Chapter Four: Contents in Deutsche Welle 1. Content Analysis
2.2 The Numbers Used to Describe the Coming People in 2015
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2.1.5 Summary
The qualitative analysis of the report shows that the authorities still remain the main speakers in the issue who control the direction of the debate and define who to blame. For example, in the article the justice minister switched the focus from the foreign criminals to the debate of the refugee policy despite him initially giving a cautious and impartial reply to the reporter.
The examination of the phrases also reveals the reporter’s skeptical attitude about the refugee debate. Though most of the phrases describing the offenders appear to be neutral terms, the certain phrase placed in the lead paragraph reveals the reporter’s emphasis on the ethnic background of the offenders. In this article, it is revealed that racial identification, implications, and the positions of the statements in an article could be used to persuasively define and convey a prevalent argument: the refugees are relevant to the Cologne sexual assaults.
2.2 The Numbers Used to Describe the Coming People in 2015
In this section this study tries to explore how the media described the people entering Europe in 2015 by examining the 123 articles published on Deutsche Welle. The strategies employed in the articles are identified below.
2.2.1 One Million Refugees?
On January 6, 2016, the German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere announced that 1,091,894 people registered in Germany in 2015. Most of the news media did not report the specific numbers. Instead, they tended to use more vague terms, such as “almost 1.1 million migrants”, to describe the new arrivals. This was probably due to the news reporting norms which tried to avoid precise figures (Keeble, 2006).
The interior minister’s announcement had been a watershed event in Germany. News media often cited this information as the background knowledge when discussing refugee
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issues. Here are some common headlines and descriptions in Deutsche Welle news coverage:
Almost 1.1 million migrants registered in Germany last year. (Deutsche Welle, January 6, 2016)
On one hand, the world was amazed at how Germans enthusiastically volunteered to help when an estimated 1.1 million refugees arrived in the country throughout 2015.
(Deutsche Welle, January 13, 2016)
These descriptions could give the audiences the image that Germany had taken more than one million refugees in 2015. However, people arriving in Germany are not literally recognized as refugees. According to an article in Deutsche Welle (“How to apply for asylum,” 2015), people have to register as an asylum seeker at the initial reception facility. After the
registration, people can apply for asylum. However, the application is usually processed in a few months. Ultimately, the asylum seeker could be recognized as refugee or denied. If an asylum seeker is denied, he/she has to leave Germany in a certain period of time. Without informing the audiences with the asylum application process, the readers often have the false impression that their country has accepted such number of refugees.
In 2015, however, it was reported that only about 475,000 people formally applied for asylum in Germany while around 91,500 asylum applicants were denied (“Almost 1.1 million migrants,” 2016). Furthermore, there were actually not 1.1 million people arriving in
Germany in 2015. On September 30, 2016, Thomas de Maiziere revised the previous figures from 1.1 million to 890,000 asylum seekers due to the overlapped registration (“German interior minister,” 2016).
2.2.2 Some Vague Figures and Metaphors
News media tended to use some vague figures, such as “millions of people”, to describe the displaced people. Some examples are listed below:
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Pope Francis called on the overwhelmed European governments to continue offering safe haven to the millions of people fleeing conflict and poverty in Asia, the Middle East and Africa…. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
Thousands continue to make the perilous journey every day. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
The water metaphors, such as “flow” and “wave”, or “backlog”, for example, were commonly used in news reports as well.
Seven weeks after the EU and Turkey reached agreement on curbing the refugee flow into Europe. (Deutshce Welle, January 11, 2016)
The “temporary measure” would help to deal with an influx of refugees arriving in the country and prevent migrants without papers from entering. (Deutsche Welle, January 5, 2016)
The present wave of migration seems to be undermining the foundations of that
“humanistic spirit” which Europe has always loved and defended. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
He told radio broadcaster NDR Info that he did not expect to see a backlog of
refugees gathering in northern Germany, waiting to enter Denmark. (Deutsche Welle, January 5, 2016)
Disaster rhetoric including the water metaphors would evoke the image that people arrive in huge unmanageable numbers and implies an inherent danger (Philo et al., 2013).
Furthermore, the vague figures and metaphors suggest that this is a group of people. The readers can hardly see their individual personalities or stories and can only notice the figures.
It is also obvious to see that these people were usually placed in the passive position
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in the sentences, following certain verbs, for example, “curb,” “limit,” and “deal with.” The composition of the sentence structures, the choice of verbs, and the metaphors imply that these people are passive actors who have no right and ability to speak or to act for themselves.
These people are not humans. They are like water or things that need to be “limited” or “dealt with.”
2.2.3 Speculation about the Future Arrivals
Some of the news articles appeared to emphasize that there are more people coming.
“Uncontrolled” and “unlimited” were commonly used to depict the immigrants. Some reporters conveyed their idea by giving rational reasons. For example, the author of the following paragraph used the situation of seasonal climate change and family reunion to convince the readers that there are more people coming:
The real issue is that the government is still keeping the door open for uncontrolled immigration. Around 3,000 people cross into Germany every day. We are in the middle of winter. Just imagine how many it will be when the Balkans route is warmer and the Mediterranean is calmer. And that's not even addressing the issue of family members coming to join refugees that have been granted asylum. (Deutsche Welle, January 14, 2016)
Some reporters used the rhetoric of the time, such as “every day” or “alone,” to emphasize that a large number of people come in a short period of time. Two typical articles are displayed here:
The reports have fueled criticism of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open door policy on refugees and migrants, which have seen some 1.1 million new asylum seekers
registered in the last year alone. (Deutsche Welle, January 9, 2016)
But every day thousands more attempt the perilous journey, all too often with fatal
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results. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
As the use of vague figures and the metaphors of water, the strategy of speculation functions as a tool to make the audience believe that there are more people coming to their country and that the crisis is still ongoing (van Dijk, 2000; Jiang, 2012; Gilbert, 2013).
2.2.4 Negative Terms
This study found that the news reports frequently connected these people with some negative terms, including “threats,” “crisis,” and “problems”. These terms were often combined with certain verbs, such as “stand up” and “tackle.” For example, the former president of the Federal Constitutional Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier, stated, “The constitutional state must not allow itself to become unhinged by political decisions,” adding that it has a duty to “stand up to threats that could result from permanent, unlimited, and uncontrolled migration” (Deutsche Welle, January 14, 2016). More examples are listed as follows:
All EU states should finally join the plan to tackle the migration crisis, says Jean-Claude Juncker. (Deutsche Welle, January 16, 2016)
More than a million refugees in the country and more and more problems - some predictable, some surprising and disturbing. (Deutsche Welle, January 18, 2016) These examples demonstrate that refugees are regarded as threats, a crisis, and problems, bringing negative influences to the host society. And Germany is endangered because of the migration. These discourses draw a clear demarcation between “us” and
“them,” “insider” and “outsider.” To counteract the negative effects, the host society needs to
“stand up to” or to “tackle” the threats and crisis in order to protect “our” society.
2.2.5 Emphasizing the Money in Aid
Another strategy the reporters tended to use was to describe how much money the government had spent on all of the new arrivals. The following demonstrates some examples:
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The EU plans to offer Turkey billions of dollars in aid to stem the exodus of refugees into Europe has so far had little effect. Thousands continue to make the perilous journey every day. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
As part of the deal reached on November 29, EU leaders pledged 3 billion euros ($3.2 billion) in aid for the more than 2.2 million Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey in exchange for Ankara acting to reduce the flow. (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016).
In the news narratives the billions of money was connected with the large number of displaced people, and quite often followed with “had little effect” or “thousands continue to come.” Such judgments could result in a common image that governments had spent a lot of money on the refugees. However, the money did not help improve the situation and perhaps more money was expected to be spent. Generally, these discourses leave an impression that refugees are financial burdens to the host countries.
2.2.6 Comparisons
The rhetorical device of comparison was often found in the news articles. The host societies were “overwhelmed” because of the millions of people. The wave of people undermined the “foundations of the humanistic spirits” in the host countries. Such
comparisons demonstrate that the host societies are victims destroyed by the asylum seekers.
I display two typical narratives below:
Pope Francis called on the overwhelmed European governments to continue offering safe haven to the millions of people fleeing conflict and poverty in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, despite conditions that were threatening the continent’s position as a
“beacon for humanity.” (Deutsche Welle, January 11, 2016)
“The present wave of migration seems to be undermining the foundations of that
‘humanistic spirit’ which Europe has always loved and defended,” the pontiff told the
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Holy See’s diplomatic corps on Monday. (Deutsche Welle, January, 2016)
The strategy of comparison not only demonstrates the host countries as the victims but also shows the positive image of the host societies. See the example below:
On one hand, the world was amazed at how Germans enthusiastically volunteered to help when an estimated 1.1 million refugees arrived in the country throughout 2015.
(Deutsche Welle, January 13, 2016)
2.2.7 Summary
The above analysis reveals that the choices of words, the metaphors, the strategy of speculation and comparison were employed in the Deutsche Welle news coverage to describe the displaced people entering Germany in 2015. These strategies employed draw a general picture that there are a lot of refugees and they can bring problems to the German society.
Though the asylum seekers represent a large number of people, they seldom speak in the news. Out of the 123 Deutsche Welle news articles, only 15 articles gave the refugees and the migrants the chance to express their opinions, leading this group of people to be the least quoted agents in the coverage. Furthermore, when examining the dominant issue regarding the policy of deporting refugees following the Cologne incident, the voices of refugees were hardly heard. It was striking to see that the refugees remained the dominant subject in politics and news discourses while they got the least chances to speak for themselves.