Media when reporting about the refugees and immigrant communities is blamed for its failure in reporting objectively about the new citizen. The media organizations have not changed their reporting style to share globalized values, especially when reporting about certain culture, that still carry stereotyped representations (Ezz El Din, 2016; Hafez, 2009). Journalism has a major role in enhancing democracy and citizenship (Hanitzsch, & Vos., 2018). With the increase in mobility and migration to Europe there are new citizens that need to be integrated in the new communities.

Studies about the media reporting of the Other, especially Muslim immigrants, show that they are reported in a stereotypical manner (Bullock and Jafri, 2000; Martin and Phelan, 2002; Kabir, 2006; Christoph, 2012; Sadar, 2014; Abdelhady and Malmberg, 2018; Holzberg, et al., 2018). One of the main issues that contribute to such constructions is the way reporters refer and write about a certain group and which voices are used in the news reporting, hence create a criticism on how the journalism profession is practiced (Christoph, 2012, Ezz El Din, 2016).

Hence it is relevant to study the opportunities for a more constructive approach in reporting on immigrants. Constructive Journalism is based on journalists’ understanding of social issues and their contribution in the societal integration, security, and well-being. It promotes new ways of reporting where it offers alternative information and possible solutions (Aitamurto & Varma, 2018; Rotmeijer, 2019). There are also other forms of journalism that stresses on the journalistic reporting for the society’s well-being that fits under the “umbrella” of constructive journalism among which is Peace Journalism (McIntyre & Sobel, 2018).

The constructive approaches are counteracting the negativity in reporting and call for a better way and a better quality in news reporting. This paper aims to study if those models can be used when reporting about immigrants as an alternative to traditional reporting that reproduces the same dichotomous and stereotypical images. The models could contribute, if applied in journalistic news texts, to more balanced constructions of immigrants, i.e. the new citizens. Applying constructive approaches in reporting can provide alternative ways of reporting that contrast with how the media is most often considered to work.

Using principles of constructive journalism and peace journalism as a theoretical framework and Critical Discourse analysis as a methodological approach I analyze the local Swedish newspaper Barometern coverage on immigrants in Sweden between 2017-2021.