Negotiating Trust: Immigrants’ Relationships with News and Media

Session conveners:
Lotta Kokkonen lotta.o.kokkonen@jyu.fi &
Ilkhom Khalimzoda ilkhom.i.khalimzoda@jyu.fi

Session description

Media shape how we understand events locally and globally, construct social realities, imagine futures, and influence public opinion. They have also transformed the dynamics of migration. As Madianou and Miller (2012) propose in their theory of Polymedia, information and communication technologies (ICTs) in general have contributed to the transformation of the entire migration experience. Whereas once it took weeks or months – or years! – for messages to reach the previous home(s) of those who migrate, now it is possible to tap into an endless newsfeed from almost anywhere in the world and keep in contact with networks that are geographically dispersed. The choices between the different media sources, languages and social realities can lead to various arguable repercussions such as limited social engagement (ibid.), and/or the possibility to live a life both ‘here’ and ‘there’ in a kind of ‘bifocal’ orientation (Vertovec, 2004).

Research also consistently shows that media shape public attitudes toward immigrants. For instance, exposure to successful immigrant role models can influence perceptions and attitudes toward immigration (Unan, 2025). In Scandinavia, among other places, immigration-critical alternative media that mimic mainstream news formats have become a growing concern. These outlets employ journalistic conventions to advance a shared ideological message: that increased immigration has made Scandinavian societies unsafe and that political elites and the justice system are responsible for this so-called crisis (Nygaard, 2019). More broadly, heightened media attention to immigration polarizes attitudes by activating preexisting prejudices, rather than through persuasive effects of biased news consumption (Schneider, Strawczynski & Valette, 2025).

But what about the attitudes, experiences and expectations of the immigrants? Siitonen et al. (2026) have illustrated that since moving to Finland some immigrant families participating to their study reported to have experienced a push towards a certain type of media, often because it is considered as ‘reliable’ by the authorities within the environment. These recommendations were said to be coming for example from organisers and/or teachers at the integration training, for example. Yet, being able to critically assess the reliability of for example the news in Finnish was not always possible due to limitations in the Finnish language competence. Thus, many of the participants would rely on their friends and social circles for reliable news. This kind of ‘curating’ of the relevant content was discussed in those families especially where both parents had another L1 than Finnish. (Siitonen et al., 2026).

This session examines the fragmented nature of media use among transnational individuals, families, and communities. We aim to explore which media sources are considered trustworthy and why, as well as the kinds of realities media both reflect and construct for those who have relocated geographically. The democratic authority of news media rests on a basic premise of delegated trust: citizens rely on media to provide relevant and accurate information. In a context of declining trust, growing polarization, and an expanding media landscape, this session also considers how immigrants relate to the media when that trust is strained or breaks down.