IMER Master Thesis 1 Year

IMER Master Thesis 1 year

Spring 2015

GP501

“Who are they & why are they here?”

A media analysis of the negative portrayal of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press.

Author: Eleni-IoannaMalafouri 890301T289

Supervisor: Christian Fernandez

Examiner: Margareta Popoola

Aknowledgements

I would like to seize the opportunity to thank the department of Global & Political Studies of the University of Malmö for providing the most fostering environment for my academic development.

Special thanks to Christian Fernandez for his constant guidance that has been proven of immeasurable importance during the conduct of this dissertation and Joanna Tsoni for her advice and support. Many thanks to all my Master's colleagues, especially Charlotte Rasmussen, Kyle Campbell, RennatoJohnsson and Nara Farias who enriched my knowledge of the IMER field.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents for their undivided support and caring. To my close friend Chryssa for cultivating, day by day in our friendship, my sensitivity towards matters of migration and last but not least my fiancé, Socrates, for his unconditional love, company and support during the conduct of this thesis and in every aspect of my life.

Abstract

Eleni-IoannaMalafouri, International Migration and Ethnic Relations, University of Malmö.

Abstract of Master's Thesis, Submitted 22 May 2015: Who are they and why are they here? A media analysis of the negative portrayal of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press.

This study is an initial attempt to investigate the negative depiction of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press of the 2000s. Our goal is to identify the dimensions of negative image-making and discuss the dichotomy of the ''identity'' and the ''otherness'' projected in the contemporary press. In order to accomplish that, data, collected from selected articles in a number of best-selling Greek newspapers, were scrutinised with regards to their content, style of writing, presentation as well as their readability and triggering of a wider social discourse at the time of their publication. Using a retroductive approach, to wit travelling back and forth from the general phenomenon to specific incidents, we showed that via the presentation of the negative association of the immigrants with a) criminality, b) the obscure market and c) their unworthiness to bear national symbols, the mainstream Greek press intensifies the presence of certain dichotomies. Such dichotomies, as they appeared in the text and presentation of the articles, are the “identity” versus the “otherness”, “we” versus “they”, as well as one’s race “superiority” versus the “inferiority” of the other, “locals” versus “immigrants”.

Key concepts:media, media portrayal, Greece, immigrants, public sphere, representation, stereotyping, superiority, inferiority, newspapers, identity, otherness.

For all the “damned” of the world....

Table of Contents

1.Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1

1.1Statement of the topic and motives ……………………………………..…………...1

1.2Aim and research questions………………………………………………………..…2

1.3Outline of the thesis……………………………………………………………..……3

2Contextual Background and Prior Research…………………………………………...4

3Theoretical Framework………………………………………………………………..11

4Research Strategy and Methodology / Delimitations and Material Selection………...14

4.1Research Strategy……………………………………………………………….…..14

4.2Methodology and Delimitations……………………………………………….……14

4.3Resource Selection……………………………………………………………….…17

4.4Media Outlets…………………………………………………………………….…18

4.5List of Selected Articles……………………………………………………….……19

5Material Analysis……………………………………………………………………...21

5.1Immigrants and the impact on unemployment rates………………………………..21

5.2Immigrants bearing national symbols………………………………………………26

5.3Immigrants and their involvement in criminal acts…………………………..…….31

6Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….36

7Epilogue………………………………………………………………………………38

8References……………………………………………………………………….……41

8.1Greek Literature………………………………………………………………….....41

8.2English Literature……………………………………………………………..……43

8.3Digital Media Outlets………………………………………………………….…...44

1

“Who are they and why are they here?”

A media analysis of the negative portrayal of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press.

1. Introduction

1.1 Statement of the topic and motives

Drawing upon the fact that there is an acute turmoil taking place in the political scene of Greece as well as the recent media discourses over the immigrant shelters in the country, I have decided to set myself out on an investigation of the role of the media with regards to matters of immigration.

Greece being my homeland even more so within the framework of the current state of recession is the main reason for choosing to focus my academic investigation on its territories. Having studied and worked as a journalist in various Greek media, including the National Radio and Television of Greece (ERT S.A), I have always been sensitised in the media portrayal of immigrants and the discussions taking place over the notion of immigration; not to mention, from a more theoretical -or even philosophical- point of view the ways in which media have the capacity to influence the society.

Nevertheless, apart from my personal zeal, it is the country's current state that drew my attention towards a sociological approach on migration matters. On the dawn of the World War I and the Greek Civil War, Greece has been characterised by the mass flows of emigration. Especially during the latter, about 130,000 people were forced to seek asylum in other countries as political refugees (Vergeti, 2003).After the collapse of the USSR and the political instability in Albania in the 90's and the Middle East in the early 00’s (KassimisKassimi, 2004), Greece took a shift from being a sending country to a popular destination for immigrants, as well as a way-point for those involved in transit migration, aiming at entering Europe, given the country's geographical position. Being involved in the contemporary media of my country, I was always shocked by the aggregate presence of nationalism and the more often than not negative illustration of immigrants in the press or the TV. In that perspective, there is a justifiable question to be asked and it is what drove me to get involved with this attempt: Why would a society that has a great history of emigration keep a negative attitude towards the receiving immigrants?

1.2 Aim & Research Questions

Through this dissertation we intend to illustrate and discuss the ways in which the mainstream Greek press has presented the phenomenon of immigration from the first major inbound flow, during the 90's, up until today, on the back of a primarily negative bias.

In order to achieve our objectives, we have articulated one main research question that would function as the guideline of our investigation and three sub-questions that provide precision.

• In what ways does the mainstream Greek press sketch a negative portrait of the immigrants living in the country?

Sub-questions:

1. How are the negative images of immigrants projected in the mainstream Greek press identified?
2. What are the dimensions of the negative depiction of immigrants in the mainstream Greek press over the course of time?
3. Which are the main positions of the mainstream Greek press regarding negative representation of immigration?

1.3 Outline of the thesis

In order for this thesis to offer a neat overview of the phenomenon, it is divided in seven chapters. The first chapter serves as an introductory section that informs the reader over the aim of this study and the research questions to be answered.

The second chapter is comprised of a general background as well as the description of research conducted within the wider field, starting from the first attempts of the researchers to approach the phenomenon of immigration in Greece and moving on to more specific studies, closest to our own, aiming at the combination of migration, media and sociology studies.

In the third chapter we present the theoretical framework which will be used as an umbrella for our material analysis. In the course of this section, we will interrogate the concept of representation and stereotyping in the press, as well as the dichotomies formed, such as the rhetorics of superiority / inferiority, identity / otherness, we / they.

The fourth chapter is dedicated to the methodology followed in order for us to approach the answers of this thesis' research questions and draw our conclusions in a reliable way. In this section, we present our research approach, the selection of our material, a brief description of the Greek press background as well as a list of the articles used in our analysis.

The material analysis of our research takes place in the fifth chapter that is divided in three subsections, according to the three axes of investigation, which will be identified and justified in prior chapters. Each subsection contains a concluding summary, where the essence of the analysis is offered in a condensed form.

The sixth chapter of the thesis is comprised of a discussion based on the material analysis findings and the theoretical framework projected to the wider, general Greek media discourse over the phenomenon of immigration in the country.

Last but not least, chapter seven contains a brief summary of our attempt along with our suggestions for further investigation of the matter in question.

2. Contextual Background & Prior Research

In this chapter we shall present a contextual background as well as an overview of the prior research, in order to provide the reader with a fair knowledge of the country's situation and the academic exploration of the wider field. Initially, studies from the migration field in Greece, which is our target-country, will be presented in order to help us acquire a comprehensive understanding so much of the academic background but also the country's state. As we move on, we will present interdisciplinary-multidisciplinary academic attempts, thus, a number of studies that have approached the matter of the media representation of immigrants will be thoroughly discussed.

It is imperative to acknowledge that prior research conducted in the field has served as a compass for the realisation of this thesis by providing us with an ample understanding of the background as well as guiding us towards the selected methodology in order to produce inferences of academic interest and possibly entry points for future research.

Overview & Discussion

Even though we observe a large and constant activity in the wider field of media and migration, with regards to academic research that can function as the basis of our study, unfortunately, interdisciplinary studies that combine these sectors have drawn little interest in the case of Greece. Being a country in progressive recession for several years, the academia has mostly approached ''practical'' issues, most of the times addressed with quantitative methods, aiming at the tackling of the crisis and the identification of the problem, especially since it is the state that mainly finances the researches. According to Stratoudaki H. (2008:9), though, an absence of theoretical continuity as well as of methodological consistency can be observed, even in studies that have been carried out on behalf of the same financier, hindering the possibility of imprinting with clarity the progress of the situation of immigrants in the Greek society. A reason for this discontinuity, apart from the dearth of the financial capital, is also the notion of ''illegality'' surrounding the perception of the immigrants by the polity, by the time of their entrance to the denial of their permit, a fact that has been an obstacle for the researchers that have been willing to approach immigrants as part of their studies, especially the ethnographic ones. (Stratoudaki H. 2008:10)

Scholars such as Stratoudaki (2008), ZografakisKasimis (2014) and Lianos (2004) who concentrated in the investigation and criticism of the recent research field, suggest that immigration issues come and go from the academic foreground depending on the political and economic agenda of the state as well as the appearance of incidents and their severity over the course of the years.

According to Stratoudaki (2008) the basic thematic axes, id est the ones that seem recurrent to a number of studies, regard the a) demographic characteristics, composition and miscellaneous features of the incoming populations, b) the integration of immigrants in the Greek market, state institutions and the rights of the immigrants, c) the transformation of Greece from being a sending country to being a receiving one, d) border control issues and to a much lesser extend e) the public opinion towards immigrants and their representation by the Greek Media.

Initially, the first studies came to the foreground a few years after the first immigration flow[1], triggered by the collapse of the Central Eastern European communist regimes in 1989 and the political instability of neighbouring countries such as Albania and Bulgaria. (Triantafillidou, A. & Marourof, M., 2009) These first attempts of approaching the issue concentrated on the axis of identification of the incoming populations and their demographic characteristics, as well as matters such as the human, social and cultural capital. Taking out of the equation studies regarding repatriate Greeks, where information and knowledge were more easily acquired, it was only after the Green Card (residence permit) issuing that researchers could approach immigrants in order to conduct their studies, free from the umbrella of ''illegality'' that was covering their situation after their entrance in the country. Notwithstanding the popularity of such mainly quantitative studies, though, many gaps are observed and many conceptual shifts are not addressed, indicating the need for further research with methodological continuity and homogeneity.

Another appealing subject for the researchers has been the matter of economic integration of the immigrants and the impact of their presence in the economic state of the country. Driven by statistical data, many scholars have occupied themselves with studies regarding the economic shift of the state and the impact of the new-comers to the employment sector. Nevertheless, apart from the fact that such studies are dated mainly during the 1990's and the early 2000's - thus contemporary research is rather scarce- according to Stratoudaki(2008), certain irregularities have been observed regarding the samples and the methods of categorisation, namely the absence of distinction between regular and irregular immigrants and the clarification of the ''productive age'', in the majority of these researches.

What seems to be of a central importance to a number of scholars -mostly historians- , as well, is the reasons why Greece took a turn from being a sending country during the times of political instability and warfare to being a receiving country despite the fact that its economic status was not favourable or even solid.

On a different axis, we also find studies focusing on deportation, border issues as well as the past and current immigration policies of Greece, especially at the time of the country's incorporation in the EU and the inauguration of the FRONTEX regulations. Most of the studies are addressing the challenges of border trespassing especially in the Aegean – in islands such as Lesvos, Chios- as well as the river Evros at the northeastern part of Thrace, the northern borders and the isle of Corfu.

Nevertheless, as mentioned above, little research has been conducted regarding the sociological aspect of the phenomenon, much more the media representation of immigrants and the public opinion towards them. (Triantafillidou, A. & Marourof, M., 2009) This, though, does not mean that this sector has attracted zero attention. As mentioned in Lianos, T. (2004), several studies within the sociology field, both quantitative and qualitative have produced results that show (a) an increase in criminality with regards to immigration, (b) the slow process of immigrants' integration in the Greek society as well as c) evidence of racism and xenophobia and its negative consequences for both immigrants and Greeks.[2] However, there are numerous research gaps until nowadays with regards to social integration, demographic development, housing, social security, immigrant contributions, the role of the state etc. mainly because of the low or non-existent budget that academic institutions receive from the state at the era of the financial recession.

Moving forward to research that contemplates on the public opinion towards immigrants in Greece we come across studies conducted by Greek or foreign national scholars, using different methodological frameworks, initiated from different perspectives, and, thus, producing varying results and conclusions. Most of the studies, generated by interviews, focus groups and questionnaires intended to show evidence of xenophobic feelings or racism in the Greek society by focusing on specific groups of the population, classified by social class, gender, economic class or even area of residence. (Stratoudaki, H. 2008) These studies shed light for the first time to the matter of the perception of “aliens” and the “other” in the public opinion's collective mind. According to studies conducted by FragoudakiDragona (1997), Voulgaris (1995), Michalopoulou et al. (1998), TriantafillidouMarourof (2009) Greek society is characterised by mixed feelings with regards to immigrants, depending on the target group, with a positive tendency as we move on to more recent scholar attempts. This positive trend could be explained by contemplating on the initial cultural, political and financial shock of the Greek population after the first immigration flow[3] and the time that was given to the society in order to come to terms with the new situation.

However, with the onset of the economic crisis, xenophobia and racial violence escalated substantially, while only presented in certain incidents by a few studies. (Edwards,M.B., 2014) The reason behind scarce representation of this phenomenon, according to Edwards M.B. (2014:12) is the official indifference, coated with the no formal registering of racial violence incidents by the authorities as well as by the appearance of far-right, extremist parties, most importantly L.A.O.S and Golden Dawn. The MNS report for 2012 reported 154 incidents over 2012, mostly physical violence carried out by organized groups –many linked to Golden Dawn. Edwards' research also steps on an interesting quote from the campaign speech of the then Prime Minister, A. Samaras, who urges the citizens to vote for him in order to reclaim the Greek cities from the immigrants, addressing them all as “illegal”.[4]

Following the influence of public discourse with regards to such matters, as immigration, we have come across studies that investigate into the ways the Greek media portray the immigrants that live in the country. Media's contribution in the construction and interpretation of reality is an attractive theme that is constantly being explored by researchers in a wide spectrum of fields. Research that has been done with regards to the Greek media and the representation of immigrants is mostly dated from the early 1990's up to the first years of the 21st century, thus, as mentioned above, little scholar activity is being observed recently. Most of the studies are of qualitative nature, the majority of which follows the methodological approach of discourse, content and text analysis; thereby, little inferences and almost no generalisation can be drawn regarding the severity of the findings and their impact in a wider scale. (Stratoudaki, M. 2008) During the first immigration flow, characterised by large numbers of Albanian immigrants, Koiliari, A. (1997: 43) suggests a rather negative portrait of the immigrants in the Greek press which, as she mentions, exposes the reader to ''a group of people that appeared to be hopeless within the borders of their country and have come to his/her own country in order to take advantage of, many times at his/her own expense, the opportunities for wealth and work.'' The recurring characteristics of the published articles, according to the author, have shown a tendency of implying that (a) immigrants should be considered as a threat to the cultural values of the society, (b) described as the opinion of the societal majority, (c) more talk is taking place regarding the criminality of immigrants but less or no talk concerning the problems that immigrants are facing and (d) matters of racism and xenophobia are scarcely discussed.