Attitudes to Migration and the Market for News

Razi Farukh (), Matthias Heinz (), Anna Kerkhof () and Heiner Schumacher
Additional contact information
Razi Farukh: Department of Economics, University of Cologne
Matthias Heinz: University of Cologne, ECONtribute, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, and CEPR
Anna Kerkhof: Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, ifo Institute for Economic Research, bidt Graduate Center CESifo
Heiner Schumacher: University of Innsbruck and KU Leuven

No 248, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: Do news outlets push overly positive or negative attitudes to migration in their coverage, or do they try to maintain a neutral and holistic perspective on the topic? To study media slant in the context of migration, we collect and code migration-related pictures that news outlets publish and – to establish a benchmark – compare them to the pictures that pro- and anti-migration ideological campaigns use in promotion materials. We find that most national news outlets in Germany adopt an attitude to migration that is closer to pro- than to anti-migration campaigns. All news outlets except one tabloid newspaper maintain their attitude to migration even when consumers become more critical of migration over time. Moreover, all news outlets use pictures with very diverse evaluations. Their position on migration largely follows their political orientation. We also use our method to compare the media slant in the context of migration between Germany, Hungary, and the US.

Keywords: News Markets; Media Slant; Polarization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D83 L82 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 63 pages
Date: 2023-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig
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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_248_2023.pdf First version, 2023 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:248

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