Framing the Future of Climate Migration in Finnish and Dutch News Media: Understanding Future Visions by Investigating Underlying Normative Judgement

Ilona Bontenbal; Päivi Pirkkalainen; Hanna-Mari Husu

doi:10.33134/njmr.980

Framing the Future of Climate Migration in Finnish and Dutch News Media: Understanding Future Visions by Investigating Underlying Normative Judgement

Nordic Journal of Migration Research

Volume 16 (2026): Issue 1

By: Ilona Bontenbal , Päivi Pirkkalainen and Hanna-Mari Husu

Open Access

|Oct 2025

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the kinds of futures envisioned by Finnish and Dutch news media in relation to climate migration. We find four frames that are used to present the future: a catastrophe frame, a migrant‑positioning frame, an injustice frame and a panic‑alleviation frame. Each frame is underpinned by certain normative judgements, i.e. the frames are presented in normative ways that express values. The core normative judgements used to envision the future of climate‑related migration are securitisation, exceptionalisation, othering and the rejection of migration; normative judgements of sympathy and self‑criticism are also present, albeit to a lesser degree. We find some divergences between the two countries: in the Dutch media, climate migration is more commonly described through self‑identification and as a European and Dutch phenomenon; in Finland, it is primarily discussed through othering and securitisation. Overall, our analysis indicates that, while academic discussions may have moved beyond portraying climate migration in apocalyptic tones, the media in these two countries have not. Our data consist of 176 news articles published during 2020–2023, taken from three major news sites in each country. The analysis was conducted in 2024.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33134/njmr.980 | Journal eISSN: 1799-649X

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Language: English

Page range: 3 - 3

Submitted on: Jan 14, 2025

Accepted on: Sep 18, 2025

Published on: Oct 29, 2025

Published by: Helsinki University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

media,

© 2025 Ilona Bontenbal, Päivi Pirkkalainen, Hanna-Mari Husu, published by Helsinki University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 16 (2026): Issue 1