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Article published In:
Public Debates on Immigration
Edited by Andreas Musolff
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 5:2] 2017
► pp. 227–250

In transit

Representations of migration on the Balkan route. Discourse analysis of Croatian and Serbian public broadcasters (RTS and HRT online)

| Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway
| University of Oslo, Norway

This article investigates the representation of migration and migrants in Croatian and Serbian public broadcasters’ online portals during the “migrant crisis” in 2015/2016. The study shows that there are similarities in representations in the two portals at both the macro- and micro-linguistic levels. The migrants are generally represented in positive terms congruent with the official policies of Croatia and Serbia. However, this positive representation was frequently used for positive self-evaluation in contrast to negative evaluation of others – in this case, neighboring countries.

Keywords: migrants, refugees, Balkan route, Croatia, Serbia
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
  • 2.Methodology and theoretical framework
    • 2.1Methodology
    • 2.2Theoretical framework
  • 3.Results and discussion: Representation of social actors
    • 3.1Naming strategies, determination, and functionalization
    • 3.2(Moving) water metaphors
    • 3.3Representing social actions: Non-agency and conditional agency
    • 3.4Representing countries’ actions and views: Protecting one’s own interests versus competing to be the most humane country
    • 3.5Visual presentation of social actors and social actions
      • 3.5.1Photographs of migrants in groups
      • 3.5.2Photographs of children (and their mothers or families), and photographs in which single individuals are in focus
      • 3.5.3Photographs of politicians
      • 3.5.4Photographs with no apparent/visible social actors
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
  • Internet sources
  • RTS and HRT articles
Published online: 23 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.5.2.04fel
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Internet sources

All internet sources last accessed June 22, 2016.
BBC
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Bilefskysept, Dan
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RTS and HRT articles

RTS
2015 “Gde deca migranti idu u školu?” August 18. [URL]
2015 “Maloletni migranti laka meta za trgovce ljudima.” August 23. [URL]
2015 “Mađarska za zaštitu šengenske granice.” August 25. [URL]
2015 “Mađarska, suzavcem na migrante.” August 26. [URL]
2015 “Topla reč važna koliko i pomoć u hrani i piću.” August 27 (a). [URL]
2015 “Ne postoji mogućnost da migrant unesu oružje u Srbiju”. August 27 (b). [URL]
2015 “UNCHR: Izbeglica nije isto što i migrant.” September 2. [URL]
2015 “Migranti kod autobuske stanice mokri i neispavani.” September 5. [URL]
HRT
2015 “Damir Matković: Migranti, izbjeglice ili ljudi u nevolji?” September 7. [URL]
RTS
2015 “Hrvatska, albanski migrant kamenom gađao novinare.” September 17. [URL]
HRT
2015 “Do 22 sata u Hrvatsku ušlo više od 11.000 migranata, zatvoreno 7 graničnih prijelaza prema Srbiji.” September 17. [URL]
2015 “Izbjeglica, azilant, migrant – pojmovi koje morate znati.” September 18 (a). [URL]
2015 “U Harmici policija bacala suzavac na ljude.” September 18 (b). [URL]
2015 “Vojska nije u stanju pripravnosti, policija smirila stanje u Opatovcu “paprenim sprejem”.” September 23. [URL]
2015 “Migranti i izbjeglice neprestano pristižu u Opatovac.” September 25. [URL]
RTS
2015 “Preševo, migranti posle registracije nastavljaju dalje.” October 6. [URL]
2015 “Preševo, migranti žure da pre zime stignu u Evropu.” October 9. [URL]
2015 “Gužva na Berkasovu se ne smanjuje.” October 22. [URL]
2015 “Topla supa za hladne dane u izbeglištu.” November 24. [URL]
2015 “Migranti štrajkuju glađu u Češkoj.” November 11. [URL]
2015 “Gašić: Niko ne može nelegalno da uđe u Srbiju.” November 15. [URL]
HRT
2016 “Šesta beba izbjeglica rođena u Slavonskom Brodu.” February 24. [URL]
2016 “S.Brod: Nitko nije došao u prihvatni centar od 5. ožujka.” March 20. [URL]
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