Image, Emotion, and the Framing of the European Migration Crisis

The European migration crisis has become one of society’s most pressing social issues with thousands of people dying while trying to enter Europe, predominantly from north Africa and the Middle East. Despite extensive coverage across the media, the image of three year old Alan Kurdi lying dead in the surf on a Turkish beach caused an immediate shift in public and political debates. In the United Kingdom, rather than being characterized as an immediate threat to the social and economic well-being of UK citizens, those fleeing their home countries were viewed much more sympathetically. Drawing on an analysis of the UK newspaper industry, we examine how this shift in framing of the debate took place. In so doing, we theorize the links between images, emotions and media frames to offer insights into the dynamics of frame resonance over time. We also examine the implications of our findings for understanding media-driven responses to societal issues.

Should you want to attend this talk, please register by sending a message to Thinley Tharchen at: tharchen@em-lyon.com by Tuesday 20. We will order a free sandwich for you (please mention any dietary preference).

Don’t miss John’s interview, by our fabulous PhDs

Interview by emlyon Ph.D. student Samantha Ortiz Casillas and STORM post-doc Thinley Tharchen.
Camera and editing by STORM post-doc Thinley Tharchen.