International Communication Gazette
2019

Media use, fear of terrorism, and attitudes towards immigrants and refugees: Young people and adults compared (Article)

Debrael M.* , d’Haenens L. , De Cock R. , De Coninck D.
  • a Institute for Media Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium
  • b Institute for Media Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium
  • c Institute for Media Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium
  • d Family & Population Studies, University of Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

In Flanders, citizens hold rather negative attitudes towards immigrants and refugees. This could be due to the news media, which depict newcomers in a rather negative way. The purpose of this study is to analyze whether there are separate media worlds at work in Flemish young people and adults and whether this results in different attitudes towards immigrants and refugees. To do so, we questioned 1,759 people aged 13 to 65 by means of an online questionnaire. Results indicate that overall news consumption increases with age, and that young people mainly use social media for their news consumption while adults still rely on traditional media. Interestingly, young adults are the most welcoming group towards immigrants and refugees. Although news media consumption seems to be related to fear of terrorism and attitudes towards newcomers to some extent, socio-demographic factors play an important role in the development of fear and negative attitudes towards newcomers. © The Author(s) 2019.

Author Keywords

media opinion fear of terrorism media use refugee attitudes immigrant attitudes Belgium

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85071607310&doi=10.1177%2f1748048519869476&partnerID=40&md5=1548cd0dceaa68b3e986c56713fe5111
DOI: 10.1177/1748048519869476
ISSN: 17480485
Original Language: English