AUCA Faculty published a book chapter on Migration from Central Asia in Routledge

January 17, 2019

AUCA Journalism and Mass Communications faculty Dr. Elira Turdubaeva and Alena Zelenskaia’s book chapter “Migration from Central Asia: Thematic Analysis of Kyrgyz and Russian Language Online News Media” was published in a book “The Routledge Companion to Migration, Communication, and Politics” edited by Stephen M Croucher, Joao R. Caetano, Elsa A. Campbell and published by Routledge.

The Routledge Companion to Migration, Communication and Politics brings together academics from numerous disciplines to show the legal, political, communicative, theoretical, methodological, and media implications of migration. The collection makes the compelling case that migration does not occur in a vacuum; rather, it is driven by and reacts to various factors, including the political, economic, and cultural worlds in which individuals live.

The 25 chapters reveal the complex nature of migration from various angles, not only looking at how policy affects migrants but also how individuals and marginalized groups are impacted by such acts. In Part I contributors examine migration law, debating the role of the state in managing migration flows and investigating existing migration policy.

According to Dr. Elira Turdubaeva:

“The aim of our study is to reveal how the most visited news websites in Kyrgyzstan depict migration from Central Asia during the period of 2015–2017. What are the main themes journalists pay attention to? Which sending and receiving countries is the focus of the news stories and how are they portrayed? Is there a difference between the news coverage in the Kyrgyz and Russian languages? In order to answer these questions, the four most popular online news media were selected, whose articles are in both in Kyrgyz and Russian language. These are Azattyk, Sputnik, Kloop and Vecherniy Bishkek. A random sample of approximately 600 articles was analyzed with the help of thematic text analysis together with elements of discourse analysis.”

According to Alena Zelenskaia:

“In sum, the representation of the several discussed topics – how the Eurasian Economic Union, migration of female, children of migrants, and bureaucratic steps and constraints were represented – provides rich examples of how differently the four websites frame migration. Migration is being constructed within very narrow frames; for example, low-skilled labor migration as presented with migration topics is prevalent. As the main destination country for migrants from Central Asia is Russia, labor migration is synonymous with migration to Russia.”

<< go to news list