MIGRANTS AND MEDIA NEWSMAKING PRACTICES

European societies are becoming increasingly multicultural and ethnically diverse as a result of immigration. This change, however, is not properly reflected in the European mass media, neither in the portrayal nor in the representation of immigrants in the mainstream media. The aim of this paper is to analyse the newsmaking routines of mainstream newspapers and TV channels in six European countries (Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland amd the United Kingdom) with a view to showing which factors mostly influence these routines. We analyse the impact of three factors on the making of migration-related news: (1) the news value of such news; (2) the role of newsmaking routines and in particular who selects what is published and why; and (3) the availability of alternative sources and the journalists' trust of different types of news sources. Our study shows that while migrant media follow the general rule that something negative has a higher news value, they are also bound up with additional challenges—notably that media do not cover migration as a topic regularly, that media outlets have a given “line” of coverage concerning migration and this contributes to shaping what kind of news are reported. Third, journalists are not always well networked with migrant sources to have access to them. While the rule of thumb “you have to talk to people who are directly involved” holds, not all journalists devote the necessary energy and time to present a balanced coverage of migration-related issues.

For a full explanation of the methodology of the research project, please see the introduction in this themed section: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2012.740213.     

新闻采访方法新探

新闻采访既是新闻写作中实践性、操作性很强的一门学问．也是具有该学科学理性的一门科学。如新闻写作方面的基本概念、基本原则和一般规律等等。初学只有认真领会、研究和运用这些规律、方法和技巧．才能成为一名合格的新闻工作。