Liam Donovan | 2026 I.S. Symposium
狈补尘别:听Liam Donovan
Title: Media Framing of Irregular Migration in United Kingdom News Coverage
Major: Political Science
Minor: Music
Advisor: Kent J. Kille
Irregular migration remains a major flashpoint in political discourse. With all critical issues, the mass media plays a role in shaping how events are viewed. When interpreting events, how the mass media constructs frames has an impact. The question this study poses is: how does the framing of irregular migration in the mass media contribute to the likelihood of a period of major political contestation occurring? This study synthesizes theory from both critical and constructionist framing scholars. A qualitative longitudinal content analysis is undertaken, analyzing articles from U.K. news sources. Three stages are examined: pre-Brexit referendum (January 1st, 2015, up to March 31st, 2015), the build up to the Brexit referendum (April 1st, 2016, up to June 23rd, 2016), and post-Brexit referendum (from June 24th, 2016, up to September 30th, 2016). Two framing categories are coded for: human-interest/humanitarian (HI/H) and threat/conflict (T/C). The study found that T/C framing was used more often overall, starting out as the most used category in the first time period. The second time period saw a decrease in HI/H framing with an increase in T/C framing. The third time period saw an increase in HI/H framing and a decrease in T/C framing; articles coded as N/A, heavily suggest alternative framing techniques being used. Analysis of the individual framing indicators additionally revealed how shifts in framing trends are apparent across ideologically opposed sources.
Posted in Symposium 2026 on May 1, 2026.
