Description
The outbreak of a pandemic inevitably links with migration since containment measures usually involve the closure of borders. In the current globalized world, the most effective way to contain the spread of diseases is to limit the movement of people within and between borders, but there is also a more subtle relation between both phenomena. When a new threatening virus appears, people tend to make sense by objectifying the ‘invisible other’ as an invader, an enemy or an immigrant.In the context of Portuguese migratory phenomenon, the mediated discourses of these intertwined crises are varied and multifaceted, reflecting the country’s postcolonial peculiarity as both a provider of emigrants and host country to different fluxes of migrants. As we will critically analyse, the Portuguese emigrants and the migrants from distinct geographical origins, with also distinct migratory statuses in Portugal, were differently framed in news pieces related to Covid-19 pandemic.
Through a framing analysis of pieces published between 2020 and 2021 in the influential newspapers Expresso and Diário de Notícias, and the tabloid Correio da Manhã, we will discuss how this unstable coverage dialogues, and collides, with the deep social imaginary of Portuguese emigration and the common-sense idea of a Lusophone space characterized by the harmonious conviviality of different people.
The analysis will focus on pieces’ main themes, the reasons for and the responses for the topics covered, with special attention to the pieces about the Portuguese emigrants, in which they were sometimes paradoxically framed as a threatening ‘Other’ bringing the virus to homeland and, sometimes, as the privileged representatives of Portuguese national identity who needed to be support. We will also focus on three highly mediated occurrences: the promulgation of temporary laws to regularize the status of immigrants and asylum seekers during the pandemic, the outbreaks of infection among asylum seekers sheltered in overcrowded hostels, and the wide criticism following the government’s request of private houses to shelter immigrant agricultural workers under quarantine.
While the promulgation of regulatory laws was predominantly framed in a (self)celebratory tone reminiscent of the colonial imagery, emphasizing the exceptionally of the Portuguese people, the framing of the other issues was distinct. The concern with the arrival of Portuguese emigrants, the outbreaks at hostels, and the infuriation of people who did not want immigrants infected with Covid-19 near to them generated varied and fragmented frames, bringing to the fore the (un)established narrative around the Portuguese national identity. By simultaneously colliding with the prestigious position acquired by the emigrants after the decolonization and the widespread idea of an absence of racism among Portuguese people, the media framing of these issues was a symptom of the crises itself, revealing an unsettled discourse and alternating anxieties.
| Period | 11 Jul 2023 |
|---|---|
| Event title | International Association for Media and Communication Research Annual Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Lyon, FranceShow on map |