Representations of migration during the sociosanitary crisis: A lexicometric analysis of Chilean digital media

Abstract

This manuscript analyzes the representations of migration in digital news media, during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile. In total, 311 news from three digital news outlets were analyzed, which differed in their editorial frames and were among the most visited in Chi-le: El Mostrador, Cooperativa and EMOL. A mixed study (quantitative and qualitative) was carried out, through a lexicometric analysis, which allows analyzing large corpus of data. The findings indi-cate the existence of six vocabulary classes (clus-ters), which illustrate different ways in which the migratory phenomenon was represented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our main results are dis-cussed regarding the content in each clustter and linked to previous national and international stu-dies. Beyond the pandemic, the findings invite to expand our understanding of migration represen-tation in contexts of crisis.