Framing emigration in Lithuania: media portrayal and effects on public opinion

Previous studies suggest that the way media frame the immigration issue influences public support towards immigrants and immigration policies. However, this is a very Western perspective on the topic and much less research has been conducted on the other side of the phenomenon and its consequences, i.e. people emigrating from a country. The current study employs a multi-methodological research design to examine the way news media frame the emigration issue in Lithuania and its effects on public opinion. A content analysis of national press coverage showed that the emigration issue was dominantly portrayed in terms of risk and opportunity. These findings are built into a subsequent experiment which showed respondents exposed to news framing emphasizing opportunities attached to emigration being significantly more positive towards individual emigrants and emigration as a process compared to respondents exposed to news framing emphasizing risks. This effect was particularly pronounced among politically less sophisticated respondents.