Mediation of Migration: Media impacts on Norwegian immigration policy, public administration and public opinion.

En oppdatert populærvitenskapelig framstilling på norsk er sendt in som "fakta-ark". Faktaarket "Innvandring i media" kan lastes ned her: http://www.forskningsradet.no/prognett-vam/Forskningsfunn/1254000272542 Prosjektets hjemmesider med oversikt over publikasjoner: http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/forskning/prosjekter/mediation-of-migration/

The media fundamentally affect how people perceive themselves and the surrounding world, how key societal institutions function and how democracy works. The present project investigates the dominant form and content of news stories on migration. We invest igate all main phases related to the mediation of migration: The information strategies and production processes behind the news; news form and content; as well as the effect of media coverage on public opinion in general and on perceptions among minority groups in particular. The project also compares Norwegian news accounts of migration with news discourses in other western countries marked by contrasting immigration histories. Finally it examines the role of the news media in loops of information betwe en immigrant groups in Norway and networks in sending countries of migrants, adding to the knowledge of migration flows and the globalisation of information. The project aims to uncover hitherto largely closed-off processes, revealing who the dominant act ors and stories in the media are, but also what kind of perspectives and what types of actors that are overlooked or even silenced. The investigation of the media's impact on public opinion on migration offers vital insights into how the media work to enc ourage democratic participation and inclusion on the one hand, exclusion, fear and alienation on the other. Of special interest to public governance is the project's exploration of whether the logics of the mass media modify the priorities and practices o f Government and public administration, and the subsequent allocation of resources in the welfare state. The role of the media in these processes is significantly under-researched. The project will contribute to a knowledge-based debate about the implicat ions of an expanding media logic in society, through an ambitious research design that combines interdisciplinarity, a range of methodological approaches, and that foregrounds international cooperation.