The framing of the “refugee crisis” in German print media in 2015-2016

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– The media discourse of focusing events by SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD

Name: Carina Eijsink Student No.: s1724967

Master Thesis: Crisis & Security Management Capstone: Immigration and Refugees

First Supervisor: Dr. E. Devroe Second Supervisor: Drs. C. Nagtegaal Date: 11 August 2016, Leiden

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“Hard is the journey behind, harder is the journey ahead” – European Council on Refugees and Exile

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Acknowledgements

This thesis is the final achievement of my Master’s programme “Crisis & Security Management” at Leiden University and is part of the capstone programme on “Immigration and Refugees”. Writing this master thesis has not been an isolated work process and could only be achieved with the support of important people who I would like to thank in the following. To my thesis supervisors, thank you for your valuable feedback throughout the project, your patience and support. Thank you to Rianne Dekker from Erasmus University Rotterdam for sharing her research and knowledge with me, which has been a major source of inspiration for this thesis. I want to thank Iris for the brainstorm sessions and her personal feedback. My beloved friends who always encouraged me and provided me with their much appreciated criticism especially Marie, Maja and Lisa. I want to thank my family for their never-ending support and trust throughout my years of study which now will finally come to an end. I would not write these sentences without the love and knowledge you provided me with. Last but not least, thank you Jannis, for reading my texts, but most importantly for believing in me when I did not myself. Thank you for your continuous support and encouragement.

In loving memory of my dear grandmother who taught me that patience and contentment is happiness.

Den Haag, August 2016 Carina Eijsink

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Executive Summary

This thesis examines how the German news magazine SPIEGEL ONLINE and the daily newspaper BILD frame the issue of immigration and the often named “refugee crisis” in Germany. The study aims to give an overview of patterns of media attention, patterns of argumentation and media framing of focusing events related to immigration and refugee movements in Germany. The research focuses on four focusing events in the period of 2015 – 2016 including cases with relatively low as well as relatively high levels of media attention. The chosen focusing events have not only been chosen by their degree of media attention but also with regard to another aspect: some cases concern concrete and visible individuals or groups, while other cases concern more abstract phenomena or policy related proposals. By choosing four different cases it is possible to compare the media discourse and framing of immigration which enables an overview of how the refugee influx to Germany has been portrayed in the chosen time period. The following four focusing events have been chosen for analysis: a bus drivers welcoming speech to refugees in the Bavarian city of Erlangen, the death of Aylan Kurdi who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea and was found at a beach in Bodrum in Turkey, the amendment of German asylum law in October 2015 and the New Year’s evening incidents in Cologne and other German cities in 2015/16.

The main research question for this study is: How is the “refugee crisis” (2015-2016) framed by two German newspapers – SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD - in regard to focusing events?

The two media outlets SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD have been selected since they are the two most cited media sources when it comes to topics of immigration and security. However, they do not represent the overall media landscape in Germany, which is not the aim of this study. The two news outlets both obtain high amounts of readership and therefore provide a first insight into the representation and framing of the “refugee crisis” of 2015/16 in Germany. Analyzing the four focusing events appears necessary and suitable since previous research has not been conducted on the framing of these events and therefore this study aims to narrow this research gap.

For the purpose of this master thesis a comparative analysis has been conducted. First, the media attention towards the four focusing events has been measured and analyzed. Second, a framing and discourse analysis has been carried out with the help of detecting ‘master-frames’

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iii by Dekker and Scholten (2015: 19). Master-frames are “frames that apply to various issues” (Dekker & Scholten, 2015: 19). In total, six master-frames have been chosen for this analysis: the economic frame, the threat frame, the delinquency/crime frame, the political/administrative frame, the human interest frame, and the integration/assimilation frame. Third, a comparative analysis will highlight the key features and differences of each focusing event as well as the media discourse between SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD.

This research shows that framing plays an important role regarding the representation of immigration. The focusing events have attracted different levels of media attention, of which the New Year’s evening incidents clearly stand out. They have received the highest amount of media attention. The “refugee crisis” is represented by different frames, showing the complexity of the overall context. However, the most dominant frame that was detected was the political/administration frame which is an indicator for an extensive politicization of the “refugee-crisis” in Germany. The media discourse in both newspapers sometimes lacks a nuanced and balanced news coverage, however, there is a tendency that BILD reports in a more sensationalistic manner than SPIEGEL ONLINE.

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List of tables and figures

Table 1: Immigration related frames in analyses from media coverage. ... 36

Table 2: Matrix with selected focusing events (Data Sample: n= 296) ... 45

Table 3: Search strings per case ... 46

Table 4: Total amount of articles for frame/discourse analysis ... 48

Table 5: Amount of frames in news articles (n=5) ... 56

Figure 1: The Relationship between Discourse and Ideology ... 29

Figure 2: Framing process based on (De Vreese, 2003; De Boer & Brennecke, 2009) ... 33

Figure 3: Operationalization scheme. ... 39

Figure 4: Case study design ... 43

Figure 5: Narrowing down the data set ... 47

Figure 6: Media attention “Bus driver Erlangen” ... 55

Figure 7: Media attention “Aylan Kurdi” ... 58

Figure 8: Media attention “Asylum Law Changes” ... 64

Figure 9: Media attention “New Year’s evening incidents” ... 70

Figure 10: Overall media attention per focusing event ... 75

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Chapter 1: Introduction

This thesis provides a qualitative analysis of the framing of the so-called “refugee crisis” by two German newspapers in the time frame of 2015 and 2016. In this chapter the research objectives will be introduced by referring to the context of the framing of immigration and refugees in the media. The main research question and sub-questions will be presented accordingly. Afterwards the necessity of conducting such a research will be explained by elaborating on the scientific and societal relevance of the thesis which will be concluded with a section on the overall structure of this study.

1.1 Research Aims

Uncontrollable movement of people is a significant aspect of the post-Cold War period (Devetak, 2004; Sassen, 2013) due to increased globalization and rising conflicts. At the moment one human in every 113 is affected by forced displacement due to war, violence and persecution, as the latest UNHCR global trend reveals (UNHCR, 2016). It is the first time since the threshold of 60 million displaced people has been crossed. Forced displacement has been increasing since the mid-1990s in most regions worldwide, but over the past five years the numbers have increased sharply. According to UNHCR, the reasons are threefold: First, situations causing large refugee outflows are lasting longer than before (for instance, conflicts in Somalia and Afghanistan are currently into their third and fourth decade, respectively). Second, tragic humanitarian disasters, new or reignited situations, are occurring more frequently (today’s largest being the Syrian civil war, but also during the past five years South Sudan, Burundi, Yemen, Ukraine, Central African Republic, etc.). Third, the rate on the extent to which solutions are being made with regard to refugees and internally displaced people “has been on a falling trend since the end of the Cold War”. 1 As a consequence, many people flee those situations of instability and war in their own countries in order to find security and better living and working conditions elsewhere. Surrounding countries of the conflict zones as well as Southern and South-Eastern European countries receive high numbers of refugees crossing borders with the aim of applying for asylum in Europe. European countries have reacted

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2 differently on the mass movement of people and often have perceived and argued that the inflow of people is of unprecedented and uncontrollable character2.

According to Nyers (2013: 4) the “phenomenon of refugee has a long history of being subsumed in discourses of crisis and danger”. When talking about refugees and their movements, the following words occur, respectively: “problem”, “crisis”, “complex political emergency”, “national security”, and “border control”. The term refugee consequently gets connected to the urgency of crisis situations and political decision-making (Nyers, 2013). Likewise, the political debate around refugees is often connected with the concept of ‘othering’ by which foreigners are portrayed as the distant others. This type of discourse can lead to a reproduction of ethnic prejudices and stereotypes (van Dijk, 1997: 39). There has been ongoing research on the representation and the media discourse of minorities and the topic of immigration which will be used and explained in more detail throughout the thesis.

In 2015, the so-called “refugee crisis” became a common and frequently used term debated and explained across Europe. In the German media the incoming refugees soon got linked with this term as well. One way to define a “refugee crisis” is to describe it as an “acute form of migration transition, involving sudden massive and disorderly population movements into a neighbouring country [or third country]”, as argued by Bos (2003: 52). Migration transitions, however, always have to be seen in relation to different dimensions and contexts for which the use of the term “refugee crisis” itself should be regarded carefully. It is the main goal of this thesis to analyse how and by which means the media portrayed the so-called “refugee crisis” in the German context. One way to do this is to analyse how refugees and asylum seekers are being portrayed in German newspapers in 2015 and 2016, and which frames are being used respectively. For the purpose of providing an insight into the German context of the “refugee crisis”, four focusing events were selected of which the media discourse will be analysed. Focusing events are sudden and disruptive events that attract extremely high amounts of attention and sometimes can trigger certain changes in policies (Birkland, 1998; Roger William

2_{Refugee crisis discussions heat up ahead of EU summit}_{(DW), 18 February 2016. [Retrieved: 28 June 2016] and} Refugee crisis 2015: Chronicle of a foretold crisis (Heinrich Böll Stiftung), 7 December 2015. [Retrieved: 28 June 2016].

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3 Cobb & Elder, 1983; Light, 1982). The focusing events central to this research will be explained in more detail in the methodological chapter.

1.2 Research Questions

The four focusing events will be researched by means of a framing and discourse analysis in order to find out how refugees and the so-called “refugee crisis” are being represented in German newspapers in 2015/16. It is also the aim to analyse the overall media attention every focusing event has received. The newspaper articles from the two biggest and/or most influential newspapers or news magazines in Germany (in terms of leading the rankings of most-cited news items) will be taken for analysis: SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD. The reason for choosing these two newspapers will be specified in the methodological chapter. The central research question for this thesis has been formulated as follows:

How is the “refugee crisis” (2015-2016) framed by two German newspapers – SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD - in regard to focusing events?

In order to answer the research question, four sub-questions have been formulated: 1. What patterns of media attention can be identified for the four focusing events?

2. What framing mechanisms are being used concerning the media discourse of the four chosen cases in both media outlets and which frame is dominating the discourse? 3. What kind of actors are involved in the covered debate around immigration? 4. Are there similarities or differences per newspaper outlet concerning the framing

1.3 Scientific Relevance

News reports and framing techniques on immigration issues, or more generally about minorities, are ‘discursive’, and often subtle and symbolic in nature (van Dijk, 2000). Media representations can have an important influence on the public opinion, hence the role and the powers of the media are of particular interest for this research. The argument in this thesis will be that the public perception of ethnic groups, for instance refugees and migrants, is dependent on social constructions and ‘subjective’ representations of cultural, societal and economic contexts and recent events taking place. In other words, this study is based on the premise that the media as fourth estate play a particularly powerful role in recreating and reinforcing stereotyped images about ethnic minorities, which will be critically analysed using the example of the current “refugee crisis” of 2015/16 in Germany. Researching the aspects of media

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4 framing, media discourse, othering and the repeating issues of identity and national values at risk in times of migration, pose a strong case for an in-depth analysis.

In the 1970s, the first attempt of German media analysis was undertaken by Delgado (1972) for which representations of guest workers in the German press were analysed. Close links were established between migrants and the emphasis on economic benefits of migration and development of the region. There was also a link made with migrants and attributed criminal cases at that time. Two main issues regarding media representations and immigration become visible while summarizing the state of the art of research: First, discourse analyses of migration and criminality are often central to research in Germany (Geißler, 1999; Jäger, 2000, 2008), and second, there is a lot of focus on the role of media vis-à-vis the integration of social minorities (Ruhrmann & Demren, 2000; Wengeler, 2006). In addition, there has been an increased focus on the general role of media representations and the often claimed tendency that foreigners, migrants and guest workers are portrayed more negatively than the host population (Eckhardt, 1987; Funk & Weiß, 1995; Müller, 2005; Ruhrmann & Sommer, 2005; Ruhrmann, Sommer, & Uhlemann, 2006). A lot of research has been done regarding the representation of migrants in the media, as they have been a major aspect of German society from the 1960s onwards. Due to an increasing right-wing extremism in the early 1990s the research interest switched to the role of mass media in reinforcing xenophobic attitudes (cf. Esser, Scheufele, & Brosius, 2002; Ohlemann, 1996).

The latest research regarding the representation of immigration in the aftermath of an important focusing event in German print media has been conducted by Irrgang (2011). She analysed the immigration debate in the aftermath of Thilo Sarrazin’s controversial book “Germany abolishes itself” in 2010, who sparked a major integration debate within Germany and even across Europe. For her research Irrgang has chosen the two major newspaper outlets, SPIEGEL and BILD, as will be done in this research, in order to analyse the media portrayal of migration at that time. Irrgang concluded that BILD still covers migration issues in a very unbalanced manner and portrays Muslim immigrants as potential threats to the “German culture” (Irrgang, 2011: 1). Although SPIEGEL covered matters of migration in a more differentiated way, for instance with articles written by migrants showing Muslims and migrants as part of the German society, there is still a strong tendency to objectify migrants towards their economic benefit they bring about (Irrgang, 2011: 1).

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5 Next to German research on topics of immigration, framing and media discourse, other European studies will be further explained in the theoretical chapter. So far, however, the current refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016 has not been analysed in terms of the framing of specific focusing events, for which this study aims to fill a research gap in the domain. Newspaper articles regarding refugees, asylum cases, migration in general have accelerated in the media, for which it is not feasible anymore to analyse periods of time for this thesis. This is one of the reasons why focusing events have been chosen for they provide specific time periods of which newspaper articles can be selected.

1.4 Societal Relevance

With tendencies towards right-wing populism and a growing nationalism in Europe, as the recent Brexit referendum has shown, there is also an increased negative leaning regarding the situation of ethnic minorities and immigration as such (van Dijk, 1997: 37). Political debates are marked by the juxtaposition of images of insiders and outsiders of a community (Hall, 1990) and often this binary system of representation (belongingness vs. otherness) creates impassable symbolic boundaries between racially or culturally constituted categories (Hall, 1992: 255). Politics has a particular influence on public discourses, often via the media, and therefore can have a crucial impact on public opinion (van Dijk, 1997: 35). Talking and reading a lot about how different ‘the others’ – the immigrants, refugees and so forth – are, leads towards a subtle cognitive differentiation between ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Richardson, 2006) which can lead to a new type of racism (van Dijk, 1989, 1997). On the societal level, media frames can influence social processes such as political socialisation, policy changes or collective mind-sets (De Boer & Brennecke, 2009: 207). Therefore, it is important to identify the role of frames in the current media representation of refugees as to further detect which frames dominate the debate.

Just recently the German association of German language has published the word of the year of 2015 being “refugees”, showing the topicality and the omnipresence of the word in public and political discussions. People hear, read, and talk a lot about the “refugee crisis” in Germany and across Europe for which it is crucial to start an in-depth analysis of the overall media discourse and representation of refugees and immigration. This study will provide a start on which future research could be built on in order to receive a balanced and specific insight on the role of media regarding the “refugee crisis” of 2015 and 2016 not only in Germany but

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6 preferably in all European countries. Further, it is important to raise awareness on the powerful role of media and the use of language when it comes to immigration issues, but also other societal issues, which this thesis seeks to provide a basis for, in an attempt to create more critical reflections by citizens on media representations.

1.5 Structure of the Thesis

In chapter two a brief introduction on the context of the “refugee crisis” will be given. A broader European focus on how the so-called “refugee crisis” was framed particularly in the summer of 2015 will be given, followed by background information regarding the case of Germany. In chapter three theoretical concepts of crises, state approaches on immigration, media discourses, and the particular aspect of framing will be highlighted. The state of the art of research concerning media discourse of framing refugees and asylum seekers will be explained. The research methods and the specific types of analysis central to this research will be explained in chapter four. In chapter five the analytical results will be provided, namely the extent of media attention per focusing event, the framing and discourse analysis of the newspaper articles and a comparative analysis between the two chosen newspapers. These results will be summarized in chapter six in order to provide answers on the research questions followed by a short discussion highlighting possible shortcomings of this research and further recommendations for future research.

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Chapter 2: Background Information

International migration and refugees are of all times and places and the current movement of displaced people during the last years poses several challenges on national governments, international organisations but also on local communities. The upcoming sections will reveal on the context of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ from 2015 and 2016 from a political, philosophical point of view by also referring to estimated numbers of migration in Germany as well as in the European Union.

In the summer of 2015, the headlines throughout the world, and especially in Europe have been dominated by the issue of migration and refugee movements. A vast number of people crossed the Mediterranean Sea to find safer shore in Europe. This movement of people has unfolded mainly two types of crises: a political/security-related crisis and a humanitarian crisis. Many EU states claimed to be struggling to cope with what they defined as an unprecedented influx of people overcrossing borders and with intentions to stay. Tensions among EU members have been rising in this respect over the question of how to best manage the settlement of displaced people. These tensions arose mainly due to the proportional burden faced by some countries over others – such as countries with external EU borders in the South and South-East – who are receiving the highest amounts of people arriving at their borders.3

Despite the political, institutional crisis there is another crisis unfolding experienced by the people moving across borders themselves: a humanitarian crisis. According to the International Organisation for Migration 2,861 people have been reported to have died in their attempt of crossing the Mediterranean Sea in the first six months of 2016. Compared to 1,838 reported fatalities through the first six months of 2015.4_{Most of these fatalities occurred during the} summer, since it appears to be the most suitable time period for taking the sea-routes from Libya, Tunisia, Egypt or Turkey. The reasons for the people to flee their home countries are due to political prosecution, war or natural disasters. At the moment the civil war in Syria

3_See_{interactive migratory routes map}_{, FRONTEX. [Retrieved: 9 August 2016].}

4_{Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals in 2016: 214,691; Deaths: 2,861}_{(IOM), 21 June 2016. [Retrieved: 27 June}

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8 represents the most precarious humanitarian crisis in the last quarter of a century and it can be regarded as the major source of human displacement (see Appendix 1).

In December 2015, the United Nations refugee agency estimated that the number of forced displacement was likely to surpass all previous records for the first time of more than 60 million displaced persons5_{. The UNHCR’s Mid-Year Trends 2015 report, covering the period from} January to end June 2015, is looking at displacement worldwide resulting from conflict and persecution and has concluded that all three major categories of displacement – refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people – have increased in terms of numbers. The global numbers of refugees have passed the 20 million threshold by mid-2015 (20.2 million), which a year ago was 19.5 million. Asylum applications increased by 78 per cent (993,600) over the same period in 2014. And the numbers of internally displaced people have increased by around 2 million to an estimated 34 million (UNHCR, 2015). António Guterres, High Commissioner for Refugees, argued that “forced displacement is now profoundly affecting our times. It touches the lives of millions of our fellow human beings – both those forced to flee and those who provide them with shelter and protection”6_.

A consequence of refugee movements is that pressures on countries hosting them are growing as well – a situation which unmanaged can lead to resentment and abet politicization of refugees7. In recent years, migration issues have become main points on the security agenda of several states, particularly in Europe and North America (Tallmeister, 2013). Considering recent contributions by for instance the German Federal Minister arguing that the current influx of refugees poses new problems in terms of organization and distribution of refugees as well as new security risks, the previously mentioned politicization gets visible. The problem of irregular mass migration in particular in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks, as in Paris in November 2015, is that situations of incoming refugees and asylum seekers on the one hand get framed as possible (terrorist) threats or social instabilities with regard to national security (cf. Ibrahim, 2005) and on the other hand get framed as refugee crises (Bos, 2003). Hence it is

5_{Global forced displacement for 2015 on track to break all records, topping 60 million – UN}_{, 18 December 2015.}

[Retrieved: 8 June 2016].

6_{2015 likely to break records for forced displacement – study}_{, 18 December 2015. [Retrieved: 8 June 2016].} 7 _{UNHCR report confirms worldwide rise in forced displacement in first half 2015}_{, 18 December 2015.}

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9 not unusual that “the perception of immigration as a threat to security has developed alongside the rapid increase in the number of immigrants worldwide” (Ibrahim, 2005; Tallmeister, 2013: 1).

Some politicians and media outlets try to make the public believe that the dimension of the current “refugee crisis” is a unique and new situation Europe has never faced before (c.f. BILD 10-10-2015 & 24-10-2015). However, when looking back at the 20th century, Europe has faced similar refugee flows during and after WWI and WWII as well as during the Cold War and the Balkan wars. At the moment, some European politicians are vividly discussing a maximum limit on refugees (“Obergrenze”) which poses the question: When does humanitarian protection of refugees stop in times of large-scale refugee migration that is connected so many times with the concept of security? This paper tries to portray and analyse the current debate and terminological framing of immigration in the German press. The aim is to emphasize that the specific use of words by means of framing is ideologically laden and betrays a precise political calculation for which the study of language and argumentation in connection with political and governance related issues of migration need proper deductive research to analyse the overall phenomenon of the “refugee crisis”. The way in which mass migration is being framed leads towards a proposed presumption of a crisis and therefore influences how the overall situation is interpreted and managed. It is therefore necessary to briefly introduce how immigration has been framed in Europe in order to better understand and further analyse media representation of migration and refugees in Germany of 2015 and 2016.

2.1 How did Europe frame the migration crisis in the summer of 2015?

In this section three terminological ambivalences will be portrayed in order to give an overview of the reactions within Europe during the summer of 2015 – when the term “refugee crisis” became one of the main concepts reported and discussed about.

Humanitarian vs. Security Crisis

When looking at political reactions towards the migration of people coming to Europe, many political leaders or spokespersons tended to downplay the term of a humanitarian crisis and instead preferred the frame of a security crisis. The use of certain political language can be deliberately used to create or to frame a certain reality (Aldrovandi, 2015). At the end of July 2015, in the context of high amounts of people, for instance trying to reach the UK through the

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10 Eurotunnel terminal, UK prime minister David Cameron called a meeting of the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) emergency committee. Usually the COBR committee is summoned to tackle issues of national security such as terrorism. UKIP leader, Nigel Farage, along many other EU political leaders from right-wing parties quickly labelled the situation in Calais as a growing crisis in terms of numbers of migrants, and security.8_{According to Farage, the real} threat was with the utter absence of a system “checking the backgrounds of these people seeking a better live in Europe by illegal means” (c.f. footnote 8). Without appropriate means of screening who these people are the UK and all Europe was, according to Farage, exposed to potential flood of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and Jihadist fighters – a threat that should be taken very seriously, he added (c.f. footnote 8). What can be observed is the evolving asymmetry between potential Jihadist fighters and displaced people, which directly links two types of terminology – security threats and results of humanitarian crises. During the same period of time, the Hungarian government started to build a fence along the border with Serbia in order to stop people from coming in, while the Slovakian government expressed its intentions to only accept Christians in case it takes in Syrian refugees under a EU relocation scheme9. Such framing and political decisions to tackle the crisis were fully consistent with the mainstream approach in international relations that perceives human dislocation as a problem in terms of security (Aldrovandi, 2015).

Hospitality or selectivity?

Human compassion seemed sometimes to have given a way to a more ominous sense of impeding threat. Europe was becoming a ‘Fortress Europe’, the crisis was basically portrayed as “us” being under siege (Aldrovandi, 2015) mainly as a result of an overwhelming mass of people coming to Europe. Voices got louder claiming that the number of people arriving was exceeding the European capacity to offer them hospitality. Soon many European politicians declared that Europe’s hospitality could only be effective by imposing certain conditions or limitations on the European generosity. The argument was made that Europe cannot possibly accept everybody10. Applying a legal process that differentiates between those who have a right

8_{UKIP’s Nigel Farage: Migrant numbers creating ‘security crisis’}_{(BBC News), 30 July 2015. [Retrieved: 22}

June 2016].

9_{Migrants crisis: Slovakia ‘will only accept Christians’}_{(BBC News), 19 August 2015. [Retrieved: 22 June 2016].} 10_{Grenzen auf, Grenzen dicht. Es muss Regeln geben}_{(Die Zeit), 23 April 2015. [Retrieved: 24 June 2016].}

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11 to stay and those who are not eligible to do so became necessary and often implemented. One example is the German legal amendments of October 2015 of the asylum act, that declared Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro as safe countries of origin.

During the 90s, the famous French philosopher, Jacques Derrida, argued that in many European countries people were becoming increasingly xenophobic by claiming to protect their own generosity, their own hospitality (Derrida, 1999; O'Gorman, 2006). Hence, hostility and hospitality often appear together when dealing with mass migration (Aldrovandi, 2015). With regard to the claim that Europe is forced to be more selective in order to protect its own generosity and hospitality, it must be mentioned that the majority of refugees as well as of displaced populations is today hosted in non-European countries (UNHCR, 2016). The majority of refugees worldwide coming from three countries – Somalia, Afghanistan and Syria – is mostly being hosted by countries such as Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia and Jordan, hence mainly in the developing world (see Appendix 1).

Difference between migrant and refugee – Words matter

The last ideologically laden ambivalence is one of terminology, more specifically between two words: migrant and refugee. In the media and the public both words are often used interchangeably, yet there is a crucial difference. Migrants deliberately decide to move across borders while refugees are forced to do so due to different reasons such as war, persecution or natural disasters.11 The use of language and the power of social constructions, once again, have an influence that can directly or indirectly create reality (Aldrovandi, 2015). In summer 2015, UK prime minister, David Cameron, together with other EU politicians deliberately chose to prefer the term migrant instead of differentiating between the terms of migrants and refugees.12 It was Cameron who stated that “we need to break the link between jumping into a boat in the Mediterranean Sea and believing to have a right to stay in Europe”13_{. He further told ITV News,} that there was a “swarm of migrants” coming across the Mediterranean Sea to seek a better live

11_{For more information, see for instance:} _{http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefingPaper/document/70}

[Retrieved: 9 August 2016].

12_{Britain should not take more Middle East refugees, says David Cameron}_{(The Guardian), 3 September 2015.}

[Retrieved: 28 June 2016] and Hungary launches anti-migrant quota campaign (EU Observer), 4 December 2015. [Retrieved: 28 June 2016].

13 _{David Cameron’s refugee promise needs to be more than a gesture}_{(The Guardian), 4 September 2015.}

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12 in Great Britain14. The choice of the term migrant, be it “illegal migrants”, “economic migrants” or “unqualified migrants” signals the idea that someone is looking for better life opportunities in terms of jobs, education, health care, and so forth. The chosen terminology, often expressed via the mass media, portrays the feared influence of foreign (inferior) cultures by representing them as disintegrative or utilizing forces and threats to national identity and prosperity (Gilroy, 2012; Ossewaarde, 2014).

Regarding these terminological ambivalences in late 2015, Al Jazeera made a public statement that invoked the need to rebalance the debate around the ambivalent terminology. Al Jazeera condemned the use of the word migrant to refer to people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, arguing that the right terminology to be used was the word refugee. “The word migrant has become a largely inaccurate umbrella term for this complex story” and it should not be neglected that the majority of those arriving in Europe were fleeing war and therefore should be recognized as refugees, they argued by referring to UN sources15. Not using the word refugee would have amounted to a demonization of those people. Ensuing, Al Jazeera’s stand on defining everyone indistinctively as refugees was portrayed by some as an equally ideological attempt to put a burden on Europe to apply the EU legal process on every person arriving at the borders.16 With its polemic on the use of language, Al Jazeera was accusing EU governments to shy away from binding international law obligations that are in place with the purpose of protecting populations displaced by war, persecution and oppression.17 What can be concluded from the important differences of terms is that it puts a serious question on the Western concept of human rights revealing the full scope of limitations of the concepts of refugees and asylum procedures. Despite the universality of human rights, the legal conventions of human rights also embody a strong weakness of the judicial body, namely that the role of states and their obligations to execute human rights, for instance granting asylum, are not stated in a clear and precise way and therefore allow for discretion per country (Aldrovandi, 2015). Although this study will not further investigate those legal weaknesses, it

14_{PM blames Calais crisis on ‘swarm’ of migrants}_{(ITV News), 30 July 2015. [Retrieved: 24 June 2016].} 15_{Why Al Jazeera will not say Mediterranean ‘migrants’}_{(Al Jazeera), 20 August 2015. [Retrieved: 24 June 2016].} 16_{Migrant or Refugee? The Limits of Definitions}_{(News Deeply), 29 March 2016. [Retrieved: 28 June 2016].} 17_{See Appendix 2 for more specific definitions of the terms and international law definitions.}

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13 should be kept in mind while reading, that the use of specific terms plays a crucial role when analysing media discourses.

2.2 The Situation in Germany

Germany is currently the number one destination which receives the highest numbers of first time asylum applicants in the European Union (with over 162.500 applicants, or 38% of total applicants in the EU Member States in the fourth quarter of 2015)18. When looking at the developments over time the numbers have been rising very quickly, from 173.072 first time applicants in 2014 to 441.899 first time applicants in 2015 and 117.392 first time asylum claims in the first two months of 2016 (January and February 2016)19. Most of the people applying for asylum derive from Syria (50,6%), Iraq (15,1%) and Afghanistan (11,0%)20 in February 2016. Not only immigration numbers have increased, the same counts for emigration numbers, which are often neglected in political migration debates or at least less mentioned as for instance in public press releases. The migration report of 2014 published by the German Federal Office of Statistics reveals that the number of people leaving Germany have been rising since 2010. In total, 914.241 people left Germany in 2014 of which 765.605 foreigners, which shows that Germany has, paradoxically as it might seem, lost attractiveness for many foreigners to stay (BAMF, 2014). Recent statistics of 2015 have portrayed emigration rates of foreign people to be at 859,000.21

Considering these numbers is important when talking about immigration and the often named “refugee crisis”. Managing the factors evolving around immigration is a challenging task for hosting countries for which decisions have to be taken such as: who has the right to stay in a country, who is a refugee and needs protection under the Geneva 1951 Convention, and who is approved to claim for asylum in a country. These proceedings take time and need proper administrative organisation. In the meantime, mass migrations often lead to public debates that are fought in the political, social and media domain.

18_{Asylum quarterly report (Eurostat)}_{, 3 March 2016, [Retrieved: 6 April, 2016].}

19_{Aktuelle Zahlen zu Asyl: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge}_{, February 2016, [Retrieved: 7 April, 2016]} 20_{Percentages taken from a total number of 66.127 first time applicants in February 2016.}

21_{Anzahl der Fortzüge über die Grenzen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland von 1991 bis 2015}_{(Statista), 2016.}

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14 In the first half of 2015, the overall atmosphere in Germany towards refugees was marked by extraordinary generosity and hospitality as for instance the welcoming scenes at the Central Station in Munich, where arriving refugees were cherished and applauded by citizens and voluntary supporters.22 Many people decided to voluntarily assist NGO’s and local governments who were busy in accommodating refugees that were coming to Germany. The media were reporting positively and argued about the need to help refugees seeking protection in Germany for which they had left their home countries due to civil unrest, persecution or discrimination. Refugee shelters were constructed and oftentimes overwhelmingly supported by civilians in form of financial aids or donation items. However, in the beginning of September 2015 the first critical remarks were uttered by politicians on how to harmonize social control, national security and proper accommodation. As a consequence, Germany implemented border controls at the German-Austrian border by arguing that temporary controls were necessary in order to guarantee safe and coordinated distribution of refugees entering Germany mainly at the Southern borders in Bavaria23. Over time, the German society became more polarized towards the situation of many refugees entering the country. Some people were against mass accommodation of refugees and started to radicalize which in the worst scenarios led to refugee shelters being attacked by people committing an arson. The cases of arson were rising quite shockingly which led to a debate whether German people actually wanted refugees coming to Germany. However, it should be mentioned here that the average population in Germany was in favour of hosting refugees, yet questions remain open on how to accommodate and integrate refugees and asylum seekers in a humane and fair way. Examples of generating a positive atmosphere or to counter negative sentiments evolved such as the production of individual programmes for refugees: News outlets in Arabic, Arabic radio pilot programmes and meet-and-great sessions with refugees and asylum seekers and the local population to make exchange possible and to create more tolerance.

Despite of the above mentioned positive examples some negative incidents occurred such as the New Year’s evening incidents 2015/16 in Cologne where women were sexually assaulted and mugged by, so were the rumours, men of North-African descent. This specific event

22_{Hilfe für Flüchtlinge: München ist da}_{, (SPIEGEL ONLINE) 1 September 2015. [Retrieved: 9 August 2016].} 23_{Vorübergehende Wiedereinführing von Grenzkontrollen}_{, 13 September 2015, [Retrieved 8 June 2016] and} Deutschland führt Grenzkontrollen ein, 13 September 2015, [Retrieved: 8 June 2016].

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15 sparked manifold debates about crime and immigration and started new debates on Islam and violence, the role of women in Islam, emancipatory debates and so forth. This particular focusing event will be up for analysis in this study since it attracted a lot of media attention in Germany and even across Europe. Another case that also attracted media attention as well as political discussion was the amendment of Germany asylum law on 23 October 2015.24 According to the new law for an acceleration of asylum procedures the German ministry of interior has decided to subsequently mark Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro as safe countries of origin. Asylum seekers from safe countries of origin that applied for asylum after 1 September 2015 have no right of employment in Germany. In order to prevent false incentives for future asylum seekers with no outlook to stay, the previously provided sums of money to every asylum applicant are henceforth turned into non-cash benefits. This regulation counts as long as refugees stay in reception centres. In addition, the new asylum law package imposed softer rules for successful asylum seekers to enter the labour market more easily and more quickly.

The two mentioned focusing events, together with two other events that will be explained in the methodological and analytical chapter, have been chosen in order to conduct the upcoming research. Before analysing the selected newspaper articles, a theoretical framework will provide important insight into the concepts of crisis communication, the definition of a “refugee crisis”, and the main concept of media discourse and framing.

24_{Asylverfahrensbeschleunigungsgesetz (Law for an acceleration of asylum procedures), Bundesgesetzblatt}

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16

Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework

This chapter deals with relevant scientific approaches about definitions of crises and an attempt to define the so-called “refugee crisis”. Afterwards the role of media discourse, the concepts of ‘frames, ‘framing’, ‘agenda setting’, and ‘priming’ will be explained by referring to earlier research in the multiple research domains concerning the framing of immigration and refugees. A short conceptualization of news production is necessary in order to understand the complex process of how the news are being created and in order to come up with relevant frames types for this research. Finally, the operationalization scheme with its indicators and characteristics will be given that was derived by the presented academic literature.

3.1 Crises

The current influx of refugees coming to Europe with the most popular destinations for refugees to settle being Germany or Sweden has very often been framed as a “refugee crisis”. Yet, what exactly is meant by referring to a crisis in the context of mass refugee flows? And how did the term and understanding of ‘crisis’ evolve over time? This section will deal with the concept of crises for which it is important to understand the development of thought around the concept. The term crisis as well as refugee crisis will be discussed and elaborated in more detail in the upcoming sections. The theoretical understandings of crisis will be necessary in order to understand the process of framing and news-making in times of crises.

3.1.2 Development of thought surrounding crises

The understanding of crises is not only complex but also an ongoing process of sense making which can change over time (Perry & Quarantelli, 2005; Quarantelli, 1998; Steinberg, 2000). In earlier times, crises were seen as inevitable natural disasters that shook and disrupted a society and its environment. Longer periods of stability were interrupted by short and intensive periods of unrest and change (Baumgartner, Jones, & True, 1999). In these contexts, disasters were perceived as incomprehensible events (Boin, 't Hart, Stern, & Sundelius, 2005) or as an “Act of God” (Rosenthal, 1998; Steinberg, 2000).In recent times, such above mentioned crises gave rise to critical thinking and an urgent need to manage crises, to even foresee and prevent them (Boin et al., 2005). In today’s society crises are no longer seen as isolated incidents (Topper & Lagadec, 2013), but are directly or indirectly linked to a complexity of

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17 responsibilities such as authority, power and legitimacy. In Western societies, crises therefore are characterized as complex, transboundary problems attracting extensive media coverage (van Eijk, Broekema, & Torenvlied, 2013: 8). The transboundary nature of a crisis in this respect can be understood in geographical terms (threatening multiple cities, regions, countries, and continents); in functional terms (e.g. it can cross from financial systems to industrial systems, from private to public, from one sector of industry to another); or it transcends traditional time boundaries of crises (meaning that a transboundary crisis cannot be clearly pinpointed in time) (Boin , 't Hart, & McConnell, 2009).

Disruptions of societal routines are seen as catalysts for political debate, new policy innovations, or organizational reforms opening up the political space for actors outside or inside the governments (Boin et al., 2009: 82). In other words, crises create opportunities (political opportunity windows (c.f. Kingdon, 2003)) and therefore can be used for framing techniques by elites in order to push their personal political agendas (Mazarr, 2007; Scheufele & Tewksbury, 2007).

Before the connection between crises, crisis exploitation and different framing techniques and language will be elaborated in more detail in the upcoming sections it is important to come up with a working definition of ‘crisis’ as well as to deconstruct the term ‘refugee crisis’.

3.1.2 Crisis – Attempt of a definition

There is a variety of academic literature about crises (van Eijk et al., 2013). One reason for the diversity and the huge body of research is due to the fact that there is no specific definition about the concept of ‘crisis’ (Boin et al., 2005; van Eijk et al., 2013). Henceforth, scientific literature refers not only to the concept of ‘crisis’, but also uses words such as ‘catastrophe’, ‘disaster’ or ‘fiasco’. Online dictionaries use words such as ‘difficulty’, ‘danger’, ‘confusion’, ‘suffering’ and ‘disagreement’.25_{Scholars provide ample definitions and debates on what} ‘crises’ are and how they can be distinguished from an emergency, a catastrophe or a disaster (Boin et al., 2005; Perry & Quarantelli, 2005; Quarantelli, 1998). In general, a crisis is defined

25_{Oxford English Dictionary,}_{http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/crisis}_{[retrieved: 20 March,}

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18 as: “a serious threat to the basic structures or fundamental values and norms of a social system, which, under conditions of time pressure and very uncertain circumstances, demands the bringing of critical decisions” (Boin et al., 2005: 5; Rosenthal, Charles, & t'Hart, 1989: 10). In other words the term crisis refers to unwanted and unexpected situations (Rosenthal, Boin, & Comfort, 2001) as well as to vital decision-making that possibly would have looked different without being framed as a crisis. It must be clear, that a crisis is a social construction and depends upon the interpretation by the responsible actor(s). Hence, when and under which conditions do politicians, the media, corporations, social organizations, scientists or the public reach consensus for a certain amount of time, that “something“ is a crisis?

Looking at the scientific literature that has dominated the field of crisis management, there is a consensus on four features of respective crisis situations. The four aspects of a crisis are: (1) threat, (2) uncertainty, (3) unpredictability and (4) an amount of time pressure under which decisions have to be made (Boin et al., 2009; van Eijk et al., 2013). Boin et al. (2009: 83-4) define crises as:

“events or developments widely perceived by members of relevant communities to constitute urgent threats to core community values and structures”, further adding that “[…] no set of events or developments is likely to be perceived fully uniformly by the members of a community”.

The argument about the variety of societal perceptions reveals the importance of connecting perceptions and political information gathering of a society with the used medium of information in times of critical disruption for which this research will focus on information and perceptions expressed in the media.

As mentioned earlier, recent crises have become increasingly transboundary. A crisis that would have been called an unavoidable, non-foreseeable crisis in earlier times evokes nagging questions and possible power vacuums in today’s risk society (Boin et al., 2009). Modern societies have become tightly linked to other societies - especially in the European Union - (via trade, travel, internet, complexity of networks) and so it appears that societies are becoming more vulnerable to relatively small disturbances. Not only do societies feel more vulnerable, they also feel more threatened due to the changing nature of threat agents as drivers for uncertainty, such as evolving technologies; international terrorism; climate change;

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19 demographics; civil unrest; financial crisis; shifts in global power relations and so forth (Boin et al., 2009; Topper & Lagadec, 2013; van Eijk et al., 2013). The interconnectedness and complexity of modern crises, therefore, make it highly difficult to tackle crises by categorized one-fits-all solutions. Former classifications of crises cannot be attached to current crises since they are no stable processes with repeated categories (Perry & Quarantelli, 2005). That is why new crises of modern times have been called ‘wicked problems’, since they are volatile, discontinuous and non-linear.

When looking at the recent “refugee crisis” - that made its way to the forefront of European news outlets during 2015 – it must be stated that new events and incidents happen on a daily basis and accordingly shift perceptions and debates. However, taking into consideration Roux-Dufort’s (2007) critical remarks regarding “event-centred crisis management approaches”, he argued that certain triggering events26 only make a crisis visible, the event itself is, however, not the crisis. His argument is against the theory that certain triggering events cause crises and change for which he concludes that a crisis is the process of accumulating deficiencies and weaknesses rather than a sudden and extraordinary irruption (Roux‐Dufort, 2007). Hence, is the “refugee crisis” a crisis in itself that was triggered by certain events or have focusing events been used to raise awareness of a problematic situation in order to socially or politically construct a crisis? In the following paragraph an attempt of a definition will be provided in order to demonstrate the difficulties of interpretation and meaning making of a construct such as the “refugee crisis”.

3.1.3 “Refugee Crisis”

In his book “Crisis Management in a crowded humanitarian space: the politics of hosting refugee influxes”, Bos (2003: 49) describes the environment of a refugee crisis (here: The Kosovo refugee crisis) generally known as a complex emergency. He further mentions the term ‘interlocking crises’ by referring to two synergies or threats throughout a refugee crisis situation – (1) the humanitarian emergency and (2) the possibility of societal disorder and

26_{Compare with literature on ‘focusing events’, for a general overview of what these events bring about in times}

of crisis. C.f. Mazarr’s work on agenda-setting and the use of focusing events after 9/11 and during the Iraq war: Mazarr, M.J. (2007). The Iraw war and agenda setting. Foreign Policy Analysis, 3(1), 1-23

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20 collapse (ibid: 49). Maynard (1999) rather contends that complex emergencies involve the convergence of political and humanitarian space that needs an international and multi-faceted response (Harriss, 1995; Maynard, 1999). She further argues that complex emergencies have repercussions that can lead to so-called identity conflicts that imply “widespread citizen involvement, extreme polarisation of the population, a clear root in human emotion or repressed animosity and imploded civilised life” (as cited in Bos, 2003: 50). Whereas Boin et al. (2009) puts more emphasis on the political aspect of crises and its managerial caveats, Maynard contrasts (1999) this perspective with a more societal focus on crises. In line with Roux-Dufort (2007), Bos (2003) says that a refugee crisis is not a discrete event but a process of complexity, politicisation and interdependence (cf. Rosenthal et al., 2001). As a consequence, the following argument provided by Bos (2003: 52) can be seen as one central working definition of the term refugee crisis, which is closely leant on van Hear (1998):

“A refugee crisis is an acute form of migration transition, involving sudden massive and disorderly population movements into a neighbouring country [or third country]. The term refugee underscores that refugees are people that have been forced to leave their country of origin for -most likely- a neighbouring country.”27

A refugee crisis involves different emergencies and requires multiple actors locally, regionally, nationally and transnationally, which shows the complexity and the difficulty of managing different and often clashing interests. Situations of refugee crises impose various challenges for which comprehensive approaches must be found in a quick manner. Although crises and emergencies have a rather negative connotation they should not be seen as something

27_{“The 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees (Art.1A (2)) refers to a refugee as: “Any person who}

owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country of his former habitual residence, is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” Compare Kushner, T. and Know, K. (1999), who, whilst mentioning other definitions of the term ‘refugee’, define refugees as…’people forced to flee outside their country of origin because of persecution…’ (Kushner & Knox, 1999: 10-13). They discuss the controversy the official 1951 UN definition has caused because it excludes people displaced en masse by warfare and those who have been uprooted due to violence but who have not left their country of origin, the internally displaced persons or IDPs. Whereas the former group seeks relief and protection in a neighbouring country or third country, IDPs (must) do so in the country where the emergency originated. Clearly, IDPs are amongst those who are in need of relief and protection. Maynard (1999) explains that UNHCR gives priority to those who fall under the original definition of a refugee. UNHCR provides qualifying refugees with basic security and material aid while in asylum, as well as assistance in voluntary repatriation and resettlement. However, UNHCR has extended its assistance and protection beyond those who meet the formal definitions of a refugee.” (Bos, 2003:75).

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21 completely negative or bad, they can induce opportunities for actual change. Referring to the word “massive” in the working definition it should be noted that not only masses of refugees impose certain challenges on governments, but also small numbers of refugees can cause crises and problematic situations, as was the case in 1956 in the Netherlands. In the aftermath of the Hungarian uprisings in October and November 1956 the Dutch government decided to grant asylum to 2,849 Hungarians (Hellema, 1990). Due to an increased fear towards communist tendencies at that time the Dutch government remained suspicious about the refugees and conducted screening methods in order detect possible communists among the incoming refugees.28 Although the number of refugees could perhaps not be understood as massive, the immigration of Hungarians still imposed a political crisis in the Netherlands at that time.29 Bos definition of a “refugee crisis” is arguably not perfect because it does not describe the dimension of relation more precisely. The question is also to which dimension the term “massive” refers to: the population of a host country taking in refugees; the economic strength of a host country; the size of a country; the social (in)stability of a country; or the cultural background of refugees? “Massive” population movements are therefore always a term that has to be seen in relation to its context and its interpretation. It is, therefore, the question of framing, of how for instance a government articulates immigration of people, but also the socio-economic context plays a major role in this respect. When a host country is already economically vulnerable because it is currently facing an economic recession, host governments and its citizens might be less welcoming. This aspect will be discussed in more detail in the next paragraph where the role of the state in regard to immigration is addressed.

3.2 The state and refugees

Jacobsen (1996: 670) delivers interesting insights towards the role of states vis-à-vis certain beliefs about refugees. Although her research mainly focused on factors influencing policy responses in times of refugee flows in developing countries, still most of the mentioned aspects can be observed in democratic, liberal countries as well. Jacobsen also focuses on the psychological angle when it comes to knowledge about refugees, which should not be

28_{Nationaal Archief, 3.03.89 Parket van procureur-generaal te ‘-Gravenhage 1945-1979, inv.nr.: 11, A 5/56,}

Notulen van de vergadering (29 november 1956) van procureurs-generaal, fgd. directeuren van politie in het ministerie van Justitie, 6 december 1956.

29_{For further information, see:} http://www.isgeschiedenis.nl/archiefstukken/hongaarse-vluchtelingen-in-nederland/ [Retrieved: 9 August 2016].

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22 neglected when talking about attitudes, beliefs and ideologies as well as about identities. She differentiates between “deserving refugees” and “opportunistic refugees” and in this respect mentions that the latter are less likely to be sympathized than the former. Deserving refugees are seen to be in real life threatening danger in their home countries and, therefore, are more likely to be welcomed and assisted in the host country (Jacobsen, 1996: 670). On the contrary, when refugees are believed or portrayed to have left their homes out of opportunity seeking (may it be for better living, working or social conditions or because they were being discriminated against due to their gender, religion or ethnicity) this eventually can lead towards refusal among the host population. Jacobsen builds her argument on the notion that knowledge about causes of outflow of refugees have an influence on community’s beliefs about the motivations of refugees to leave their home country (Jacobsen, 1996).

Referring to van Dijk’s (1997) observations about political discourse and racism, when a community is perceiving the conditions leading towards mass migration as serious and inevitable (e.g. civil war) then the causes and motivations to flee are believed to be appropriate (Jacobsen, 1996: 670). On the contrary, when causes and motivations are unknown or misinterpreted the sympathy of welcoming refugees will most likely decline and consequently get linked to sentiments of insecurity, fear or frustration.

The psychological aspect of fear and insecurity has been researched by Scheinman (1983) who argued that negative beliefs about refugees are likely to be linked with the sense of loss of control and fear of being overwhelmed by mass refugee influxes. It is not unusual that refugees have been associated with increased levels of crime and violence or even terrorist activities – even by political leaders. By imposing symbolic and systematic dimensions to the migration debate new sentiments and beliefs can occur which have a tendency to induce social tensions (Jacobsen, 1996; Scheinman, 1983). When looking at the societal responses in Germany they range from very positive, such as volunteering and assisting NGO’s and government organizations, towards extremely xenophobic debates and demonstrations towards fear mongering and violent attacks on refugee shelters such as increased cases of arson.30 This

30_{Gewaltwelle: BKA zählt mehr als tausend Attacken auf Flüchtlingsheime}_{(Spiegel Online), 28 January 2016.}

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23 means that not only refugees themselves are being considered as being inclined to crime, they often become the victims of criminal activity themselves, mostly by right-extremists or frustrated citizens who fear their social and economic resources will be taken away. Hence, fear in society can lead to radical opinions and actions and ultimately can lead to a constant perception of being at risk, which ties in with Beck’s concept of the risk society (Beck, 1986, 1992, 2002).

As mentioned earlier, attitudes and beliefs towards refugees are not stable, as recent events and neither are its respective discourses, so they can rather change negatively or positively “depending on the costs and benefits incurred by the community” (Jacobsen, 1996: 670-671). Influential effects on attitudes can come from refugee lobbies or voluntary organizations, media outlets, politicians, scholars, elite persons, universities and so on, but they can also be affected by changing circumstances in the sending country. To cite Jacobsen: “If peace comes, the host community may believe that the refugees should return home” (Jacobsen, 1996: 670). This change in attitude can lead from prior positive acceptance of the refugee’s right to ask for asylum to a notion of unacceptance.

In the wake of mass migration to neighbouring or third countries it is not unusual that new policy amendments, and migration and integration debates enter the political arena. In line with what was mentioned earlier - the connection of irregular migration with fear - it is observable that together with exclusionary mechanisms from social resources (i.e. housing, employment, health care, education and respect) and constant streams of gossip (Elias & Scotson, 1994: 18) ethnic minorities and refugees are being labelled and stigmatized which is justified by means of self-preservation and the defence of the in-groups own culture, identity31 and social model (Hampshire, 2013: 23; Overington, 1977; Uzunova, 2010: 301).

The concept of self-preservation and internal security in the light of refugee influxes has been researched earlier by Jacobsen and Wilkenson (1993). By introducing three dimensions of national security, they argue that a refugee influx can have the potential of influencing all three

31_{Discrimination is linked with the experienced threat to identity and culture (Thornton, 2014: 116) “whatever}

the outsiders’ culture may be, if it is different from the culture of the established, the established feel threatened by the outsiders’ different way of life” which then leads to exclusion.

The framing of the “refugee crisis” in German print media in 2015-2016 – The media discourse of focusing events by SPIEGEL ONLINE and BILD