2020/06/13 by Christine E. Meltzer, Jakob‐Moritz Eberl, Nora Theorin +4 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Social Sciences · #Social Media and Politics #Media Influence and Politics #Electoral Systems and Political Participation
paper · doi:10.1080/1369183x.2020.1778454
openalex publication_date 2020/06/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Christine E. Meltzera*, Jakob-Moritz Eberlb , Nora Theorinc, Tobias Heidenreichb , Jesper Strömbäckc , Hajo G. Boomgaardenb & Christian Schemera a Department of Communication, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Mainz, Germanyb Department of Communication, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austriac Department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Gothenburg, Goteborg, Sweden CONTACT Christine E. Meltzer [email protected] Supplemental data for this article can be accessed 10.1080/1369183X.2020.1778454ABSTRACTIn a time when freedom of movement is being challenged by an increasing number of European Union member states, and where immigration has been dominating public debate for years, this study investigates the effects (i.e. frame salience and frame sentiment) of migration news on individuals’ attitudes about free movement. We are taking into account respondents individual media diet by linking a two-wave online survey in five European countries (n = 7,794) with an automated content analysis of online news coverage in these countries (n = 26,696). Findings indicate that overall the salience of specific frames (i.e. labour market and security), as well as sentiment, positively influence free movement attitudes among citizens. However, there are country-specific differences for both salience and sentiment effects. These findings have implications for our understanding of media effects on immigration attitudes and policy preferences as well as for comparative media effects research in general.