The Rhetoric of Migration in News Media
Canada has a long history of humanitarian action welcoming refugees from all over the world. Starting on the year 1776 when 3,000 Black Loyalists came to Canada fleeing the American Revolution, the country has provided refuge to those escaping hardship. Thus, conventional wisdom would dictate that welcoming refugees is embedded in the country’s dominant cultural discourse.
To explore this topic, this literature review will focus on three major themes found in how news media in Anglo-Saxon countries addressed the rhetoric of migrants. Specifically, how do they present the refugee’s experience? What ‘labels’ does news media use to present refugees? How do they address a host country’s nationality in the …show more content…
It is my view that only with greater discussion, news media can better present refugee crises and hopefully, phased out their apparent insistence in the reinforcement and propagation of hegemonic discourses of Orientalism.
What ‘labels’ does news media use to present refugees?
Research suggests that news media has been complicity in the creation and reinforcement of their negative labelling of refugees due to the medium’s uncritical reporting of official government reports, their need to cater to their audiences’ concerns and their own political agendas (Bennett et al., 2013; Bradimore and Bauer, 2011; Doherty, 2015; George, 2015; Greenberg, 2000; Khosravinik, 2009).
Doherty (2015) claims that journalists will often report what is transmitted to them by governmental bodies as a way to appear impartial. He argues that by doing so, journalists ignore their role as “active participant[s] in the creation of narratives” (p. 138) and chronicles Australia’s refugee history as an example. In 1976, upon the arrival of a Vietnamese boat, news media echoed the government 's narrative of humanitarianism and international responsibility by using labelling the visitors as ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘refugees’ escaping ‘harrowing’ ordeals and now being ‘offered
Canada has a long history of humanitarian action welcoming refugees from all over the world. Starting on the year 1776 when 3,000 Black Loyalists came to Canada fleeing the American Revolution, the country has provided refuge to those escaping hardship. Thus, conventional wisdom would dictate that welcoming refugees is embedded in the country’s dominant cultural discourse.
To explore this topic, this literature review will focus on three major themes found in how news media in Anglo-Saxon countries addressed the rhetoric of migrants. Specifically, how do they present the refugee’s experience? What ‘labels’ does news media use to present refugees? How do they address a host country’s nationality in the …show more content…
It is my view that only with greater discussion, news media can better present refugee crises and hopefully, phased out their apparent insistence in the reinforcement and propagation of hegemonic discourses of Orientalism.
What ‘labels’ does news media use to present refugees?
Research suggests that news media has been complicity in the creation and reinforcement of their negative labelling of refugees due to the medium’s uncritical reporting of official government reports, their need to cater to their audiences’ concerns and their own political agendas (Bennett et al., 2013; Bradimore and Bauer, 2011; Doherty, 2015; George, 2015; Greenberg, 2000; Khosravinik, 2009).
Doherty (2015) claims that journalists will often report what is transmitted to them by governmental bodies as a way to appear impartial. He argues that by doing so, journalists ignore their role as “active participant[s] in the creation of narratives” (p. 138) and chronicles Australia’s refugee history as an example. In 1976, upon the arrival of a Vietnamese boat, news media echoed the government 's narrative of humanitarianism and international responsibility by using labelling the visitors as ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘refugees’ escaping ‘harrowing’ ordeals and now being ‘offered