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Migration crisis in the local news: Evidence from the French–Italian border

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  • Peracchi, Silvia

Abstract

This paper examines how undocumented migrant displacements affect local news markets and the political economy of EU internal borders. I focus on a policy that took place in June 2015, in which French authorities introduced militarized controls at their borders with Italy, to return waves of irregular border-crossing migrants transiting from Italy to Italian lands. Natives’ exposure to resettled migrants varied across Italian municipalities, depending on their proximity to push-back areas. I exploit this quasi-experimental setting in a diff-in-diff framework and compile novel text and count data from local news in Liguria, Italy. Results show that migration coverage declined with distance from the border after the push-backs. In contrast, anti-immigrant discourse intensified away from the events and weakened at the border. Exploring further this framing dimension, I observe readers’ demand to be closely associated with local news discourse and voting preferences to broadly follow anti-immigrant slant in the news.

Suggested Citation

  • Peracchi, Silvia, 2025. "Migration crisis in the local news: Evidence from the French–Italian border," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:150:y:2025:i:c:s0094119025000737
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2025.103808
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    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General

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