Eestlaste välja- ja tagasirände meediarepresentatsioon 2004-2008
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
The main aim of my master’s thesis “Media representation of Estonians` migration from
and to Estonia in 2004-2008” is to describe the media representation of Estonians`
emigration from and immigration into Estonia in the period of 2004-2008. The current
thesis sets a presumption that media representations have an important role in the
development of people’s attitudes and behaviour and the media is presumed to have an
impact on people’s migration intentions. Considering the presumptions the thesis aims
at learning about the media representation of migration and statements given by experts
on questions related to migration. In addition to the fore mentioned aims the
connections between the statements presented in media, the results of earlier research
and statements of experts are explained. The theoretical part of the thesis provides an
overview of theory of media, theory of migration, Estonian population processes,
Estonian political aims of migration, migration statistics and additionally of earlier
research on the topic of the thesis.
In the empirical part of the thesis the media representation of Estonians` migration is
analysed mainly on the basis of the reasons for migration appeared in media articles,
whereas an emphasis is placed on the context in which the reasons for migration are
manifested mentioned. For the reason that migration is relevant on the national level as
a possible cause for demographic changes, attention is paid to social reasons and
influence of migration by giving an overview of media texts about the national political
aims of migration. An additional aim of the research is to find out experts` statements
about the reasons and influence of migration and to analyse these statements in relation
to the national political aims of migration and media representation by comparing the
results of the analysis with the statements of experts.
Both qualitative and quantitative text analysis methods were used in the present research
and an interview was conducted with three experts. The aim of the quantitative content
analysis was to find out the frequency of articles on migration and the distribution of
topics, whereas the sample consisted of articles of the period of 1 January, 2004 to 31.
December, 2008 of daily newspapers “Postimees” and “Päevaleht”. 150 articles were
analysed in total. The qualitative text analysis forms the main part of the research, the
sample of it which is based on the quantitative sample, considering the wide range and thoroughness of the articles. The qualitative text analysis comprises of 59 articles. The
results of the analysis are divided into three main parts: media representation of
emigration, media representation of immigration and media representation of political
aims of migration.
The hypotheses of the current thesis are answered as follows:
• the media representations of migration have become more varied throughout the
period of research;
• the reasons and influences of migration are appear on the media mainly in the
context of labour market;
• the topic/subject of immigration has become more popular throughout the period
of research;
• experts` statements about migration differ from media opinions.
The results of the content analysis revel that migration is usually mentioned in daily
newspapers as internal news and the authors of the respective articles are mainly
journalists. Upon the results of the content analysis nine different topics were
distinguished. That refers to the several different social contexts in which migration is
manifested. Even though the differences in salary rates in the home country and foreign
country are mentioned as the main reasons for migration throughout the research period,
the reasons for migration in general work and living contexts are discussed in a similar,
however more thorough, way in opinion articles, essays and interviews.
Among the most significant results of the qualitative text analysis, in addition to the
results of the questionnaire, there is a belief that migration in mainly caused by salary
and working conditions. The economical increase that took place in the previous years
in considered as a factor predisposing to immigration back to the country whereas the
current decrease is considered to be a factor predisposing to emigration from the
country. In addition to the fore mentioned, several other societal and personal reasons
predispose to emigration. Most of the articles about the migration of Estonians can be
described as having a critical attitude towards the actions of the country. The country is
blamed for lack of attention to migration and ineffective measures of migration politics.
In most cases migration politics is criticised when discussing the economical goals of the country, but also in the context of demographical indicators and cultural changes. As
one of the most problematic questions, articles about migration bring out the difficulties
arising from insufficient migration statistics which make it difficult to evaluate the
extent and influence of migration and that gives basis to different interpretations about
predicting the extent of migration.
The results of interviews are in many aspects similar to the results of the text analysis,
but to the contrary to media texts, experts share a standpoint that emigration is
decreasing due to the decrease in economics. The biggest disagreement occurs in the
evaluation of the media, that sees emigration to be arising in the near future, and
experts, who believe the opposite. Taking into account the changes in the current
society, the author of the thesis believes the topic of migration to become more
sensitive, which, according to the results of the media analysis, can contribute to raising
the number of those going abroad, on the other hand according to experts facilitate the
return to Estonia.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), magistritööd