Summary:
This dissertation is within the frame and study of the refugee issue and its implications in Greece and in particular the way that the Greek Media have covered this issue and how they shaped the public opinion on this. The main research subject that this dissertation aims to answer is how the refugees and migrants perceived the Greek media coverage of the refugee issue and how this affected their living inside Greek society. We came in contact and with many participants and investigated after their testimonies, highlighting the digital narrative of the refugee issue as an important aspect of current affairs.
This dissertation is having two parts: a theoretical and practical one. In the theoretical part, that is the basis of this dissertation, sociopsychological studies of the refugee issue were used, as well as historical data regarding forced movement of population around the globe, including Greeks from the Asia Minor area, along with theories that emphasize the role of communication and media through digital narrative, photography, painting and cinema along with a definition of the refugee issue as a timeless phenomenon.
In the practical part, we present in the form of digital narrative the results from our visit in “Development Forum”, an NGO that has been founded in Greece by members of the Arab Community, which due to the increased refugee flows now has more than 70.000 members. In this study four refugees took part, two men and two women aged 30 to 36 years old, that reached Greece through Turkey either from land in Evros or by boat in the Aegean Sea. They have been in Greece from 6 months to one year. We spoke to them with the help of an interpreter.
We also came in contact with a migrant from Pakistan, a political refugee from Kurdistan and two economic migrants from Syria that came in Greece with their families before the current refugee crisis. We recorded their opinion, regarding the Greek Media coverage of the refugee issue both traditional and digital.
From the interviews five issues emerged, regarding issues of identity, community, broadcasting and watching the news, influencing and forming public opinion and lastly, how refugees managed pictures of the migrant wave.
Creating digital narratives took place in person through personal meetings. From these answers we gathered a wealth of data, which we analyzed through narrative approach. For the qualitative method of the narrative approach we used questionnaires and we used as a guide the personal experience of the researcher from her trip to Syria before the war, having as a target to unravel the complex narrative of migration.
The results of the current dissertation highlighted the impact that the presentation of the refugee issue from the traditional and digital media in Greece has on the refugees. The way that Greek media present the refugee issue shapes the public opinion towards the foreigners. Media influence in refugees is connected – directly or indirectly – with their efforts to handle the challenges of a temporary at least integration in a different social and cultural system from their own, along with their seeking to move to a permanent destination. Furthermore, this current dissertation documents the language barrier that refugees are having in watching the news in the traditional Greek Media, even though this is mitigated through the use of an interpreter or the power that pictures from the Greek Media convey. In addition, the ongoing influence of the digital media is also highlighted – especially the refugee interconnection through Facebook – that offer besides information and a powerful means of communication between groups, friends and ethnicities that guide refugees to specific solutions to their problems.
Keywords:
Refugees, immigrants, communication, digital narration
