This book sheds light on how the public engage with, make sense of, and discursively evaluate news media constructions of people from asylum seeking backgrounds. As a case study, the author discusses her recent research combining Critical Discourse Analysis with a cultural studies Audience Reception framework to examine the perspectives of 24 Western Australians who took part in semi-structured interviews. During their interviews, participants were asked open-ended questions about: their general views on people seeking asylum, including Australia’s policy responses, their media engagement habits and preferences, and their views concerning how the Australian media represents people seeking asylum. The author compares and contrasts this research with broader interdisciplinary discussion, and the book will therefore appeal to students and scholars of migration, political communication, sociology, audience reception, critical media studies and sociolinguistics.
Author(s): Ashleigh Haw
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 234
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Tables
1: Introduction
References
2: Asylum Seekers in the Australian News Media: What Do We Know So Far?
Introduction
Seeking Asylum in Australia: The Political Landscape
News Media and Societal Discourses
Audience Perspectives and the Questions that Remain
References
3: Concepts, Methods, and Ethical Considerations
Introduction
Approach, Aims, and Research Questions
Data Collection
Sampling and Participants
Interviews
Theoretical Framework and Analytical Lens
Settler Colonialism, Social Exclusivism, and Cosmopolitan Acceptance
Understanding Discourse
Discursive Approaches to News Values
Researching News Audiences
Analysis
Ethical Considerations
References
4: ‘Open the Floodgates’: Metaphor as a Tool for Legitimising Australia’s ‘Invasion’ Panic
Introduction
Australia’s Collective Fear of the Asylum Seeker ‘Other’
Mediated Sensationalism and Moral Panics
Water and Containment Metaphors
Australian News Audience Perspectives
‘Hordes of People Showing Up’: Audience Perspectives that Reflect Moral Panic Discourses
‘I Can’t Blame People for Being Confused’: Resistance to Moral Panic Discourses
Some ‘Flood’ for Thought?
References
5: ‘Nation Prepares for War’: The Discursive Securitisation of Asylum Seekers
Introduction
The Discursive Securitisation of People Seeking Asylum in Australia
Discourses of ‘Border Control’ and the Language of War
State Sovereignty and the Exclusionary Rhetoric of Ethnonationalism
Asylum Seekers as ‘Non-Human’
Australian News Audience Perspectives
‘Protect Your Own First’: Reproducing Securitisation Themes
‘Just a Sales Pitch’: Responses to Securitisation Discourses in the Australian Media
What Do Securitisation Discourses Achieve?
References
6: ‘Fight Against Illegals’: Constructing Asylum Seekers Through Frames of Criminality and Illegitimacy
Introduction
Framing Asylum Seekers Along Discourses of Illegitimacy and Deviance
Asylum Seekers as ‘Illegal’
‘Genuine’ Refugees Versus ‘Queue Jumpers’
Australian News Audience Perspectives
‘You Have to Wait in the Queue’: Reproducing ‘Proper Channels’ and Illegitimacy Discourses
‘Political Pawns’: Resisting Illegality Narratives and ‘Queue Jumper’ Framings About Asylum Seekers
Criminalisation Narratives as an Agenda-Setting Exercise
References
7: ‘Taxpayers Foot the Bill’: Scapegoating Asylum Seekers Through ‘Economic Migrants’ and ‘Burden’ Narratives
Introduction
The Positioning of Asylum Seekers as Economic Scapegoats
Creating a Scapegoat
The ‘Burden’ of People Seeking Asylum in Australia
‘Economic Migrants’
Australian News Audience Perspectives
‘Taking Other People’s Jobs’: Constructing Asylum Seekers as ‘Burdens’ and ‘Economic Migrants’
‘There’s No Evidence This Even Happens’: Critiques of Economic Scapegoating Discourses
The Simultaneous Triumph and Failure of Economic Scapegoating Narratives
References
8: Conclusion
References
Index
