Loved and Feared in Fortress Europe: Framing the European Refugee Crisis.

Background: The European refugee crisis is an important topic on media, poltical, and public agendas. Media inevitably employ certain frames, which may influence public perceptions of the issue. Due to its scope and impact, its continuing prevalence on the media-agenda and the divisiveness of public debate, new research is needed to understand the media's framing of the issue. Therefore, this study analyzes the frames used by two Dutch newspapers (de Volkskrant and de Telegraaf) in their portrayal of the refugee crisis of 2015-2016. In addition, it is one of few studies to track changes in framing over time as the crisis develops. Method: Inductive framing analysis was used to study 268 news articles from the height of the crisis (April 2015 to March 2016). Results: Portrayal of the refugee crisis consists of ten different frames and counter frames. The frames are communicated on the level of the refugee, on the level of the crisis as an event, and on a societal level. Results show that framing differs between popular and quality paper, and changes following certain transitory events. Conclusion: Recent reporting on the refugee crisis is relatively nuanced and portrays the crisis from a variety of perspectives. The most prominent frames -Innocent Victim frame, Societal and Cultural Threat frame, and Epidemic frame - reflect the European-wide debate on how to deal with the crisis is centered around the question of whether to regard the refugees as victims or danger. Threatening and tragic real-life events as well as cultural rituals, affect framing and possibly subsequent public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]