As immigration turns into the scapegoat of political and social tensions all over the
world and politicians that seem to be talking about migration flows communicate instead their
conception of the world and where it should head, this study investigates the refugee crisis of
2015 as represented in the two global television channels RT and BBCW.
Widely studied for the depiction the press gives of the refugees, for the first time the
refugee crisis is analyzed as an arena where competing understandings of international
relations are constructed, in a media ecology where a myriad of actors have a chance to
foreground their truth and where wars are fought, and possibly won, through the weapons of
values, culture and the attraction they exercise (Nye Jr. 1990, 2013). Borrowing the concept
of strategic narratives from international relations (Miskimmon et al. 2013) and applying it to
textual analysis, the study employs framing analysis to operationalize it and explores a sample
of 144 news items (74 from RT and 70 from BBCW) broadcast in August and September
2015 to retrace the narratives of the two channels.
It finds out that, although conflicting with each other, both RT’s and BBCW’s
narratives are strategic and aim at constructing a past, present and future of international
relations that can influence what we expect, consider acceptable or conceivable on the
international theater. The channels’ narratives are about the destiny of Europe and countries,
depicting a reality that still responds to old Cold War dividing lines. An analysis of the actors
allowed to speak and represented as acting confirms that in RT and BBCW political elites and
the nations they represent have a greater chance, compared to other actors, to define
international politics and shape shared understandings of how international relations works
and where it is heading.