Media frames and images of Chinese immigrants: analyzing European newspaper narratives from 2015 to 2022

Abstract The influx of Chinese immigrants into Europe has spawned varied media frames, shaping public perceptions and attitudes towards this demographic. The portrayal of Chinese immigrants in European newspapers has become a subject of socio-political discourse, necessitating exploring the predominant narratives within the media space. This study aims to unearth and analyze the prevailing frames used in European newspapers when reporting on Chinese immigrants from 2015 to 2022, elucidating the impact of these frames on the constructed images of Chinese immigrants in societal consciousness. Employing an inductive mixed-method computational approach (ANTMN) and leveraging the Lexis database, 360 news reports from European newspapers were analyzed using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and Gibbs Sampling for topic modeling, semantic network procedures for network structure, and Louvain community detection algorithm for clustering consistent framework packages. The study identifies four primary frames—Integration, Social, Political, and Crime—each revealing a distinct narrative about Chinese immigrants. Furthermore, three predominant images of Chinese immigrants emerged: Failed Integrators, Targets of Political Attack, and Disruptors of Social Safety. Despite the decrease in the utilization of the Crime frame amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, an intensified prejudice against Chinese immigrants was noted. The identified frames and images have crucial implications on socio-political attitudes and policies concerning immigrants, emphasizing the necessity to address the media’s role in potentially perpetuating stereotypes and biases, thereby influencing societal coherence and policy approaches toward immigration.