No government mouthpieces: Changes in the framing of the “migration crisis” in German news and infotainment media

Abstract

This study investigates the German media’s framing of the 2015–2016 “migration crisis” and their support and criticism of the initial open-door policy. A standardized content analysis examines changes in media frames following the key event of assaults on New Year’s Eve (NYE) 2015. It is analyzed how changes in coverage differed between public broadcasting news and infotainment formats (talk and satirical shows) and how they were related to governmental communication. The findings contradict ideas of a state-conforming and uniform coverage of the “migration crisis.” Media coverage did not parallel the governmental switch from support for the open-door policy to ambivalence after the NYE incidents but challenged governmental communication with critical counter frames. Regarding support for the open-door policy, the news media showed some parallels to the government’s frames; however, the infotainment media deviated in their frame agenda from the news media and thus contributed to diversity in media discourse.

Keywords

• content analysis
• crisis communication
• infotainment
• migration crisis
• newscast
• political satire
• public broadcasts
• talk show