Brief Award, Mediated and constructed images of refugees by the Turkish alternative and mainstream media and the causal factors behind them

Since the Syrian conflict started in 2011, the world has been witnessing one of the worst “refugee crises”. According to UNHCR (2021), 82.4 million refugees were displaced at the end of 2020. The so-called crisis prompted a rise, visibility and mainstreaming of racism at an alarming level on social media in hosting countries. This is particularly true of Turkey, which has been the primary destination for the refugees and a key transition point for those who want to cross into EU. As of 2021, there are over 4 million refugees and asylum seekers in Turkey (World bank group, 2021). Such a sudden increase in refugee numbers has critical implications for the host society and for refugees. While refugees struggle to survive, their plight attracts growing media coverage leading to increasing anti-immigrant sentiment and growing attacks towards refugees’ homes and businesses (Yackley, 2021). Media has a special role for social acceptance and maintaining the conflicts at a very minimal level. How media represents the crisis affect audiences' interpretations and responses to the refugees (Aliefendioglu, 2018 and Narli et al., 2019). Based on this background, this project aims to 1) examine the frames used by both alternative and mainstream media journalists in Turkey while covering the refugees, and 2) explore the different factors behind the way journalists select their news. Hence, the project also provides a unique opportunity in understanding the external and internal factors behind journalists’ behaviours.

People

	Name	Telephone	Email	Office
	Dr Billur Ozgul Senior Lecturer in Political Communications (Principal investigator) T: +44 (0)1895 267943 E: billur.ozgul@brunel.ac.uk	+44 (0)1895 267943	billur.ozgul@brunel.ac.uk	Marie Johoda 213