Abstract

Immigration has been an interesting subject to the public and a prominent issue that cannot be ignored. Issues such as immigration policies and reforms, fear of immigrants bringing crime, immigrants taking jobs from native-born families, and many more. With the growth of African immigrants increasing in the United States (Pew Research, 2017), and new immigration policies put in place in 2017 during the first year of President Trump’s presidency, this study investigates how African immigrants are portrayed in The New York Times Newspaper. Using Framing theory, this study employed the content analysis method and examined newspaper articles published from 2017 to 2018 in The New York Times newspaper. The purpose of the study is to answer two interrelated questions: How are African Immigrants portrayed in the newspaper and How are topics about African immigrants framed in newspaper coverage? The study uses framing theory to check for media framing of African immigrants in the United States in the first year of President Trump’s presidency. The result of the study shows that 40.82% of articles is passing negative tones on African immigrants, compared to 22.45% positive tones.

There is also a strong correlation between the tone of the article and the valence of the headline, therefore, even if you do not read the entire article, solely seeing the headline can still pass the negative tone.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Immigrants--Press coverage--New York (State)--New York; Africans--Press coverage--United States; United States--Ethnic relations--Press coverage; Journalism--Social aspects--United States; Journalism--Objectivity--United States

Publication Date

12-18-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Communication and Media Technologies (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Communication (CLA)

Advisor

Tracy Worrell

Advisor/Committee Member

O. Nicholas Robertson

Advisor/Committee Member

Ammina Kothari

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

COMMTCH-MS

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