Framing Urban Change: Gentrification Discourses in the Media Coverage of the Gülbol Eviction in Berlin

This thesis examines gentrification discourses in Berlin by highlighting an extraordinarily large protest sparked by the eviction of the Gülbol family—long-time residents of Berlin who immigrated to Germany from Turkey. Media outlets chose to frame the event in very different ways. I analyze articles from various media sources in an attempt to discover how these sources chose to frame this event, then analyze how these frames are applied to the general gentrification discourse in Berlin. Non-traditional, or “advocacy” media outlets used technology to break away from mass media frames on the subject and frame the event as governmental oppression and excess. By presenting this alternative frame, alternative media sources help shift how “otherness” in Berlin is defined. Ethnic or religious identity gave way to outside capital investments that are slowly changing the makeup of Berlin.