Kateřina Kirkosová and Michal Tkaczyk CZS55 3 October 2017 Czech media discourse on migration Content of the lecture • Introduction to the securitization theory • The media discourse and construction of reality • Exercise 1 • Agenda setting function of the media • Migration in ČR • Exercise 2 • The coverage of the European migration crisis in the Czech online news media • Discussion Theory of securitization • security problem – a situation, in which an event, a course of action or an actor is evaluated as a threat to the particular object of reference (person, nation, value system etc.) and thus requires safety measures to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the object of reference. • constructivist approach to security – an issue becomes a security threat not because it essentially is one, but because it is presented and perceived as such (Buzan, Weaver, de Wilde 1998: 24; Balzacq 2011:1). Theory of securitization • While security is an outcome of the process in which “(…) issue is presented as posing an existential threat to a designed referent object”, securitization is a process in which the existential threat is designed, so extraordinary means can be legitimized (Buzan, Weaver, de Wilde 1998: 25). • “Action outside normal political measures” (Buzan, Weaver, de Wilde 1998: 23-24). • Security sectors: Political, Military, Societal, Environmental, Economic Securitization theory and media (Vutlee 2011) Intersubjective frames, image repertoires, stereotypes, emotional appeals Reference object Heuristic artefacts (media content) metaphors, policy tools, image repertoires, analogies, stereotypes, emotions Heuristic artefacts (securitization speech acts) professional routines new values professional ideology political profile of media outlet Salience of the issue Media discourse and construction of reality • signifying power of media: power to influence knowledge, beliefs, values, social identities, social relations • media discourse is necessarily selective • on the side of production: limited range of media formats and products, limited sources • on the side of reception: selective exposure, selective perception, and selective retention • such selection helps to organize social reality into meaningful blocks and patterns (Berger – Luckmann: semantic fields) • on the other hand, these same selection simplify social reality (stereotypes, prejudices, labels) News values as rules for selection • concept of newsworthiness and news values (Lippmann, Galtung and Ruge) • different aspects of the news process (Caple and Bednarek) • News writing objectives: general goals associated with news writing, such as clarity of expression, brevity, colour, accuracy and so on; • Selection factors: any factor or criterion impacting whether or not a story becomes published, not necessarily values, for example, commercial pressures, availability of reporters, deadlines and so on; • News values: the ‘newsworthy’ aspects of actors, happenings and issues as established by a set of recognised values such as Negativity, Timeliness, Proximity, Superlativeness, Eliteness, Impact, Novelty, Personalisation, Consonance, Aesthetic Appeal Exercise • How are events represented? Is value of security relevant in here? How – security of whom is emphasized? At expense of who? • What identities are set up for migrants? What activities and characteristics are attributed to them? • What identities are set up for Czech people? Who represents them? • What relationships are set up between migrants and Czech people? What about journalists-politicians relationship? The migration crisis in news photography The migration crisis in news photography The migration crisis in news photography The migration crisis in news photography The migration crisis in news photography The migration crisis in news photography Media agenda setting • media discourse could be crucial when reporting affairs or events of which their recipient has no or only little experience • „migration crisis“ in Czech Republic • media agenda • political agenda • public agenda • media bias and concept of journalistic objectivity Migration in Czech Republic • In 2015 only 134 citizens of Syria, 38 citizens of Iraq and a few people from Afghanistan applied for asylum in the Czech Republic. • Not-authorized stay in ČR: Syria (2 016), Afghanistan (585), Iraq (404), all (8563) non-authorized migration in ČR 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 non-authorized migration in ČR Report on migration and integration of foreigners, Ministry of Interior Czech public on refugees as a threat The actuality of a threat - refugees 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2006 2007 2008 2009 serious threat 2010 small threat 2011 not a threat 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Czech public on refugees as a threat Actual threats for the Czech Republic refugees terrorism 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% serious threat small threat no threat don't know Exercise • How are events represented? Is value of security relevant in here? How – security of whom is emphasized? At expense of who? • What identities are set up for migrants? What activities and characteristics are attributed to them? What about specific wording (lexical choices)? • What identities are set up for Czech people? Who represents them? • What relationships are set up between migrants and Czech people? What about journalists-politicians relationship? The Czech news coverage on the European migration crisis Problem definitions in the analysed news items (Tkaczyk 2017) The Czech news coverage on the European migration crisis Discussed or presented solutions to the crisis (Tkaczyk 2017) ČT24.cz iDnes Novinky 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 border wall detention relocation quotas aid to the Middle East Migration in Czech Republic in Czech news media • Voices in the news coverage (Tkaczyk 2017) ČT24.cz 16 7 15 6 5 5 5 62 7 4 8 8 58 10 64 6 4 iDnes 10 Novinky Politician NGO representative Law-enforcement agencies representative Migrants Public institution representative Others Findings of CDA concerned with legitimization of security measures in the media representations of the European migration crisis in the Czech news media • News media discourse seems to echo political discourse, henceforth helps with  legitimation of „army solution“.  • Proposed security measures were legitimized by means of personal and  impersonal authority, moral evaluation, rationalization and mythopoesis.  • Czech online news media did very little or nothing at all to scrutinize or criticize  the government policy. • Actually, they even failed to explain to citizens the nature of the proposed security  measures (what was really pursued was mere personal reinforcement, not the  deployment of military).  Findings of CDA concerned with legitimization of security measures in the media representations of the European migration crisis in the Czech news media • H ow  d id  it h ap p en ? • A t th e level o f tex t: • L ex ical ch o ices:  w o rd s an d  p h rases b o rrow ed  an d  u n d istin g u ish ab le fro m  o fficial sp eech • G ram m ar: it p o rtrays p o litician s as th o se w h o  actively  d ecid e (m en tal an d  verb al p ro cesses), refu gees are p resen ted  as co n n ected  w ith   m aterial p ro cesses an d  o ften  p assiv ized • C o h esio n  an d  co h eren ce: it fo reg ro u n d s p o litician s actio n s an d  d ecisio n s an d  fu rth er d ram atizes th eir resu lts (h ead lin es, n ew s  stru ctu re) • In tertex tu ality: sh ared  p resu p p o sitio n s A t th e level o f d iscu rsive p ractice:  S ig n ifican t d ep en d en ce o n  g overn m en t so u rces w h ich  m an ifest itself in  th e stru ctu re o f vo ices in  n ew s sto ries Pecu liar n o tio n  o f o b jectiv ity: d esp ite o r rath er b ecau se o f jo u rn alists‘ en d eavo u r to  keep  th eir d isco u rse n eu tral, it is n o t –  fo r th ey  allow   sm o o th  d isp ersio n  o f p o litical d isco u rse w h ich  is not u n b iased . Valu e ju d gem en ts m ad e by  p o litical acto rs are n o t co n fro n ted  w ith   d ifferen t p ersp ectives an d  so lu tio n s U s­th em  d ich o to m y   • U s: p rep ared  an d  reaso n ab le • T h em : p assiv ized , u n o rgan ized , d an gero u s (f lo o d ) Discussion • In general terms, how was the European migration crisis covered by  news media in your country of origin? • Which frames and event definitions prevailed?  • Who could speak in news?