Coverage of foreign labor in the Icelandic media – does the media really reflect trends?

Abstract

The ratio of foreign nationals in the Icelandic labour market has grown quite a lot in the last few years, rising from 4% in 2006 to 13% in 2017. Foreigners have been met with some prejudice in the Icelandic labour market and there are indications that media coverage does not reflect their high numbers in Iceland. In this article we look at the media coverage of foreign nationals in the Icelandic labour market in three Icelandic media outlets from 2006 to 2017. The coverage is not extensive but it does seem to follow the ratio of foreign nationals in the labour market. The coverage was greatest in the beginning of the research period, when the political party Frjálslyndi flokkurinn put the danger of free flow of labour on its agenda. The media coverage of foreign labour is mostly positive, although in some cases foreign labour has been pitted against the elderly and disabled. The ratio of media coverage of foreign labour in the total labour market coverage is, however, higher than the ratio of foreign workers in the labour market.