Broad Strokes for ‘Foreign Folks’: A Thematic Content Analysis of Migration within News Articles Containing Migrant Crime

This research explores migrant presentation in newspaper articles containing migrant crime. Thematic content analysis is employed to examine the narratives used in generalized negative discussion of migration in 100 randomly sampled articles from 6 newspapers in Canada, the UK, and the U.S. in 2018. We uncovered 13 themes, such as failure of the state, rapists and criminals, and terrorism. The findings highlight the type and variety of generalized negative narratives found in migrant crime reporting, and suggest the ongoing presentation of these stereotypes. Implications include the influence on public and political attitudes amidst an increasing need for media accountability.