In the know? Media, migration and public beliefs

Abstract

Given our wider concerns as to the degree to which the mainstream mass media in Ireland constitutes a public sphere, we have undertaken our analysis in the context of the longstanding debates within media and communication studies focused on how media content shapes public perceptions and beliefs about socially contentious issues. This article presents an analysis of data regarding people’s knowledge of and beliefs about migration into the Republic of Ireland. The data in question has been generated through an intervieweradministered survey conducted with participants primarily in the west, mid-west and south of the country. The findings address such topical issues as common knowledge and popular beliefs regarding: numbers and nationalities entering Ireland; reasons for inward migration; welfare entitlements of asylum seekers and people’s perceptions about the relative ease with which diverse groups integrate. Our findings will be interpreted taking into account participants’ age, education, religiosity, occupation and contact with immigrants. Popular beliefs will be contextualised by comparison to information from other data sources. Following on from our earlier work regarding media coverage of asylum seekers and refugees in Ireland, the findings will also address the question of where people source their information regarding immigration from and will examine the relationship between knowledge, belief and information sources.