Islamophobia and Media Representation of Refugees in Serbia

Abstract

This article seeks to respond to the following questions: How do the print media in Serbia report on refugees, asylum-seekers and refugee affairs; what effect is achieved through this type of media representation; and is there “Islamophobia pushing” through media. In the course of the media analysis this study examined various national dailies as well as the leading websites during the year of 2015 by focusing on specific articles that are able to contribute to the overall aim of the study. A total of eight Serbian newspapers were sampled: Alo, Informer, Kurir, Pravda, Telegraf, Danas, Politika and Blic as well as various leading websites. Although the wars in the former Yugoslavia ended twenty years ago, consequences of these wars are still visible in the Western Balkans and as will be demonstrated on the case study of Serbia in particular. In the past Islamophobic incidents in Serbia, a post-conflict society, were not rare. Islamophobic incidents to some extent are still present in Serbia, especially in the areas of paramount importance such as the media and therefore this phenomenon will also be analyzed in the context of media representation.

Keywords

• Media,Refugees,Migrants,Serbia,Islamophobia

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