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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 17:6 (2018) ► pp.744–768

Comparing the representation of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in the Irish and UK press

A corpus-based critical discourse analysis

| University of Limerick
| University of Limerick

Coverage of migration in the media intensified during 2015 against the backdrop of a largescale European refugee crisis. Using corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis, we explore the representation of refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants and migrants from September to November 2015, in UK and Irish newspapers. Data was collected from Nexis, using the Baker et al. (2008) RASIM framework. Using corpus linguistic techniques, we identify how these groups are represented, before drawing on CDA to examine the data sets further. Frequency lists of the UK and Irish corpora were compared across variety followed by more detailed diachronic analysis of the most frequently occurring items. The extent to which the issue of migration is refracted through a discourse of terrorism in Irish and UK coverage is compared through cluster analyses and a close CDA analysis of randomised downsamples of the Irish and UK sub-corpora drawing in particular on the DHA approach.

Keywords: refugees, migrants, media discourse, corpus linguistics, topoi , discourse-historical approach
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and context
  • 2.The study
  • 3.RASIM: Frequency analysis
    • 3.1Varietal comparisons
    • 3.2Diachronic variation in Ireland and the UK
    • 3.3 Terrorist* and RASIM: Top ten 3-word clusters
  • 4.Critical discourse analysis: RASIM and Terrorist*
    • 4.1Global meanings in UK and Irish coverage
    • 4.2UK media constructions
    • 4.3Irish media constructions
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 December 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.17043.ore
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