Tesis ini meneliti bagaimana liputan media tentang krisis imigran di Italia dan Spanyol memengaruhi proses decision-making kebijakan penanganan imigran kedua negara tersebut. Tesis ini memiliki dua tujuan penelitian: (1) menjelaskan bagaimana media Italia dan Spanyol melakukan representasi diskursif aktor-aktor politik dalam krisis imigran di negara mereka dan (2) menelaah hubungan antara representasi aktor-aktor politik tersebut dan proses pengambilan keputusan (decision-making) kebijakan penanganan imigran di negaranya masing-masing. Menerapkan teori analisis wacana kritis sosiosemantik Theo van Leeuwen dan pendekatan konstruktivisme Alexander Wendt, publikasi daring dua surat kabar terbesar Italia (Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica) dan Spanyol (El País, El Mundo) antara tahun 2014 dan 2016 dianalisis. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa representasi diskursif aktor-aktor politik dalam masing-masing surat kabar mencerminkan kecenderungan ideologis mereka, di mana pemberitaan cenderung menekankan perbedaan antara “kita” (Uni Eropa dan pemerintah) dan “mereka” (para pencari suaka) serta meniadakan kemanusiaan para pencari suaka. Kecenderungan ideologis dari representasi aktor-aktor politik keempat surat kabar itu sendiri merupakan cerminan bagaimana Italia dan Spanyol memandang krisis imigran Eropa sebagai ancaman terhadap identitas nasional mereka. Dengan bantuan media massa, Italia dan Spanyol melakukan sekuritisasi terhadap krisis imigran Eropa untuk “membujuk publik agar setuju” mengambil tindakan-tindakan yang tegas, ekstrem, dan terkadang melanggar hukum dalam menghadapi ketidakstabilan dan ketidakpastian krisis. Selain itu, dalam konteks integrasi Eropa, konflik “kita” versus “mereka” menjadi sebuah bukti akan kurangnya solidaritas di antara negara-negara anggota dan naiknya kepopuleran populisme serta nasionalisme individu, sehingga hal ini mengundang pertanyaan mengenai rapuhnya Uni Eropa sebagai proyek integrasi.

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This thesis investigates how media coverage of the European refugee crisis in Italy and Spain influences policymakers’ decisions on how to deal with asylum seekers and refugees in both countries. Two research objectives are outlined as the foundation of the thesis: (1) to explain how political actors in the refugee crisis are represented in the Italian and Spanish press, and (2) to investigate the relationship between the political actors’ discursive representations and their countries’ immigration policy decision-making process. Online publications about the European refugee crisis from two mainstream news agencies in Italy (Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica) and Spain (El País, El Mundo) between 2014 and 2016 are analyzed using Theo van Leeuwen’s sociosemantic approach of critical discourse analysis and Alexander Wendt’s constructivist approach. The findings of the thesis reveal that each newspaper’s discursive representations of political actors are in accordance to their ideological tendencies, with the news emphasizing the divide between “us” (the European Union and the government) and “them” (asylum seekers) and erasing asylum seekers’ humanity. The ideological tendencies in the four newspapers’ representation of political actors reveal how Italy and Spain perceive the European refugee crisis as a danger to their national identity. With the help of mass media, Italy and Spain securitize the European refugee crisis in order to “persuade the public to consent” to take bold, radical, and sometimes law-breaking measures in dealing with the crisis’ instability and uncertainty. In addition, the “us” against “them” conflict in the context of European integration reflects a lack of cooperation among member states, as well as the rising appeal of populism and individual nationalism, creating concerns about the European Union’s viability as an integration project.