Is There a Difference Between Refugees and Refugees? : A text analysis of UK media presentation of Ukrainian refugees 2022 and Middle Eastern refugees 2015

Abstract: This paper compares how the UK news media presents refugees from the Middle East in 2015 and Ukraine 2022. Studies such as Zawadzka-Paluektau (2022) have found that in other European news media large differences in the presentation of European and non-European refugees can be observed. This study aims to build on this research. In order to do this the study carries out a text analysis of articles by two prominent British newspapers: The Guardian and The Daily Mail. The articles are analysed using a framing method, using the frames “human interest”, “economic consequence”, “moral duty”, “responsibility” and “voice” to get a broad understanding of the presentation of refugees and how they differ between articles regarding refugees 2015 and 2022.  The study concludes that there are several differences between the media presentation of refugees during the analysed refugee waves. Ukrainian refugees were generally presented in a less negative light, as victims in need of support, whereas Middle Eastern refugees were often presented as a burden on the receiving society or even a threat. Large differences between the two newspapers were also found, the Guardian generally being more positive or humane and the Daily Mail having a harsher presentation of refugees.