Page - 38 - in Media – Migration – Integration - European and North American Perspectives

Rainer Geißler/Sonja Weber-Menges | Media Reception and Ideas on Media Integration 38 Germans. As a rule, Russo-Germans had conceived of themselves as a minority in Russia and, for this reason, they are not as attached to their homeland as Italian migrants are to Italy or Turkish migrants to Turkey. Many Russo-Germans feel as if they have “returned home” to the land of their ancestors and feel no need to maintain ties to the country they have emigrated from. 2.4 Views on the German media Views on the German media prove to be quite negative (figure 3). These media meet with the greatest skepticism on the part of Turkish migrants; Russo- Germans evaluate them somewhat more positively; the Italians’ position is somewhere in between. Turks and Italians criticize the absence of topics that would be interesting to migrants and the cliché-like representation of migrants – especially the Italians find that their image in the media involves stereotypes. All three groups complain of predominantly negative reports on migration and migrants, for example, the representation of migrants as criminals. The Turks voiced this criticism most frequently. With respect to the issue of whether the German mass media promote a good atmosphere between migrants and Germans, these media were judged to be just as deficient as the ethno-media. Turkish migrants were the most critical here – with reference to both German and Turkish media. With reference to one issue, Russo-Germans in particular, to a lesser extent the Italians, and even less the Turks, perceive media content with an integrating effect – German media help migrants to cope with everyday life in Germany. 2.5 Migrants’ ideas on how to improve media integration Which suggestions do migrants make on how to improve media integration? Do their ideas correspond to our concept of media integration (figure 4)? A clear majority of the Turks (76%) and of the Italians (70%) interviewed would like to see more coverage and more positive reports on migrants and their culture and activities, their celebrations and festivities, their clubs and organizations. Only a small minority of both groups rejects such intensified coverage because they suspect a lack of interest in such topics on the part of the Germans or because they think that these things are none of the Germans’ business. Russo-Germans are more reserved towards such improvements. In any case, 40 percent say that they have no opinion on this. Apparently, the