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DMM07 Diaspora, Diversity & Identity
PP 724
Ethnic Diversity in Entertainment: The Representation of Minorities in Fictional and Non-Fictional Television Programs
A. Beier
1
, S. Paasch-Colberg
1
, A. Fehr
1
1
Freie Universität Berlin, Institut for Media and Communication Studies - Media Analysis / Research Methods, Berlin, Germany
In times of increasing globalization and rising numbers of refugees arriving in Europe, the representation of ethnic minorities in mainstream media is
still a highly relevant research field. Based on different theoretical concepts, scholars argue that the public representation of a social group is crucial for
its integration: It is hypothesized that the portrayal of a minority group, on the one hand, affects the self-perception of minorities as a part of society
and, on the other hand, influences the majority’s perception of the minority (Vlasic 2004). However, we know little about how minorities are portrayed
in entertainment programs, which, at the same time, are a substantial part of the audiences’ daily television intake. So far, empirical research focuses on
the question howminorities are represented in news coverage. A cross-national study investigating print and television news of 15 European states showed
similar patterns in the coverage of ethnicity in these countries: Minorities are under-represented in the news and news stories with an ethnic dimension
are characterized more negatively than non-ethnic stories (Ter Wal 2004). Naturally, entertainment – other than news – has a larger margin to portray
minorities positively. North American studies show that ethnic characters in television fiction are often subject to negative stereotyping. However, they also
found instances of counter-stereotyping (Mastro/Greenberg 2000). In Europe, research on minority representation in entertainment is still rare. Existing
studies mainly focus on fiction with a plot centered on migration issues (e. g. Ortner 2007). This paper takes a new angle: We ask whether the identified
patterns regarding minority portrayal in news coverage can also be observed in television entertainment. In contrast to existing studies, we analyze conven‑
tional television entertainment, which means programs that do not necessarily focus on ethnicity. This perspective requires the methodological discussion
of how ethnicity can be measured in programs that do not primarily deal with this issue. Furthermore, this paper investigates to what extent minorities
are represented in various programs and on different stations. Finally, we examine if minorities mainly appear to be active or passive actors. To answer
these questions, we conducted a content analysis of the eight biggest television stations in Germany whose programs were recorded for one day in April
2015. The material was classified by formal characteristics; all information-based genres and non-domestic entertainment productions were excluded from
further analysis. In total, 57 entertainment programs produced in Germany were identified. They add up to more than 67 hours of screening and include
films and series, ‘classic’television shows, a casting show and scripted reality shows. Regarding the methodological questions, our paper shows that ethnic
diversity can be measured in a twofold way: The group status (majority/minority) was coded for every character engaged in the plot or the show. Secondly,
all public scenes and shots of the audience were analyzed. Results show that diversity is portrayed in all genres and by public as well as private broadcasters.
Furthermore, the audience is explicitly made aware of the ethnicity of active characters most of the time.
PP 725
Recipients’ Framing of “Europe’s Refugee Crisis” on YouTube. A Quantitative Content Analysis of Public Comments
K. Elbrecht
1
, M. Begemann
1
, A. Karapetyan
1
, L. Schneider
1
1
University Bremen, Institute of Media History- Media and Communication Studies, Bremen, Germany
As issues of migration get widely and controversially covered by the media we were interested in how audiences interpret“Europe’s refugee crisis”. Referring
to framing as theoretical background, namely the definition by Entman (“To frame is to select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more
salient […] to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation […].”), we used
quantitative content analysis to investigate how people expressed their thoughts about refugees coming to Europe in comments posted on YouTube. Even
though, discussions in social media are only a small and notably part of people’s everyday communication they expose relevant patterns of interpretation
among recipients – being also observable retrospective. Our study covers two related questions: RQ1) Which frames/ frame elements are addressed in
YouTube comments on“Europe’s refugee crisis”? RQ2) Does the allocation of frame elements changed during the period under study?We included 869 posts
(mostly written in German/ August 2015–January 2016) commenting on 21 diverse videos (having at least 1000 views, not longer than 4 minutes and
tagged by the topic “refugees”) which were released during last summer’s onsetting debate (July–September 2015). Each of the four set frame elements
(as theoretical suggested) was measured by a separate category. Additionally, we adopted frames from studies on migration (e.g. from d’Haenens & Bink
2007; Thorbjørnsrud 2015) to settle them at the content level. Here, it has to be mentioned that limitations of reliability from the 10 coders involved were
not based on (in)accurately identifying the presents of an element but mostly due to different decisions about which frame it genuinely belongs to. Analysis
show dominating frames concerning the threat of terror, questions of integration and of administration, addressed in 11%, 11%, and 9% of all comments as
problem definition (=RQ1). Not all interpretations corresponded to frames we had deductively determined. Moreover, only 15% of all comments included
a frame consisting of all belonging elements. Results leaving open if it might a) not be convenient to include a complete self-contained frame into a rather
short comment or b) not be even necessary for writers/ readers of comments to do so because of the mutual activation connecting different elements. As
important events and changes in news reporting can alter public discourse interpretations of recipients should be measured repeatedly (Brosius & Eps
1995). To investigate and exemplarily illustrate such possible discontinuity we compared comments posted in the months before and after the attacks in
Paris on November 13
th
2015. Although the frame denoted to the threat of terror was already frequently addressed before the attacks (problem definition
in 11% of all relevant comments (n=600)), the reference to it increased in the following months (15% of n=123) pointing to changes in the framing
of “Europe’s refugee crisis”(=RQ2). Investigating audience’s (changing) interpretation of such a “paramount discontinuity”give insights in how people use
information, (try to) make sense of it in a way that might resonate with existing and form impressions by communicating their thoughts to others.