingly, research illustrated the multiple and often conflicting media representations of Europe, and the EU in particular, in national media, thus shedding light on its inherent fragmentation and intra-antagonisms for and against close migration policies, and on what being European means (Avraamidou et al, 2018; Avraamidou, 2020).…”

Refugee Migration to Europe – Current Challenges and Potentials for Cities and Regions

“…Avraamidou (2020) has also followed this theme by questioning how the New York Times and the Guardian have described the so-called European refugee crisis in their editorials. She argues that these media representations, while sympathetic to migrants, are inherently Eurocentric and contribute to reproducing the existing repressive global migration regime because they see the crisis as a rupture rather than a continuation of coloniality (Avraamidou 2020).…”