ABSTRACT
For anyone wishing to understand public attitudes toward migration it is crucial to understand the role of the media and media discourses related to migration. This chapter thus sets the stage for subsequent chapters by outlining the role of the media in shaping people’s perceptions both in general and with respect to migration, explaining the purpose of the book, and describing actual immigration into Europe – including the share of immigrants in all member states within the European Union. It also reviews previous research pertaining to public attitudes toward migration, media discourses about migration, and media effects on attitudes toward migration, thereby identifying both what previous research has shown as well as important research gaps. One of the key results of this review is that there is a great need for cross-national research comparing not only public attitudes toward migration, but also media discourse about migration and media effects on public migration attitudes. Furthermore, it outlines the chapters in the book and describes key characteristics of the countries included in the study: Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
