Virtue Ethics and Media Framing: Comparative Analysis of Conservative and Liberal U.S. News Coverage of Japanese Immigration During Policy Shifts (2019-2024)

Abstract

This research explores how conservative and liberal U.S. media reported on Japanese immigration during the 2019-2024 immigration policy shifts and the impact on public perception. From a religious and ethical perspective, the research focuses on the media’s ethical obligation to report truthfully on immigrants and to do so with fairness, justice, and compassion, arguments undergirded by solidarity, dignity, and the treatment of the stranger that most religious traditions articulate. The study design uses both content analysis of article frequency analysis and thematic analysis to examine how media framing influences discourse. The results suggest that, in conservative sources, immigration was framed noticeably negatively, while, at the same time, they and the liberal ones placed a lot of emphasis on the themes of history and community. These issues may sound more like the culture, and religion’s messages on continuity and togetherness of people with similar moral principles irrespective of their ideological positions. The findings further supported by Chi-square tests suggest that media has become less polarized which is evidenced by the fact that their tones and thematic concerns are now rather similar. All the recommendations made in the study call for increased and more informative news and current affairs reporting, guided by ethical norms regardless of the meaning of the given society, which will enhance social cohesion. Subsequent research should incorporate increased sample sizes and diverse subjects as well as use cross-sectional research to understand media framing’s effects on the immigration debate with an emphasis placed on the moral principles evident in religious and philosophic principles.