eprintid: 279
rev_number: 13
eprint_status: archive
userid: 64
dir: disk0/00/00/02/79
datestamp: 2020-01-11 13:40:25
lastmod: 2020-01-11 14:53:50
status_changed: 2020-01-11 13:40:25
type: thesis
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Laumann, Katharina
title: Immigrant Representation in German Print 
Media During Selected Periods from 2015 to 
2019.
ispublished: pub
subjects: H1
subjects: HM
divisions: MAJ
full_text_status: public
keywords: Journalism, Media Communications, Immigrant, Refugee crisis, Immigrant representation in German media.
abstract: This dissertation investigates the way in which immigrants are represented in German print media 
since the beginning of the European “refugee crisis”. It seeks to answer the question of how 
immigrants are represented and if there are differences among different groups of immigrants with 
regard to their origin, gender, age, and religion. In addition, this dissertation also looks at texts that 
focus on broader themes of immigration and identifies trends within general immigration reporting.  
The research design followed a content analysis with quantitative and qualitative elements. The 
specific design was that of Mayring’s deductive category application, based on previous studies of 
immigrant representation in German media, mainly Haller’s study published in 2017. In contrast to 
previous studies, this dissertation looks at all immigrants and considers recent developments. 
The analysis focused on three newspapers, one tabloid (Bild) and two broadsheets (Welt and 
Frankfurter Rundschau), with different political alignments. It looked at three two-week periods from 
2015, 2017, and 2019 which together represent the development over the four-year period.  A pilot 
study was conducted after which a key word category was added to the coding schedule, and a list of 
search terms was compiled.  
The analysis revealed 576 articles containing explicit immigrant representation. The total number of 
articles that included the topic of immigration was much higher. Immigrant representation was not 
balanced. Young male Muslims from the Middle East were overrepresented. Women only appeared in 
a fifth of all articles. Immigrants were rarely contributing actively to immigrant representation.  
Overall immigrant representation was neutral with the conservative papers Bild and Welt including 
equal amounts of positive and negative coverage. The liberal Frankfurter Rundschau featured more 
positive mentions of immigrants, more mentions of women, and more mentions including active 
immigrant participation.  
Immigrants were mostly mentioned in the contexts of sports, crime, and integration and assumed roles 
as sports stars, criminals or victims, and refugee, asylum seeker, or immigrant. The most dominant 
group of immigrants also had the highest number of negative mentions.  
Those trends were enforced by general mentions of immigration which also revealed an ongoing 
struggle in Germany to come to terms with being an “immigrant nation” and in relation to Germany’s 
history as a divided nation. Old conflicts between East and West Germany resurface in the context of 
the “refugee crisis”. Furthermore, the immigrant background of a person is often not mentioned when 
it could be classified as positive representation. Instead, mentions are tied to stereotypes and 
prejudice. All theses trends should be addressed to improve immigrant representation. 
Future research should consider more newspapers and time frames and look at the East-West divide.
date: 2019-08
date_type: published
pages: 70
institution: Griffith College
department: Journalism & Media Communications
thesis_type: masters
citation:   Laumann, Katharina  (2019) Immigrant Representation in German Print Media During Selected Periods from 2015 to 2019.  Masters thesis, Griffith College.   
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/279/1/MAJMC-Katharina%20Laumann%202019.pdf
document_url: http://go.griffith.ie/279/2/MAJMC-Katharina%20Laumann%202019.txt