European refugee crisis, which started in 2015, was caused by a massive migration of people to European Union countries via the Mediterranean sea and land. It is sometimes called European migrant or European migration crisis. It is also known for polarizing the Slovenian public opinion about it. In general, two 'camps' were formed – for and against the acceptance of refugees. My thesis focuses primarily on the research of this polarization. In the empirical part I focus, using the discourse analysis, on five different online forums, where users discuss the refugee crisis. I was interested in discourses that appear in those discussions and factors influencing their formation.
In the theoretical part I analyse the broader context of the European refugee crisis and elaborate the concepts not only linked to it, but also shaping online forum users' opinion about the topic. One of those concepts involves the media and the readers’ lack of critical evaluation of information when it comes to consuming news. The analysed discussions show a lack of critical distance towards the users’ own perception of the world around them. Users of online forums do not challenge their own preconceptions, their opinions thus staying polarized although, in reality, they have no real-life experience with the topic about which they are exceedingly opinionated.
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