A first look at the coverage of Afghan evacuee resettlement in eight U.S. community newspapers

Abstract

The study examines local newspaper coverage of Afghan resettlement in the U.S. after the end of America’s ‘longest war’ in 2021. The papers are prominent news outlets of the counties where the military bases housing evacuees are located. We use a mixed-methods approach to examine news articles collected over an eighteen-month period. The study will analyze prominent sources, characteristics of evacuees, and themes in coverage. Themes were derived using both inductive and deductive methods. ‘America as land of opportunity’ and ‘moral obligation’ were dominant themes. Study results will provide a temporal marker that allows researchers to measure future changes in community attitudes towards evacuees. Thematic analysis demonstrates linkages between discourses such as moral obligation, migrants as threats, and process and how they help maintain U.S. power and hegemony. Rendering a critique of news coverage by analyzing how articles deployed and resisted these dominant themes, the study hopes to contribute towards a more nuanced approach towards media coverage of forced migration.