Refugee, or who? The image of refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border in Internet news portals – legal and criminological aspects Cover Image

Uchodźca, czyli kto? Wizerunek uchodźców na granicy polsko-białoruskiej w internetowych portalach informacyjnych – aspekty prawne i kryminologiczne
Refugee, or who? The image of refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border in Internet news portals – legal and criminological aspects

Author(s): Karolina Bloch, Magdalena Cembala, Agata Jankowska, Daniela Jaz, Łukasz Kuliński, Nel Makowska, Natalia Ołdak, Agnieszka Porębska, Anna Rutka, Adrianna Trusińska, Nicole Wieczorek
Subject(s): Media studies, Criminology, Migration Studies, Ethnic Minorities Studies, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Kryminologiczne im. prof. Stanisława Batawii
Keywords: refugees; border; Poland; Belarus; crisis; media; Internet; image; semantic fields theory;

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt to answer the question about the legal and criminological consequences of how internet news portals presented refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border in connection with the crisis that took place in 2021. For this purpose, an analysis of the semantic fields of the term „refugee” was conducted, using the theory of semantic fields. The results of the study allowed for the identification of selected consequences of building a specific image of refugees by information portals. The analysis highlights the problem of using the term „refugee” by the media, regardless of the legal definition of the term, and treating such terms as a refugee, immigrant, and foreigner as synonyms. The authors also analysed whether the image of refugees created by information portals may contribute to the creation of unfavourable social attitudes towards this group. Due to the introduction of the exceptional state, the analysis also focused on issues related to the information function of the media.

  • Issue Year: 2021
  • Issue No: 28
  • Page Range: 19-56
  • Page Count: 38
  • Language: Polish