The Representation of Syrian Refugees in Canadian Online News Media: A Focus on the Topos of Burdening

Abstract

Background: This study focuses on the representation of Syrian refugees in Canadian online news media. It examines 375 articles selected from three of the most visited Canadian news sites, namely the Toronto Star, which favours the Liberal Party, and the Toronto Sun and National Post, which favour the Conservative Party. Analysis: The basis of this research is a topoi analysis, whereby instances of the topos of burdening are identified, examined, and categorized as either positive or negative. Conclusion and implications: A distinction is drawn between the depiction of Syrian refugees in conservative- and liberal-leaning news sources. The findings aim to provide some insight into the possible impact of media representation on both the Syrian refugees and the Canadian public. Contexte: Cette étude porte sur la représentation des réfugiés syriens dans les médias d’information canadiens en ligne. Elle examine 375 articles choisis à partir de trois des sites de nouvelles canadiens les plus visités, à savoir le Toronto Star, partisan du Parti libéral, le Toronto Sun et le National Post, partisans du Parti conservateur. Analyse: Cette recherche se fonde sur l’analyse de topoï pour identifier, examiner et catégoriser des topos sur les fardeaux comme étant positif ou négatifs. Conclusion et implications: Cette étude établit une distinction entre la manière dont les sources de nouvelles à tendance conservatrice dépeignent les réfugiés syriens et la manière dont les sources à tendance libérale le font. L’objectif est de mieux comprendre l’impact possible des représentations médiatiques sur les réfugiés syriens ainsi que sur le public canadien.

A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the representation of Syrian refugees in Canadian newspapers

“…The above-mentioned studies provide invaluable insights into the depiction of Syrian refugees in Canadian media; nevertheless, a more linguistically-grounded analysis is needed because ‘in texts, we may be aware of what the speaker or author is doing, but not so much how they are doing this’ (Machin and Mayr, 2012: 5). Also, in contrast to previous studies, which utilized a purely qualitative approach (Mustafa et al, 2021), the current study merges quantitative and qualitative tools and methods of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to examine the data from bottom-up and top-down perspectives, respectively. A corpus-assisted approach enables the analyst to have a thorough understanding of ‘the meanings and functions of certain lexical choices made in texts about refugees’ (Baker and McEnery, 2005: 223), while CDA is used to critically examine the micro-structures of the text and tries to interpret the findings in the social context, maintaining that discourse is both ‘socially constitutive as well as socially conditioned’ (Fairclough and Wodak, 1997: 258).…”

“…For example, Tyyskä et al (2017) identified frequent descriptions of Syrian refugees as vulnerable and lacking agency, while Syrian men were specifically highlighted as would-be terrorists in disguise. Although the tone of the coverage became softer and more humanizing after the emergence of the Kurdi photo (Wallace, 2018), another study found that in conservativeleaning newspapers, Syrian refugees were depicted as a burden on the healthcare system and housing resources, demonstrating the role of ideological stances of the news sources in their representations (Mustafa et al, 2021).…”