Diaspora journalism’s coverage of migration: How the Irish diaspora press reported the refugee crisis

Abstract

Irish diasporas have a long history of multidirectional and multigenerational migration with large communities sustaining successful commercial diaspora news media organizations. Such complex migration patterns often result in the hybridization of identities whereby the migrant group develops cultural identities that are different from the ‘homeland’ and each other. Diaspora media operate as important cultural landmarks that mediate the representation of home and hostland identity, providing a rich set of cultural building blocks with which diaspora communities can identify. Indeed, comparative studies have shown diverse representations of Irish diasporic identities and history in Irish diaspora news media located in different parts of the world. However, to date much of the focus has been on the representations of historical events such as the Famine the 1916 Rising. What is not yet clear is how identity is represented in relation to contemporary news events. Using framing analysis this article compares how Irish diaspora news media located in different regions draw on Irish diasporic identity to represent the appropriate responses of Irish diasporans and Irish people to the Refugee crisis in 2016 finding that while there are some variances, a unifying message dominates.