Actor Diversity and Viewpoint Diversity: Two of a Kind? A Study on the Content Diversity of News About Immigration in Flanders

• In Event: Diversity in the News

Abstract

News content diversity is considered to be an essential precondition for the promotion of social pluralism. This content analysis of newspaper articles about immigration (2013-14) in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking community of Belgium, allowed for an in-depth evaluation of diversity. Firstly, we used Simpson’s standardised diversity index to measure the distribution of the different actors, issues and viewpoints in the news, and compared the results between newspapers. Overall, we found there to be differences in levels of content diversity between quality and popular newspapers. Secondly, our results show that a plurality of active (that is, quoted or paraphrased) actors in the news seems to go hand-in-hand with a diverse range of viewpoints. Finally, our findings indicate that allowing for individual immigrants to talk in a news article is fundamental to promoting a more positive representation of immigration in the news.

Authors

• Andrea Masini, University of Antwerp

• Peter Van Aelst, U of Antwerp