DISCOURSE OF 'US' AND THE 'OTHERS' IN PRESENTING THE ISSUE OF IMMIGRATION IN THE ENGLISH, MACEDONIAN AND TURKISH PRESS

Abstract

In this work we research the ways of representation of the immigration issue in the journalistic discourse of the English, Macedonian and Turkish written media. In the analysis we focus on discovering the implicit meanings of the discourse items employed in distinct journalistic and linguistic strategies with the function of creating public opinion regarding the issue of immigration, and the role of these items in the reconstruction of the reality by the daily press. This analysis is carried out on journalistic texts which contain the lexemes: ‘immigrants’, ‘illegal immigrants’ and ‘refugees’. In the analysis we also try to determine the similarities and differences between the three journalistic discourses in their presentation of the polarization of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, which creates a negative representation for the ‘others’ i. e. the immigrants in the public. Employing the method of Critical discourse analysis we investigate whether the analysed discourse contains anti-immigrant attitudes expressed through specific rethorical devices. We place the analysis in a wider social context, which is different for all оf the three discourses because of the different degree of relevance of the issue of immigration.
The analysis was conducted on a larger number of articles from prominent media outlets of the three countries in order to get a more realistic picture of the journalistic and linguistic strategies used in the representation of immigration. In the contrastive analysis of a series of texts, we noticed that the journalistic discourse mainly creates a negative image of immigrants and very little is shown of the human dimension of the phenomenon. This approach of negative portrayal and generalization of immigrants by the media creates a negative stereotype about immigrants in a society. The articles on immigration supersede their basic informative function as they pursue additional goals: commercial-sensationalist and ideological. The latter refers to their manupilative influence in shaping public opinion. The textual analysis of the texts in the mentioned languages revealed that despite the similarities in the choice of lexical elements, each of the three discourses reflect the political attitudes towards the current internal or foreign policy of the country it represents. During the research, we determined that the reporting models of Western journalism are mirrored in Macedonian and Turkish journalism, which is especially noticeable in the texts that include photographs.
In order to break down the stereotypes that are transmitted through the journalistic discourse, a more comprehensive analysis of the topics that are placed in the framework of “us” and “others” is needed. It is of a vital significance to decode the implicit meanings hidden in the articles of informative nature because any manipulative journalistic representation of events further deepens the contrast between “us” and “others” in any society.