The Role of the Media in the Integration of Muslim Immigrants in Germany

The problem of integration of Muslim immigrants in Germany is quite acute. Media coverage of problems related to Muslim communities is not the least of these problems. According to the study Muslims in the European Media Landscape more than 80 percent of Germans believe that Muslims are stereotyped in German media coverage and 60 percent of Muslims surveyed feel threatened by the manner in which their lives are covered. To what extent are these statements true? To answer this question this publication analyzed more than three hundred Muslim-related stories published between 2011 and 2015 on Spiegel Online. An analysis of the content of this online publication which is the most visited German-language quality press site is of particular interest for the study due to Spiegel''s reputation as an objective source of information that actively influences the formation of the news agenda in Germany.