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The Usual Suspects: Offender Origin, Media Reporting and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigration

Author

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  • Sekou Keita

    (IAB - Institute for Employment Research)

  • Thomas Renault

    (UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Jérôme Valette

    (CEPII - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales - Centre d'analyse stratégique)

Abstract

This paper analyses whether the systematic disclosure of criminals' origins in the press affects natives' attitudes towards immigration. It takes advantage of the unilateral change in reporting policy announced by the German newspaper Sächsische Zeitung in July, 2016. Combining individual-level panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2014 to 2018 with 402,819 crime-related articles in German newspapers and those newspapers' market shares, we find that systematically mentioning the origins of criminals increases the relative salience of natives' criminality and reduces natives' concerns about immigration, breaking the implicit link between immigration and crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Sekou Keita & Thomas Renault & Jérôme Valette, 2022. "The Usual Suspects: Offender Origin, Media Reporting and Natives' Attitudes Towards Immigration," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-04084095, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-04084095
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04084095
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    Cited by:

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    3. Manzoni, Elena & Murard, Elie & Quercia, Simone & Tonini, Sara, 2024. "News, Emotions, and Policy Views on Immigration," IZA Discussion Papers 17017, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Silvia Peracchi, 2022. "The Migration Crisis in the Local News: Evidence from the French-Italian Border," CESifo Working Paper Series 10070, CESifo.
    5. Ghazaryan, Armine & Giulietti, Corrado & Wahba, Jackline, 2022. "Terror headlines and voting," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    6. Birkholz, Carlo & Gomtsyan, David, 2023. "Immigrant religious practices and criminality: The case of Ramadan," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 90-104.
    7. Kai Gehring & Joop Adema & Panu Poutvaara & Joop Age Harm Adema, 2022. "Immigrant Narratives," CESifo Working Paper Series 10026, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Immigration; Crime; Media Bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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