Biased neutrality: the symbolic construction of the Syrian refugee in the New York Times

Aswad, Noor Ghazal

doi:10.1080/15295036.2019.1628996

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A substantial body of research that investigates the depiction of refugees in media discourse points to the tendency to depict refugees as outsiders (Baker and McEnery, 2005; Baker et al, 2008; Bradimore and Bauder, 2012; Gabrielatos and Baker, 2008; KhosraviNik, 2010; Krishnamurti, 2013; Pickering, 2001). These studies find that refugees are frequently discriminated against and deemed as a threat and burden, and more recently, as victims (Aswad, 2019; Holzberg et al, 2018). The negative effect of such depictions is, perhaps, intensified due to the ability of the news media to speak to, for, and from individuals and groups in authoritative ways from a presumed impartial stance (Johnson, 2013; Matheson, 2005).…”

Section: Refugees In the Newsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Sijani

2023

Discourse & Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines the representation of Syrian refugees in the Canadian press, from December 2015 to December 2017, in four English-language major newspapers. Using methods of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study found three prominent themes, namely intake, integration, and concern, through which Syrian refugees are depicted across the political spectrum. The results indicate that adopting a more inclusive immigration policy did not totally negate the biased and discriminatory representations entrenched in the media coverage of refugees, but it can set the stage for more empowering and sympathetic treatment of refugees in the media. This analysis speaks to the importance of media discourse in producing and maintaining particular depictions of refugees among the Canadian public, highlighting the role of ideological and political stances in the portrayals of refugees across news outlets.

show abstract

Section: Refugees In the Newsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Sijani

2023

Discourse & Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several scholars have carried out different research studies about the status of females in general and female refugees in particular. Some of the studies discussed the representation of women in media (Abid, 2020;Ghazal Aswad, 2019;Haider & Olimy, 2019;Mustafa-Awad et al, 2019;Mustafa-Awad & Kirner-Ludwig, 2017;Narlı et al, 2020;Narlı & Özaşçılar, 2019). However, most of these studies did not pay considerable attention to how female refugees are stereotyped in national news agencies that publish mainly in Arabic.…”

Section: Research-article20212021mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study contributes to the growing body of studies about the representation of refugees in general and female refugees in particular in media. Different studies have investigated the representation of minority groups, including refugees from different points of view: linguistically, discursively, politically, and socially (Abid, 2020;Ghazal Aswad, 2019;Haider & Olimy, 2019;Mustafa-Awad et al, 2019;Mustafa-Awad & Kirner-Ludwig, 2017;Narlı et al, 2020;Narlı & Özaşçılar, 2019). For example, Narlı et al (2020) examined the Turkish media coverage of Syrian women refugees from 2013 to 2015, and "identified 13 types of gender-based problems, and explored six main frames outlining these gender-based problems with specific perspectives of victim, criminal, threat, state of war and displacement, human, and remedy" (p. 15).…”

Section: Empirical Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Media Coverage of Syrian Female Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Jordan and Lebanon are among the predominantly affected countries by the Syrian civil war that began after the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2011. Hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians, including women and children, moved to these two countries. As media plays an integral role in shaping societies and framing the world around us, this study explores the representation of Syrian female refugees in Jordan News Agency (Petra) and Lebanon National News Agency (NNA). It uses a 13-million-word corpus of Arabic news articles from 2012 to 2016. These 5 years represent the peak of the Syrian refugee crisis, and the media coverage of it was extensive and thorough. Adopting a corpus-assisted discourse approach to analyze the data yielded eight main categories that were recurrent in the news of the two agencies, namely, suffering, sexual exploitation, impact on the local female community, awareness-raising, making a living, support, vulnerability, and burden. The findings revealed that the focus in Petra news was mainly on empowering the Syrian female refugees, while NNA highlighted Syrian women’s suffering and efforts of alleviation. The study recommends that the governments of Jordan and Lebanon as well as international organizations provide more support and protection for vulnerable and disadvantaged refugee women. It also stresses the need for psychosocial support, counter-trafficking, protection, and women empowerment programs.

show abstract

“…In this respect, Ghazal (2019) revealed that most of the Syrian refugee coverage in the New York Times was contextualized in the U.S. presidential elections. This author further asserts that this approach dehumanizes Syrian refugees (Ghazal, 2019). Some scholars dedicated research specifically to this matter of refugee dehumanization.…”

Section: The Media Misrepresentations Of Syrian Refugees Worldwidementioning

confidence: 89%

“…When discussing this case, she stressed the fact that although evidence proved the European citizenship of the perpetrators, the media did not clarify or correct its accusation of the Syrian refugee in its post-publications (Ghazal, 2019). Because of the circulation of such stories at first, and keeping the claims uncorrected afterward, the media reinforces the image of Syrians as terrorists regardless of the facts.…”

Section: The Media Misrepresentations Of Syrian Refugees Worldwidementioning

confidence: 97%

The Securitization and De-securitization of Syrian Refugees in the Lebanese Newspapers and Through the Lens of Refugees’ Narratives. (c2020)

Sehli

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With the outbreak of Syria’s conflict in 2011, more than five million displaced Syrians sought refuge in neighboring countries, including Lebanon. These host countries have however portrayed their displacement as temporary and have taken restrictive measures to limit refugee influx and control mobility. In Lebanon, a country of “no-asylum”, displaced Syrians struggled with deteriorating livelihoods and an acute climate of securitization, compounded by historical and political tensions. Against this backdrop, the Lebanese print media, that internalized political factions’ speech acts, heavily engaged with the theme of refugees as security, economic and social threats. Still, unlike many accounts that portrayed this engagement as monolithic, this thesis argues that newspapers offered heterogeneous conceptions of the issue of refugee securitization. It also shows how Syrian refugees have in turn produced narratives to challenge prevalent media misconceptions. To explore the complex field of securitization versus de-securitization in the context of Syrian forced migration, this research will critically unpack how Lebanese newspapers have framed Syrian refugees through various discursive perspectives and platforms. More specifically, it will shed light on how two Lebanese newspapers, Annahar and Al Akhbar, have dealt with the issue of securitizing displacement from Syria, and how they have constructed various narratives and counter-narratives vis-à-vis refugeeness. In more specific terms, the research argues that while Annahar transmitted and vehiculated politicians’ security speech acts, Al Akhbar offered a discursive platform that allowed for rethinking refugeeness as a security threat. To provide a complimentary perspective, the research will examine how Syrian refugees have in turn resisted securitization through conveying their voices and producing counter-frames that challenged securitized portrayals. In so doing, the thesis will contribute to the complex literature on the processes, dynamics, and factors underlying the securitization and de-securitization of forced migration.

show abstract

Biased neutrality: the symbolic construction of the Syrian refugee in the New York Times

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

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

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

Media Coverage of Syrian Female Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

The Securitization and De-securitization of Syrian Refugees in the Lebanese Newspapers and Through the Lens of Refugees’ Narratives. (c2020)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About