The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Media Coverage and Humanitarian Response

Ritchie, Kelsey

Publication

The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Media Coverage and Humanitarian Response

Ritchie, Kelsey

Date

2017

Additional date(s)

2017-05-19

Abstract

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has caused over 13.5 million Syrians to leave their homes, 4.8 million of which are refugees outside of Syria. Over the span of the six-year conflict, media coverage of the crisis has received both praise and harsh criticism. This paper focuses on the question of how media coverage of the crisis affect levels of response. The first part of this study is a content analysis of tweets from four news organizations. The analysis collects data on the number of tweets concerning the refugee crisis, as well as the content of those tweets. Secondly, the study uses an experimental design to test these findings. The researcher partnered with a local refugee organization to make policy recommendations in regards to social media campaigns. These two research designs found that tweets that contained visuals and were more anecdotal resulted in more response. However, the majority of coverage was more focused on numbers and statistics. Therefore, the conclusion and implications of this study found the need for a stronger relationship between news outlets and humanitarian aid organizations to 1) gain access to stories about refugees rather than solely hard news an 2) to incite more tangible response.