Refugees and migrants in the Portuguese national press, in 2015 and 2022

Abstract

Europe has always been an option for people around the world that want to pursue a better life or leave their own countries trying to survive. In 2015, Europe lived one of the biggest crises of refugees and migrants, mainly in connection with the war in Syria; now, in 2022, it is living another crisis, because Russia invaded Ukraine and millions have fled the country seeking protection in EU Countries. The attitude of Europe in relation to either cases involving refugee flows from Syria or Ukraine has been completely different though. This dissertation aims to understand to what extent the narrative content transmitted by the news reflects and possibly fuels the different attitudes towards the two events. The dissertation is based on a qualitative analysis of articles in four Portuguese newspapers. The research illustrates the divergent patterns and interpretative frames used by the Portuguese written press to approach the two cases, despite the factual similarities in the two cases. The conclusion is that by adopting a “double standard”, the media may have influenced some differences in overall Europe's attitude toward the two crises.