‘Manufactured hysteria’: audience perceptions of sensationalism and moral panic in Australian news representations of asylum seekers

Haw, Ashleigh

doi:10.1177/1329878x19876093

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…But we do not wish to end on a negative note. Our data recognise that despite negative ‘othering’ and invisibility in media coverage, clearly some audience members resist dehumanising characterisations of asylum seekers (see also Haw, 2019). These resistance readings demonstrate the dialogical feature of discursive constructions (see Fozdar, 2008; Billig et al, 1988; Goodman, 2007), that the critical public are capable of reading against the grain.…”

Section: Conclusion: Moving Beyond ‘Just Voice’mentioning

confidence: 59%

Resistance to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers in Australia’s mediated public sphere: an audience perspective

Haw

Fozdar²,

Cover

2019

Media, Culture & Society

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Media narratives that dehumanise asylum seekers have tremendous power to shape and reinforce public support for policies that jeopardise the well-being of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. Research suggests that such dehumanisation is exacerbated by the limited opportunities these groups have to contribute to media coverage about their experiences. In response, scholars have advocated for more inclusion of asylum seekers’ voices in news coverage; however, little is known about how Australian media audiences are engaging with this issue. This article discusses research utilising Critical Discourse Analysis alongside a cultural studies Audience Reception framework to examine the perspectives of 24 Western Australians concerning news discourses about asylum seekers. Resistance to dehumanising constructions was a recurring theme, with many participants arguing for greater inclusion of asylum seekers voices’ in news depictions of their plight. These findings suggest that some audiences are challenging and resisting dehumanising discourses about asylum seekers and in some cases, demonstrating awareness of Australian media’s evident exclusion of their voices. Examined through Judith Butler’s social ethics lens, we consider these findings in the light of positions that advocate for the provision of voice as a means to a more ethical and inclusive Australian media.

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Section: Conclusion: Moving Beyond ‘Just Voice’mentioning

confidence: 59%

Resistance to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers in Australia’s mediated public sphere: an audience perspective

Haw

Fozdar²,

Cover

2019

Media, Culture & Society

Self Cite

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“…Haw [20] examined the audience's perception of news coverage of refugees and migrants in Australia and how such news can provoke mass panic and hysteria. The study found that many viewers felt that television news was aimed at creating a panic effect and overused sensationalized headlines and images.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The difference in the world perception between a hysteric and a neurotic

Spytska

2024

Environ. Soc. Psychol.

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The research significance is determined by the necessity to gain a more profound comprehension of the influence of mental disorders on an individual's perspective of the world. The research intends to conduct an empirical study to identify and compare the levels of personal indicators of world perception in individuals with hysterical and neurotic disorders. The methodology employed in investigating this issue involved surveying participants, which gathered data on the psychological condition and perception of the environment among the individuals involved in the study (n=62). The study employed various methods of scientific inquiry, including system analysis, comparison method, logical analysis, classification, synthesis, and deduction, in addition to conducting interviews with the respondents. It defines the terms “neurotic” and “hysteria”, describes the causes and consequences of an unstable emotional state, determines the connection between an unstable emotional state and neurotic and hysterical personality disorders, uncovers potential physiological causes for the development of these disorders, lists and describes physiological and sociocultural factors that shape a person's worldview, and explores personal factors that influence. The research materials possess practical significance as they provide empirical evidence of the impact of hysterical and neurotic personality disorders on an individual's perspective of the world.

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“…The first is a populist alarmism that responds in (often sensationalised) anger to a situation of change. This includes moral panic (Cohen, 1972; Zylinska, 2004), particularly when the crisis is seen to produce change to the composition of population or geography (Cover, 2020) and often during ‘manufactured’ crises related to border control, migration and asylum seekers (Haw, 2020; Haw et al, 2019). This has been described as the alarmism of populist ‘noise’ that interferes in procedural clarity in the development of policy and educational options (Alexiadou, 2016).…”

Section: Three Response Framework In Contemporary Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Remedying disinformation and fake news? The cultural frameworks of fake news crisis responses and solution-seeking

Cover

Haw

Thompson

2022

International Journal of Cultural Studies

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For the past half-decade, disinformation and misinformation have been discussed in the public sphere as the construct ‘fake news’, through a discourse of crisis and, increasingly, in terms of responses, remedies, solutions, interventions and preventative affordances. This article explores the emergence of the crisis–remedy discourse of disinformation, arguing that responsiveness is grounded in a solutionism that positions ‘fake news’ as crisis. Drawing on select examples, we use a cultural approach to analyse a range of remedies put forward in public sphere, policy and scholarly discourse. We identify three frameworks of the crisis–remedy discourse: alarmism, regulation/eradication, and adaptation. The article presents examples of five remedial approaches and theorises their alignment with different crisis frameworks. By thinking through the cultural formation of different remedies, we aim to draw out cultural studies’ utility in future efforts to determine the efficacy and ethics of current and future solutions to disinformation.

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‘Manufactured hysteria’: audience perceptions of sensationalism and moral panic in Australian news representations of asylum seekers

Cited by 9 publications

References 46 publications

Resistance to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers in Australia’s mediated public sphere: an audience perspective

Resistance to the dehumanisation of asylum seekers in Australia’s mediated public sphere: an audience perspective

The difference in the world perception between a hysteric and a neurotic

Remedying disinformation and fake news? The cultural frameworks of fake news crisis responses and solution-seeking

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