CREATING THE AGENDA – THE MIGRANT CRISIS IN SERBIAN MEDIA AS A TRIGGER OF POSSIBLE CONFLICTS AND COLLISIONS
Keywords:
migrant crisis, refugees, a creation of the agenda, reporting, narratives, media, conflicts, SerbiaAbstract
The mass departure of a large number of people heading from Asia and Africa towards Europe in the period from 2014 to 2016 became one of the most critical topics among European countries. The migrant crisis aroused the interest of the Serbian media even before the wave of refugees reached Serbia. The first reports about the crisis were full of terminological inconsistencies of the basic terms that were used to denote people on the so-called Balkan route. Since the articulation of the problem is directly dependent on the media, it is precisely the media presentation of the migrant crisis that has largely influenced the formation of public opinion. This paper aims to present the attitude of the media towards the current migration crisis and to emphasise the importance of the agenda-setting theory. By distinguishing a few narratives, the content analysis concluded that the main characteristics of this relationship are a high level of ignorance, superficiality and sensationalism. Overloading with many stereotypes, prejudices and xenophobia has also contributed to increasing the public fear and presentation of the migrant crisis as one of the main triggers of possible conflicts and collisions in the Balkans. With emphasising care of others and respecting human rights, Serbia has sought to present itself as a reliable partner in the issue of a migrant crisis. On the other hand, the sensationalist reporting of Serbian tabloids about the planned settlement of the Islamic population in order to continue the Islamization of Europe, backed by negative prejudices, led to a division in public opinion. Media sensationalism has managed to demonise most people from the Balkan route, which has led to an increase in real discrimination, the rise of the right-wing organisations, the spread of xenophobia, and the possibility of escalating further conflicts and collisions.
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