Understanding media discourses on (potential) returnees : gendered and racialized dynamics

The past decade. the phenomenon of "Syrian fighter* and
their potential return has enjoyed a lot of media attention.
But once they are back, their reintergration into society is
barely discussed. Traditional media are powerful players in
shaping public opinion on the returnee issue, as they are
one of the few information channels for the Belgian public.
Moreover uninformed publics are vulnerable to adopting the
media frames provided, which according to research on the
framing of Muslims, is predominantly negative and often
frames ethnic-cultural minorities as either victims or a
threat. Therefore this presentation will adress the Belgian
media discourses on the returnee issue, the gendered and
racialized dynamics of those issues and how those media
discourses evolved the past decade in Flemish and Belgian
French newspapers.