Perception of the Media Discourse on Migration in Spain before and During Covid-19: Different Stakeholders’ Views and Good Practices

Abstract

Owing to Covid-19, migration was not a main media topic in Spain in 2020. However, the spring of 2021 witnessed an upturn in media coverage of migration, which coincided with the regional election campaigns and the Ceuta migrant crisis. In this study, our main objectives were to i) analyze the opinions of various stakeholders, both individuals and civil society organizations, regarding media discourse on migration and forced migration before and during the pandemic, and ii) compile and propose good practices to improve these narratives and hence their potential effect on the integration of migrants. For this purpose, we conducted 25 interviews in 2019 with highly vulnerable, forcibly displaced people. We also administered an open-ended questionnaire to 16 representatives of national and international stakeholders, including policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, researchers, educators, businesses, and migrants, in the spring of 2021. The collected data displayed a wide range of perspectives from different stakeholders regarding the potential consequences of media discourse on migrants. In addition, we compiled the existing and novel proposals for good practices that may counteract biased communication and, consequently, give rise to the development of new measures for potential replication in other regions.

Keywords

• migration discourse
• Covid-19
• forced migration
• good practices
• media effects