Talk on the Media’s Role in Creating Otherness and Exclusion : Discursive Identifications and Public (Dis)Connections

In this article, we examine how media coverage of migration issues and portrayal of migrants are reflected upon and talked about among families with migrant backgrounds living in Sweden. To date, most Nordic media research on migration has focused on studying media texts, such as representations of migrant and minority issues, rather than on media uses and practices. However, the present study is based on a discursive and contextual approach to media reception, implying in-depth informant interviews, mainly in people’s homes, supported by observations and field notes. Attention is directed towards the informants’ readings of certain media texts, with particular emphasis on their views concerning the media’s role in the creation of otherness and exclusion. Key issues like “truth” and media objectivity, cultural imperialism, non-ethical Western journalism in terms of lifestyle, and norms and values exemplify how symbolic exclusion operates, which in the long run may have profound implications on people’s connections to a shared public world