The topic of migration has become particularly contentious in national as well as international debates. Media have a discernable impact on overall societal attitudes towards this phenomenon. Polls show time and again that immigration is one of the main issues occupying people’s minds. IM2MEDIATE (Images of Immigrants in the Media: Thought-provoking) examines the dynamic interplay between media representations of immigrants and refugees on the one hand, and the governmental and societal (re)actions to these on the other hand. Largely focusing on Belgium and Sweden, our interdisciplinary research attempts to unravel the determinants of people’s preferences regarding migration policy, expectations towards immigrants, and economic, humanitarian and cultural concerns about immigration’s effect on the life of the majority population. Whilst immigrants and refugees remain voiceless and highly underrepresented in the legacy media, IM2MEDIATE allows their voices to be heard.