Media Representations of Voiceless Migrants

Misinformation, Framing and Inequalities in Croatian News Portals

Résumé

The rapid increase in the number of migrant workers in Croatia, mainly from India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Bangladesh, has led to significant media attention, affecting public perceptions of migration and labour (Butković et al., 2022). However, this topic remains underexplored, raising concerns about stereotyping and misinformation that reinforce inequalities (Blanco-Herrero et al., 2024; Nieminen, 2024). Based on the concept of representation (Hall, 1997), this study examines how three Croatian news portals with the largest number of real users, according to Gemius (i.e. Jutarnji.hr, 24sata.hr, and Večernji.hr), represent migrant labour and whether their narratives contribute to misrepresentation and misinformation about migrants. The findings of the quantitative content analysis of 132 articles published in 2025, supplemented by a close qualitative analysis of selected articles, point to repetitive frames, recurring thematic structures, and an underrepresentation of migrants as sources. Special attention is given to how migrant labour is portrayed through editorial practices. Overall, the study shows that Croatian news media portals predominantly exacerbate misrepresentation and misinformation about migrants, thereby reinforcing structural inequalities.