How are refugees represented in the media?

The way news is presented influences the way people interpret the reality that surrounds them. The path that leads to the constitution of representational spaces, or to the legitimization of the image of a certain population, is never easy to circumscribe. However, the discussion and reflection about which image to choose, which perspective, what to focus on, who to interview, is in the daily practice of journalists, and the media are privileged channels through which interpretations of reality are disseminated and through which conditions are created to believe them.

Much of the space and time in the media has been devoted to the recent influx of refugees arriving in Europe, fleeing essentially from war contexts, showing the importance of how certain messages are transmitted.

Although not always homogeneous, some media discourses have contributed to mediatize and legitimize racist anti-migration movements and the increasingly strict control of both the European external borders and the temporary suspension of the Schengen Area. How do journalists working in the area of migration position themselves in this regard? What arguments or working conditions underlie these discourses? Is the cut in funding for reporting abroad conditioning the way we receive news from other parts of the world? What is the impact of the images presented and the discourses disseminated in the media on the way we think?

With this meeting we intend to continue and boost the group's activity - "Refugees and Migrations: Initiatives and Reflections (RMIR)", which was formed following the interest expressed by several researchers in the area of migrations in contributing to a space for public debate.

RMIR is composed of a group of researchers from various areas of social sciences and humanities who, in the past, have already participated in several initiatives: a public position statement in Le Monde Diplomatique (Portuguese edition), organization, last November, of the workshop entitled "Refugees and emergencies in housing" and the debate "The Mediterranean crisis belongs to everyone!

More information about the event here.

Information about RMIR activities here.