MEDIATIZING MIGRATION DISCOURSE AS CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE ESCALATE IN AFRICA

Rev. Fr. Evaristus Chuma Nnamene (PhD)

Abstract


Migration was one of humanity’s ancient itineraries. It dates far beyond times of ancient civilizations. Even in the ancient history of Israelites as could be seen from Scriptures, people migrated. People are still migrating especially from slums of Third World countries in search of greener pastures to Europe and America. However, in 21st Century, at the face of fierce wars, violence, terrorism, climate change, bad governance coupled with widespread poverty bringing untold hardship to millions of people across the globe, migration which is their resultant effect has met aggressive borders, and perhaps, equally, unfriendly media coverage. Of course, across continents, discourse on migration is ongoing. But often, this discourse is either championed by the media or is ongoing through the media. Thus, like every other mediatized issue, the discourse on migration could be made or marred by the media. This article evaluates media coverage of migration discourse even as challenges of climate change are escalating the volume of migrants across the globe. To do this evaluation, conceptual analysis is deployed to arrive at a conclusion that projects human rights and dignity and hospitality as values to be adopted in media framing of the migration discourse for a more civilized world.

Keywords


mediatizing, migration, climate change, human dignity, Christian hospitality

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References


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