| Abstract
The main research question for this dissertation focuses on whether traditional media sources portray groups differently than new/social media sources do. Additionally, there are three sub-research questions to test whether media sources portray groups differently based on the language [English vs. French] in which the article/video is written/broadcasted, the ideology [liberal vs. other-than-liberal] of the source, and/or the coverage/distribution [nationwide vs. local] of the media outlet. To answer these research questions, the researcher chose the case of "Syrian refugees in Quebec" and focused on how media sources tell stories or narratives to frame Syrian refugees in Quebec benevolently or malignantly to influence public opinion on immigration policies.
Refugees portrayed in a positive light are considered deserving of policy benefits and those framed negatively are considered to encounter burdens from immigration policies. The research outcomes reveal that first, most policy narratives -collected from ten different media outlets -portray the target population of Syrian refugees in Quebec as deserving of beneficial immigration policies. Second, policy narratives do not significantly differ in framing the target population when corning from traditional or new/social media sources. Third, English or French narratives lack significant differences i n policy narratives about the Syrian refugees in Quebec. Fourth and most impressive difference is between liberal and other-than-liberal sources. The researcher discovered six statistically significant differences between liberal and other-than-liberal policy
narratives and 1) overall portraying Syrian refugees in Quebec as deserving, 2) num ber of
villains, 3) number of heroes, 4) negative tone, 5) bothpositiv e and negative tone, and 6)
positive tone. This means that the variable "ideology" is a very important predictor in
policy narrative research. |