Ready for Czech-Out? Examining Anti-Immigration and Anti-European Discourses in Czech Online News Debates

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Abstract

The role and responsibility of media in stirring anti-European sentiments and contributing to the rise of right-wing populism, often based on fears from immigration, has been subject to growing amount of research; yet little has been known about the relationship between the coverage of immigration and the character of readers’ comments accompanying such articles. This issue is particularly relevant in the Czech Republic, a country displaying high prevalence of Euroskepticism and anti-immigration attitudes. Using a content analysis of users’ comments on more than 700 articles from the leading news server iDnes.cz in 2016, this study examines the impact of both formal and content-related features of articles on the character of Eurosceptic rhetoric in users’ online deliberation. Preliminary insights suggest that the appearance of anti-EU comments, including frequent calls for exit from the EU (“Czech-out”) is triggered by the presence of particular actors, rather than by the articles’ tone on immigration.

Authors

• Vaclav Stetka, Loughborough U

• Lenka Vochocova, Charles U in Prague

• Jana Rosenfeldová, Charles U in Prague

• Jaromir Mazak, Charles U in Prague