Migration and Migrants Issues in the Russian Media: the Image of a «Foreigner» and the Problem of Informational Objectivity

<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Nowadays, journalists are faced with many challenges that have arisen from the increase in globalization. They have to find methods on successfully dealing with new phenomena, which have appeared as a result of the globalization process. One of the most important distinguishing facets reshaping the modern world is global migration. This research is dedicated toward addressing the issue of migrants and migration in Russian media, specifically in dealing with the image of a &laquo;foreigner&raquo; and a problem of information objectivity.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being the main platform for public discussion and also a tool for indirect communication for different social groups, including representatives of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, media is able to affect migration process in a variety of ways: &nbsp;</p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; they determine the attitude towards migration by shaping the image of migrants;</p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; they have an effect on the decision of potential migrants to move by representing the destination country;</p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; they influence on the self-identity of migrants (invention of the term <em>kavkazets</em> was and its subsequent adoption by the origins from the North Caucasus);</p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; they are considered a platform for communication between migrants and native inhabitants;</p><p style="margin-left:36.0pt;">&middot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; they allow migrants to remain connections with members of the same ethnic group and with country of origin.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Recent years the works which study media-migration relationship in Russia has being growing rapidly. A perusal of such kind of researches reveals that all of them concentrate on а description of а current situation while practically no attention has been paid to its roots and causes. In this paper it was made an effort to research the issue in dynamic.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In order to elucidate the main tendency in coverage of the issue of migration and migrants by the Russian media and analyze the image of &laquo;a foreigner&raquo; as portrayed by them today, three main periods in Russian modern history which most influenced this process were distinguished. The first period embraces the early 1990s and was marked by the first large wave of international immigration from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and of the forced migrants from the Russia&rsquo;s North Caucasus. The other two periods which are dated by the first half of 2000s and the early 2010s, respectively, are characterized by the high level of internal mobility. While in 2000s it was triggered by the consequences of the Second Chechen war, nowadays it is more influenced by the economic commonwealth difference in different regions of Russia.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Content analysis of the media texts published in the abovementioned periods allows to conclude that Russian media portrays a negative image of the migrants and migration. In most cases migrants are mentioned in the context of crime or any kind of conflict. This tendency is rooted to the political process in modern Russian history, specifically during the periods when today&rsquo;s migrants were considered enemies (Chechen terrorists or oppressors of Russians in the other countries of the former USSR). In those periods media transmitted a more radical position towards migrants. Public opinion and media policy were divided between two sides. Today, since armed conflicts between these groups no longer exist, media portrayal of migrants has become less radical while negative prejudices are met in a higher number of media texts though in more mild forms.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It seems that the role and power of media in our multicultur