“Othering” Venezuelans in the Press: A Content Analysis of Venezuelan Displacement in Four Peruvian Newspapers

• In Event: 20862 - Section on International Migration Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Attitudes Toward Immigration

Abstract

This study examines how Venezuelan displacement is portrayed in Peruvian news outlets, analyzing both the dominant frames and their frequencies across different media formats. We conducted a systematic content analysis of a corpus of 122 articles published between January 2017 and December 2020, sourced from four major Peruvian newspapers: El Comercio, La República, Trome, and El Popular. Our analysis aligns with existing scholarship on European and US newspaper coverage of migrants, confirming that negative portrayals substantially outweigh positive ones. When examining variation by media type, we find that tabloids employ negative frames more frequently than quality press outlets, while also using positive frames less often. However, our analysis reveals distinctive characteristics in the Peruvian context. While newspapers—particularly tabloids—emphasize Venezuelans’ perceived contribution to criminal activity and their role as perpetrators of crime, they give less attention to economic and cultural threat narratives commonly found in European and US contexts. Interestingly, despite the prevalence of crime threat framing, few articles reference “illegal” or irregular entry and immigration status. These forms of “othering” are reinforced through decontextualizing and dehumanizing practices, including minimal coverage of structural factors driving displacement and marginalization of migrants' voices in favor of government officials and international organizations. We complement our quantitative analysis with insights from interviews with journalists and editors to understand the professional practices shaping these coverage patterns.

Author

• Andrea Nadia Kvietok, University of California-San Diego