Media coverage of refugees and asylum seekers in regional Australia: a critical discourse analysis

Cooper, Samantha; Olejniczak, Erin; Lenette, Caroline; Smedley, Charlotte

doi:10.1177/1329878x16667832

Cited by 63 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…They suggest a possible path for explaining how discourses about refugees circulate and become further sedimented on social media, attesting for example "the shit in media representations of refugees as vulnerable" (Gualda and Rebollo 2016;Smith Dahmen et al 2018). As other scholars have noted, such shits in representations are largely achieved via the use of human stories (Steimel 2010;Hickerson and Dansmore 2015;Cooper et al 2016). As we have demonstrated, Alan' death is foregrounded as the focus for public assessment via individual acts of stancetaking embedded in practices of sharing visual small stories within existing regimes of mediated visualities of sufering.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, shits from the representation of migrants as "fortune seekers" or "adventurers" to "innocent victims" or "vulnerable", "tragic asylum seekers" in need of support and assistance have been noted by a host of researchers (Blommaert 2015;Parker 2015;Gualda and Rebollo 2016;Smith Dahmen et al 2018). This shit to more positive representations is largely achieved through the use of human stories (Steimel 2010;Hickerson and Dunsmore 2015;Cooper et al 2016). For example, Smith Dahmen et al (2018) report high emotional and sympathetic reactions to images of refugee children, including Alan Kurdi.…”

Section: Previous Research On Media Representations Of Refugeementioning

confidence: 99%

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The shared story of #JeSuisAylan on Twitter

Γιαξόγλου

Spilioti

2020

PRAG

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Despite an increased interest in the discourse representations of refugees in the media, little attention has been paid so far to the circulation and uptake of such portrayals in social media. This article addresses this gap by examining networked users' reactions to the iconic image of Alan Kurdi, which quickly turned into a shared story. By analyzing story frames, i.e. orientations to the Storyrealm, the Taleworld, or the Outside world (De Fina 2016) in multimodal posts (dated September 3rd 2015), which feature the hashtag #JeSuisAylan, we show how hashtags, comments, and images combine into visual small stories (Georgakopoulou 2016) that prompt acts of afective and narrative stancetaking. Our analysis calls attention to stancetaking as embedded in storytelling activities and calls for extending the critical examination of discourse representations to the study of their uptake in practices of story participation online.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Previous Research On Media Representations Of Refugeementioning

confidence: 99%

The shared story of #JeSuisAylan on Twitter

Γιαξόγλου

Spilioti

2020

PRAG

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“…Government representatives, acting as "moral entrepreneurs", share in the ideologies and values of the general public (Roach Anleu, 2006). Issues surrounding asylum seekers are "framed" in a particular way to encourage an interpretation of events and the subsequent audience's response (Cooper et al, 2016). The political elite "control flows of information" (Cooper et al, 2016, p. 79), determining media reporting, and influencing prejudicial attitudes of the public.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The use of strategic "loaded" language (Cooper et al, 2016) since these elections has penetrated the Australian psyche, and to some lesser extent the Spanish and Catalan communities. Asylum seekers have been "framed" as "illegals" (Cooper et al 2016;Every & Augoustinos 2008a;Klocker 2004;Leach & Zamora 2006;Schech 2013), and "economic migrants" by both Australian and Spanish governments and their media (Every & Augoustinos, 2008a;Leach & Zamora, 2006). There are obvious connotations which accompany the term "illegals", these being that asylum seekers are linked to criminal activity (Van Acker & Hollander, 2003), the act of seeking asylum itself incorrectly "framed" as breaking the law.…”

Section: Shaping Perceptions Of Asylum Seekersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Friend or Foe: An Analysis of the Contribution National Identity Hegemony Plays in the Acceptance of Asylum Seekers in Australia, Spain and Catalonia

Collins¹

2019

ijcs

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With the vast number of people currently seeking asylum, this research sought to understand what determines the reception of asylum seekers and rationalises the treatment of asylum seekers by a nation. This is important to gain insight into how and why displaced people are dehumanised and criminalised when seeking asylum. The national identities of Australia, Spain and Catalonia are analysed, as is the influence of each national identity on public perceptions of asylum seekers. To achieve this, Benedict Anderson's understanding of nationalism being an imagined national community has been adopted. A literature review examining the construction of each national identity, and its influence on public perception of asylum seekers was carried out. Findings were then compared with empirical data gathered during observation in Sydney, Australia and Barcelona, Catalonia. It was hypothesised that sentiments held towards asylum seekers by members of a national community could be attributed to the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion created by a national identity. This was confirmed, as a difference in attitudes towards asylum seekers was evident in Australia, Spain and Catalonia resulting from the processes governments have chosen to develop such an identity.

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“…There was a significant (but small) effect with respect to the questions relating to politicians but no significant effect with respect to the media generally. This lack of effect might be due to the fact that -depending on the media outlet one is predominately engaging with -not all media is negative about asylum seekers (see Cooper, Olejniczak, Lenette, & Smedley, 2016;Gordon, 2015;Mitchell, 2015).…”

Section: The Third-person Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

False Beliefs About Asylum Seekers to Australia: The Role of Confidence in Such Beliefs, Prejudice, and the Third Person Effect

Pedersen

Hartley

2017

Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology

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T here has been much controversy about the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia in recent years, with the Australian Government continuing to enforce a very hard-line stance on asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat. The present study examined attitudes towards asylum seekers using 164 Australian community members during June 2015 by way of questionnaire. Our primary research question involved how five variables predicted false beliefs about asylum seekers. Specifically, we measured prejudice, the third-person effect, and confidence in the answers given to false beliefs about asylum seekers. Regression results indicated that the main predictors of false beliefs were right-wing political orientation, prejudice, confidence in espousing false beliefs, and the third-person effect (politicians). Furthermore, most of our community participants accepted a large number of false beliefs as being true, with approximately two-thirds of our participants scoring above the midpoint. This reflects similar findings over the last decade or so. Our results indicate that, if one believes in bottom-up change, a more nuanced approach needs to be undertaken with community anti-prejudice interventions.Keywords: asylum seekers, refugees, false beliefs, confidence, prejudice, third-person effect There has been much controversy about the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia in recent years, with the Australian Government continuing to enforce a very hardline stance on asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat. While community sentiment is mixed, with some Australians feeling compassion for asylum seekers (Surawski, Pedersen, & Briskman, 2008), many Australians have highly negative or prejudiced attitudes towards them (Markus, 2015). This is despite the fact that their arrival by boat does not violate any international or national law. Indeed, Markus (2015) found that many respondents of a community poll (approximately one-third) believed asylum-seeker boats should be turned back without asylum claims being assessed. We do not go into great detail about Australia's asylum-seeker policies as these can be found elsewhere (e.g., Fleay, 2010); however, suffice to say that they are extremely harsh, designed to both deter and punish asylum seekers who attempt to enter Australia by boat (Penovic, 2016). Furthermore, the fact that Australia's asylum-seeker policy regime (e.g., mandatoryAddress for correspondence: Anne Pedersen, Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University, Kent Street, Bentley, Perth WA 6102, Australia. Email: anne.pedersen@curtin.edu.au detention) is harmful both psychologically and physically to people seeking asylum cannot be disputed (Coffey, Kaplan, Sampson, & Tucci, 2010;Davidson, Murray, & Schweitzer, 2008;Steele et al., 2004). In response to various aspects of Australia's asylum-seeker policy, there has been considerable outrage from some quarters, including the Australian Human Rights Commission (2014). Relevantly, psychology's peak body strongly opposes Australia's immigration detention ...

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Media coverage of refugees and asylum seekers in regional Australia: a critical discourse analysis

Cited by 63 publications

References 19 publications

The shared story of #JeSuisAylan on Twitter

The shared story of #JeSuisAylan on Twitter

Friend or Foe: An Analysis of the Contribution National Identity Hegemony Plays in the Acceptance of Asylum Seekers in Australia, Spain and Catalonia

False Beliefs About Asylum Seekers to Australia: The Role of Confidence in Such Beliefs, Prejudice, and the Third Person Effect

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