Media (co)Creation of "Refuge and Security Crisis" and Its Reflection at the National and Local Levels

Abstract

This article analyzes the political and media discourse about refugee migrations with emphasis on the period of mass refugee migrations in Europe from 2015 to 2016. In this case, the authors reveal typical characteristics of the securitization of migrations that are reflected in political, media and general discourse. They found that refugees are primarily seen as a security threat and are dehumanized, with which the media influences the perception of refugees in local environments and encourages negative responses from the local population, even moral panic. Critical discourse analysis, discovering the characteristics of media discourse of TV news Dnevnik on Slovenian national television, has shown that certain words, macropropositions, and video material that are used to describe the events, are highlight primarily the security aspect of refugee migrations, creating a feeling of danger and leading to furthering intolerance of the local population. The media mostly uncritically reproduce political discourse, while external voices that (co)created media discourse were mainly political decision makers. Humanitarian aspects are presented, but significantly disproportionately when compared to the prevailing security aspects.