Media Coverage of Migrants in Serbia: Between Humanitarian and Security Frameworks (2021–2024)
Keywords:
migration crisis, migrants, refugees, otherness, Serbia, media reportingAbstract
Following the onset of the migrant crisis—one of the greatest global challenges of the past decade—Serbia became a key transit country and one of the final stops for migrants en route to the European Union. The migrant crisis in Serbia has raised important questions regarding migration management processes, in which the media play a significant role. This paper analyzes the coverage of migrants in Serbian daily newspapers during the period from 2021 to 2024. The research sample includes 1,001 articles published in five selected dailies: Blic, Danas, Informer, Kurir, and Politika. The articles were selected and retrieved from the Ebart media archive database. Media reporting on migrants in the 2021–2024 period is marked by a gradual shift from coverage framed predominantly in humanitarian terms toward a security-oriented framework. Unfortunately, both of these interpretive frameworks, each in its own way, tend to objectify migrants by viewing them through the lens of “otherness,” thereby contributing to increased social distance and impeding the processes of social inclusion in Serbian society.
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