Europe / Mediterranean: Media Treatment of the Immigrant

Abstract

People define their own behaviour on the basis of their perception of Others, as well as of the expectations they have towards them, paying particular attention to the socio-cultural context of belonging and the reference values they ascribe to the other party and to the relationship existing between them. These dynamics are strongly influenced by the information conveyed by mass media in their dual role as both mediators of reality and opinion leaders, often becoming a “distorted reflection” of reality. In support of the above, the present paper aims at illustrating, as an example, a comparison of the “representations” offered by some of the main European national newspapers of two events associated with the phenomenon of migration: the “immigrant march” of Belgrade on January 2017, and the shooting at the Munich shopping center on July, 2016.