Recently, Syrian refugees have been garnering significant news media attention in the United States (US), which raises several questions. What does television news broadcast about refugees? Which countries' and conflicts' refugees get the most attention, and is the coverage proportional to the actual number of refugees, relative to the worldwide population of refugees or the number of refugees resettled to the US? How are refugees issues covered by television news, are refugee stories framed as human interest, humanitarian disasters, or international legal obligations of States? Does coverage of refugees change over time, in terms of country of origin or framing of refugee stories? This article answers these questions by analysing television news coverage of refugees on American nightly news broadcasts from 2006 to 2015. We use content analyses of television news broadcasts, and compare it with US refugee admissions data and data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as a baseline for refugee situations in the world, to see what refugee issues get covered and whether the worst crises get the most, or even any, television news coverage. © Author(s) [2019]. All rights reserved.

Migrants UNHCR Television news Media Refugees United States Asylum-seekers

immigrant United Nations media role refugee Mass Media television asylum seeker United States