As global refugee flows accelerate, so does local news coverage on the subject and the potential for major political consequences.  In an analysis of all broadcasts of the most famous television news program in Germany 2014-2019, we first show observationally (through text and image analysis) that refugee coverage increases with immigration and is correlated in different ways with public opinion about refugees. Conditioning on these patterns, we then implement a nationally representative block randomized media experiment. We find that TV news coverage of refugees causes viewers to be more willing to donate money to pro-refugee organizations and support pro-refugee policies, but surprisingly to feel colder and more socially distant towards them. We discuss the far reaching consequences of this divergent pattern for the future of local politics in Germany and potentially around the world.

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