RUMANÍA Y LOS INMIGRANTES RUMANOS EN LA PRENSA ESPAÑOLA: ¿ESPEJO DE LA REALIDAD O UNA HERRAMIENTA QUE FOMENTA LOS ESTEREOTIPOS?
ROMANIA AND ROMANIAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE SPANISH PRESS: MIRRORING REALITY OR ENCOURAGING STEREOTYPES?

Summary/Abstract: The present paper reflects on the image Romania and Romanian immigrants have in the Spanish society, which has become a multicultural society over the past decades because of various waves of immigration. The importance and the influence of the media are topics that have been researched by many professionals in the field and it is well known that ¨the media are the main tools for building images of identity and otherness¨ (Rodrigo, 2000: 37). In other words the media are usually responsible for spreading stereotypes, usually negative ones when they deal with aspects related to Diaspora groups. Many times these stereotypes do not reflect the reality. As journalists are interpreters of the social reality, it is essential to realize that their work has considerable significance and that it influences the image people have of, for example, a certain group of immigrants. This image can help or impede the integration into the receiving country. In order to prepare this paper and draw the respective conclusions we did a micro scale analysis of the image of Romanian immigrants in the Spanish press available online. We also conducted some surveys given to both Romanian immigrants from the Region of Madrid and to Spanish people.

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