MIMEDIS: The impact of media discourse on attitudes towards migration, migrants and migration policy in Slovakia

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MIMEDIS is a joint project of Institute of European Studies and International Relations at the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Comenius University in Bratislava, Department of Applied Informatics at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics at Comenius University in Bratislava, and Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies, funded by The Slovak Research and Development Agency. The four-year project started in July 2022. The main goal of the project is to study the impact of media discourse on attitudes towards migration, migrants and migration policy in Slovakia using a combination of computational natural language processing, automated content analysis and complementary qualitative and quantitative observational and experimental methods. We will also develop methods, techniques, resources and tools for automated analysis of textual content useful for exploring topics other than migration. More about the project.

Over the last decades and especially during the so-called "migration crisis" in 2015, migrants, migration and migration policies have become polarising political issues that have influenced and been influenced by public opinion not only in Slovakia but also in other European countries. Previous research abroad shows that media-mediated and framed information related to migration, migrants and migration policies plays a key role in shaping public opinion. Nevertheless, there is no research in Slovakia to date that focuses on the influence of media discourse on migration attitudes. There are also no analytical tools in the Slovak language to date for exploration of media discourse based on a robust analysis of a large amount of media content.

The aim of our project is to implement an integrative research programme on the impact of media discourse on migration attitudes and to develop innovative analytical tools for its implementation. In the project, we will leverage the interdisciplinary potential of the research team, which will allow us to use innovative approaches to computational natural language processing combined with expertise in media discourse and migration attitudes research. Through automated content analysis and complementary qualitative and quantitative observational and experimental methods, we will explore the longitudinal dynamics of the relationship between real events, media discourse and migration attitudes; the impact of media representations of migration categories, gender categorical typicality in media representations of migrants, and media signal about migration policy on migration attitudes; and the impact of actual media consumption on knowledge about migration and migration attitudes. We will also develop methods, techniques, resources and tools for automated analysis of textual content focused on migration issues in the Slovak language, which will also be useful for exploring topics other than migration.

Project goals

  1. Develop methods, techniques, resources and tools for the automated analysis of textual content focused on migration issues in the Slovak language, which will also be useful in the study of topics other than migration.
  2. Investigate the long-term dynamics of the relationship between real-world events (e.g. the so-called "migration crisis" in 2015), media discourse (media coverage, framing, emotions and sentiments related to migration) and attitudes towards migration, migrants and migration policies in the period from 2003 to 2022. The research will be carried out through automated analysis of media content and analysis of published opinion polls in the period in question.
  3. Examine the impact of media representations of migration categories (refugee(s), migrant(s), asylum seeker(s), and foreigner(s)) on attitudes towards migration, migrant people, and migration policies. The research will be conducted through automated content analysis, cognitive interviews and survey experiments.
  4. Examine the impact of gender categorical typicality in media representations of migrant people (migrant people referred to as 'migrants' or as 'male and female migrants') on attitudes towards migration, migrant people and migration policies. The research will be conducted through automated content analysis, cognitive interviews and survey experiments.
  5. Examine the impact of the media signal about migration policy (media coverage of the problems facing migration policies and the solutions they offer) on attitudes towards migration, migrants and migration policies. We will conduct the research through automated content analysis, cognitive and semi -structured interviews, and conjoint and survey experiments.
  6. Examine the impact of actual media consumption (consumption of media content in traditional and online, public and commercial, broadsheet and tabloid media) on knowledge about migration and on attitudes towards migration, migrants and migration policies. We will conduct the research through automated content analysis, cognitive interviews, multimedia electronic measurement of media consumption, a panel survey, and conjoint and survey experiments.

The four-year long project has a budget of 250,000 euro. It is supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency.

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