The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa
The fastest growing regional crisis is happening in West Africa today, with over 8 million people considered persons of concern. A culmination of identity politics, climate-driven disasters, and extreme poverty has led to this humanitarian crisis in the region and is exacerbated by a lack of politic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/4/175 |
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| author | Hansi Senaratne Martin Mühlbauer Ralph Kiefl Andrea Cárdenas Lallu Prathapan Torsten Riedlinger Carolin Biewer Hannes Taubenböck |
| author_facet | Hansi Senaratne Martin Mühlbauer Ralph Kiefl Andrea Cárdenas Lallu Prathapan Torsten Riedlinger Carolin Biewer Hannes Taubenböck |
| author_sort | Hansi Senaratne |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The fastest growing regional crisis is happening in West Africa today, with over 8 million people considered persons of concern. A culmination of identity politics, climate-driven disasters, and extreme poverty has led to this humanitarian crisis in the region and is exacerbated by a lack of political will and misplaced media attention. The current state of the art does not present sufficient investigations of the thematic and spatial coverage of news media of this crisis in this region. This paper studies the spatial coverage of this crisis as reported in the media, and the themes associated with those locations, based on a curated dataset. For the time frame 12 March to 15 September 2021, 2017 news articles related to the refugee crisis in West Africa were examined and manually coded based on (1) the geographical locations mentioned in each article; (2) the themes found in the articles in reference to a location (e.g., <i>Relocation</i> of people in <i>Abuja</i>). The dataset introduces a thematic dimension, as never achieved before, to the conflict-ridden areas in West Africa. A comparative analysis with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) data showed that 96.8% of refugee-related locations in West Africa were not covered by news during the considered time frame. Contrastingly, 80.4% of locations mentioned in the news do not appear in the UNHCR repository. Most news articles published during this time frame reported on <i>Development aid</i> or <i>Political statements</i>. Linear multiple regression analysis showed <i>GDP per capita</i> and <i>political stability</i> to be among the most influential determinants of news coverage. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:58:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-93c9352255fc494c87dbd98f28971114 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:58:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-93c9352255fc494c87dbd98f289711142023-11-17T19:31:38ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642023-04-0112417510.3390/ijgi12040175The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West AfricaHansi Senaratne0Martin Mühlbauer1Ralph Kiefl2Andrea Cárdenas3Lallu Prathapan4Torsten Riedlinger5Carolin Biewer6Hannes Taubenböck7Earth Observation Center, German Aerospace Center, 82234 Wessling, GermanyEarth Observation Center, German Aerospace Center, 82234 Wessling, GermanyEarth Observation Center, German Aerospace Center, 82234 Wessling, GermanyInstitute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyInstitute of Geography and Geology, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyEarth Observation Center, German Aerospace Center, 82234 Wessling, GermanyDepartment of English and American Studies, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, GermanyEarth Observation Center, German Aerospace Center, 82234 Wessling, GermanyThe fastest growing regional crisis is happening in West Africa today, with over 8 million people considered persons of concern. A culmination of identity politics, climate-driven disasters, and extreme poverty has led to this humanitarian crisis in the region and is exacerbated by a lack of political will and misplaced media attention. The current state of the art does not present sufficient investigations of the thematic and spatial coverage of news media of this crisis in this region. This paper studies the spatial coverage of this crisis as reported in the media, and the themes associated with those locations, based on a curated dataset. For the time frame 12 March to 15 September 2021, 2017 news articles related to the refugee crisis in West Africa were examined and manually coded based on (1) the geographical locations mentioned in each article; (2) the themes found in the articles in reference to a location (e.g., <i>Relocation</i> of people in <i>Abuja</i>). The dataset introduces a thematic dimension, as never achieved before, to the conflict-ridden areas in West Africa. A comparative analysis with UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) data showed that 96.8% of refugee-related locations in West Africa were not covered by news during the considered time frame. Contrastingly, 80.4% of locations mentioned in the news do not appear in the UNHCR repository. Most news articles published during this time frame reported on <i>Development aid</i> or <i>Political statements</i>. Linear multiple regression analysis showed <i>GDP per capita</i> and <i>political stability</i> to be among the most influential determinants of news coverage.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/4/175West African refugee crisisnews media reportingspatio-thematic coverage |
| spellingShingle | Hansi Senaratne Martin Mühlbauer Ralph Kiefl Andrea Cárdenas Lallu Prathapan Torsten Riedlinger Carolin Biewer Hannes Taubenböck The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information West African refugee crisis news media reporting spatio-thematic coverage |
| title | The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa |
| title_full | The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa |
| title_fullStr | The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa |
| title_short | The Unseen—An Investigative Analysis of Thematic and Spatial Coverage of News on the Ongoing Refugee Crisis in West Africa |
| title_sort | unseen an investigative analysis of thematic and spatial coverage of news on the ongoing refugee crisis in west africa |
| topic | West African refugee crisis news media reporting spatio-thematic coverage |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/4/175 |
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