A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis Of Media Coverage Between Opposing News Outlets During The Syrian Refugee Crisis

Luke Renwick
23040536
B.A. (Hons) Media
Dissertation
A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Media Coverage
between Opposing News Outlets during the Syrian Refugee Crisis
2015/16
Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Science

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Contents
Page 1 …………………………………………………...………………………… Contents
Page 2 ……………………………………………………………………………….Abstract
Page 3 ………………………………………………………………………….. Introduction
Page 4 …………………………………………………………………….Literature Review
Page 5 ……...……….Literature Review: History of Race Representation in the Media
Page 6 ……...……………...Literature Review: Past Examples of Racism in the Media
Page 6 - Literature Review: Methodology – Studies Using Critical Discourse Analysis
Page 10 ………..……………………………………………………………… Methodology
Page 14 ………………………………..…………………………. Results and Discussion
Page 15 ………..………………………. Results and Discussion: Research Question 1
Page 17 …………………..……………. Results and Discussion: Research Question 2
Page 19 …..……………………………. Results and Discussion: Research Question 3
Page 21 ..………………………………. Results and Discussion: Research Question 4
Page 22 ..………………………………………………………………………... Conclusion
Page 24 .…………………………………………………… Bibliography and References
Page 29 ………..………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Appendix 1
Page 31 ……..…………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Appendix 2
Page 33 …..……………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Appendix 3
Page 36 ..………………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Appendix 4
Page 41 ..…………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Tables 1, 2, & 3
Page 42 ..…………………………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Tables 4, 5, & 6
Page 43 ...………………………….………... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Table 7
Page 45 .…………………………....... Appendices, Tables and Figures: Figures 1 & 2
Page 46 .……………………………………………………………………... Abbreviations
Page 47 ………...………………………………...………………..……... Research Ethics

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Abstract
Over the past year, many news outlets in the UK (such as ‘The Guardian’ and
‘The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday’) have been reporting on the refugee crisis that
has unfolded across Europe. At a time of increased political instability across the
European Union, the crisis has allowed the press to focus more attention to the
issues that have arisen out of both Europe and the European Union, with topics such
as immigration and refugees being no taboo. Using a critical discourse analysis
method of approach, we can evaluate the content of the discourse itself, and also
qualitatively and quantitatively analyse whether or not two supposed politically
antithetical news outlets offer alternative perspectives on (what was at the time) the
emerging refugee crisis. This study will also draw upon past examples of minority
representation in the media to establish the foundation for this research, reference
contemporary critical discourse analyses of news coverage of the Middle-East, and
also reference academic research on western perceptions of race.

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Introduction
My research question is “A Comparative Critical Discourse Analysis of Media
Coverage between Opposing News Outlets during the Syrian Refugee Crisis”. This
means that I will be comparing samples of news relating to this particular topic,
within the timeframe that particular significant events within this crisis were unfolding.
The aims of this research are to establish comparatively whether or not there
appears to be a particular political agenda/bias that exists within the particular
articles and the sources they derive from. I feel that this is an interesting topic as
there has been much discussion online questioning the validity of much of the
information that has been printed regarding the refugee crisis, and the
scaremongering moral panic that it has been accompanied by. However, there does
not seem to be any comprehensive qualitative or quantitative academic research
regarding this particular area or question.
The samples that I have decided to use are both the Daily Mail, and the
Guardian. I made this choice because these two newspapers are publications with a
large readership, with The Guardian being considered as largely liberal and the Daily
Mail being considered as largely neo-liberal/conservative in both content and
audience demographic. I will be analysing both online and print articles. This is
because it is easier to both gather the information needed for the analysis, and also
to cross reference/compare the data that is compiled. The dates that I will be looking
from is the 1st of August until the 1st of November 2015. Preliminary research
through ‘Nexis’ has already provided me with the information that these two news
outlets began to focus on particular stories relating to the refugee crisis more
intensively at this time. For this reason, I believe that a comparison between these
dates will yield the most valuable results. At the time of starting the research project
at the middle of December 2015, there are 1,380 results from both the Guardian and
the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday containing the words “Refugee OR Refugees” and
“Syria OR Syrian”. All of these search terms are located anywhere in the text. In this
research, I will draw upon multiple academic texts to give clear structure and
justification to the results obtained. This includes setting out the political landscape
that contemporary media is based upon, as well as the historic reporting of race,
religion, and immigration.

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As mentioned in the introduction, I will be setting the political landscape and
looking at the historic reporting of race, religion, and immigration. With this being the
case, it is essential to draw upon relevant literature from these areas to accompany
this research and give justification to the results that are obtained. For example, I will
draw upon past examples of critical discourse analysis (CDA) research by Wu (2013)
to give justification to CDA being the main method used in this research through
drawing comparisons between both their research and my own. I will also utilise
Fairclough and Wodak’s (1996) research into CDA so we are able to define the key
characteristics and principles. This means that it will be clear how we can apply
these characteristics and principles to this current research. For past research on
racism and the media, I will draw upon the work of Shojaei, Youssefi, and Hosseini
(2013) who offer modern day research on western media coverage of the Middle
East, as well as Van Dijk’s (1991) research on disproportionately negative minority-
race representation in Britain in the 1980s.
History of Race Representation in the Media
Edward Said was a philosopher who coined the ‘Theory of Orientalism’
(2003), part of which explained the reasons as to why discourse was used in such a
way as to describe characteristics created by or assigned to eastern individuals. Said
describes two types of Orientalism; ‘Latent’ and ‘Manifest’. Latent Orientalism
represents unconscious and unexplainable stereotypes, whereas ‘Manifest’
Orientalism labels the largely visible impressions of the orient that have been created
by the orient themselves” (Good, 2012). Using the manifest area of orientalism, we
can analyse the discourse used by the media to describe Arab State citizens (such
as Syrian nationals) as it describes “essential ideas about the orient - its sensuality,
its tendency to despotism, its aberrant mentality, its habits of inaccuracy, its
backwardness” (Said, 2003: 205). These ‘backward’ values, described by manifest
orientalism, can be represented in various news sources to show the east in a
negative light. Said also talks about how this portrayal of the orient can create a
binary of “Us” vs “Them”. Poole (2002: 16) cites this as to why discourse is critical in
perpetuating these views. “Ideological assumptions help and perpetuated by
Western writers who see ‘them and ’us’ constructed as naturalized, binary
oppositions has allowed ‘the West’ to dominate Oriental cultures. The discourse,
therefore has a function”.
Pooles (2002; 99) quantitative analysis of British media and its reporting on
Islam concludes that “Muslims are not seen as an integral part of British society”.
She continues to describe how this is because of the absence of “normal stories in
which Muslims appear”. This depicted Islam as becoming synonymous with “images
of the global fanatic”. Whilst it is important to make the distinction that not all Syrian
nationals are Muslims, and this is not the sole reason for discrimination against
them, over 80% of the Syrian population before the civil war followed a particular

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denomination of Islam (Holliday, 2011: 10), making religion an important discussion
and research point for this study.
Past examples of Racism in the Media
Many of Britain's newspapers have a large history of being racist. Van Dijk’s
(1991: 54) analysis of 2,755 headlines from 5 leading newspapers (The Times (576),
the Guardian (670), the Daily Telegraph (705), the Daily Mail (524), and the Sun
(280)) between August 1981 to January 1986 confirm the racist agenda that a lot of
the news media were using and preserving. These dates are historically significant
as they represent the period of austerity that followed Margaret Thatcher's election in
1979, as well as the lead up to the racially charged Tottenham Riots of October
1985. Van Dijk (1991: 55) found the top 4 most frequent words, by a large margin,
were
1. Police (388)
2. Riot (320)
3. Black (244)
4. Race (200)
Van Dijk makes the connection that “the prominent presence of the concept of
‘black’ in the headlines suggests that the disturbances are primarily defined in terms
of ethnic background or colour. They are not defined as ‘urban’ or ‘social’ forms of
protest or unrest, or as actions of ‘youths’, despite the fact about 30% of the
participants were white” (Van Dijk, 1991: 55). With this distinction being made, Van
Dijk is outlining the fact that the media's motivation by focussing on the race of
individuals, makes the headlines racist. This is because they are clearly focussing on
one classification/category (in this case; race) of a group of individuals, as opposed
to other obvious classifications, such as class and social group. This kind of research
can also be applied to my own study as it allows me to recognise the fact that the
media can, in many instances, be divisive through irrelevant classifications, such as
race, to individuals in the story.
Methodology – Studies using Critical Discourse Analysis
This dissertation takes a ‘Critical Discourse Analysis’ (abbreviated to ‘CDA’)
approach. CDA has both strengths and limitations. Its strengths are that it can be
considered as an “interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary form of analysis” (Fairclough,
2013: 4). This means that this particular analysis of discourse “cuts across
conventional boundaries between disciplines (linguistics, politics, sociology and so
forth)”. With this being the case, it shows that undertaking such an analysis allows us
to transcend these specific barriers to yield unbiased results. However, Cobb (1994:
134) states that there are epistemological criticisms to this approach, for example,
stating that the underlying intentions that can be embedded in the text “cannot

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provide a valid empirical base for critical analysis – intentions are not ‘available’
except by inference”. This states that because the analysis is based on the
perception of the researchers’ interpretation of the text, the results are ambiguous
and therefore cannot be based on theory or pure logic. Despite this being the case, I
feel that for the size of this research, a majoritively quantitative CDA approach will
yield results which can be more critically analysed in the ‘Results and Discussions’
section of this research, as opposed to utilising a full quantitative discourse
approach. In addition to this Huckin (et al, 2012: 108) cites CDA research as having
a number of distinctive principles. These are; discussing “social problems, power
relations are discursive, discourse constitutes society and culture, discourse does
ideological work, discourse is historical, the link between text and society is
mediated, discourse analysis is interpretive and explanatory, discourse is a form of
social action.” (Fairclough, N. and Wodak, R. 1996), meaning that the research I am
undertaking in this study fits within these distinctive principles for CDA.
I first approached my methodology by looking at past examples of papers that
have conducted a comparative and/or critical discourse analysis, similar to the
research I was looking to conduct. One such paper that conducted a comparative
discourse analysis of opposing news outlets is by Shangyuan Wu (2013). The
methodology used in this paper was to recognise two similar news stories that both
the BBC and Channel News Asia had reported on, and then compare the coverage.
Justified points were also given to validate the use of the news outlets in question, as
opposed to others that operated in the area and also provided coverage on the
aforementioned stories. 4 research questions were also presented as specific points
to be resolved through the research undertaken in this paper, which is a crucial
aspect that I will be drawing upon in my own research. The framework for the
analysis was then also based on, as mentioned before, Norman Fairclough's CDA
framework “to examine the news discourse through elements such as the framing of
the story, the language used, and the ideologies and assumptions embedded in the
text” (Fairclough, 1992). Research questions (RQ) were then created alongside a
point of reference so that specific analytical research could be conducted. The
aspects of this particular study that I am attempting to draw upon in my own research
is the dual comparison of the two news outlets and their coverage. By seeing the
results that this discourse analysis method obtains, we are able to anticipate the type
of results we may receive and also are able to view how they should be displayed.
Referencing the points stated above, I concluded that I would follow these 4
specific points for my comparative discourse analysis methodology;
1. Identify specific coverage to be used for comparative analysis (specifically 4
for this study)
2. Give justification for usage of the specific coverage
3. Use Fairclough’s CDA framework to examine;
a. The Framing of the Story

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and/or
b. The Language Used
and/or
c. The Ideologies and Assumptions Embedded in the Text
4. Create research questions (RQ)
One other example of an analysis of western media and their coverage of
stories in the Middle East is by Shojaei, Youssefi, and Hosseini (2013). They discuss
three issues that are brought up in western media which clearly show “conflicting
ideas”. One of these three issues is the “Syrian Crisis”, which is the civil war that
predates, and caused, the refugee crisis that we are investigating. The crisis they are
referring to is the government crackdown on anti-government protests resulting in
the ongoing civil war. In their literature review, they outlined six different sections,
from which, relevant literature was to be used as a reference point for the upcoming
research. Three of these were open sections from which multiple sources were
drawn, the other three were individual examples of literature from their own specific
source. For the purpose of this study, I will draw upon 3 of these sections as they
specifically assist in the research of this study. These are section “(b) Ideology, (c)
Van Dijk’s Notion of ‘Ideological Square’, and (d) Critical Discourse Analysis,”
(Shojaei, Youssefi, and Hosseini 2013: 859).
In section b, the concept of ideology is researched with a focus/approach on
CDA. Van Dijk is cited as a key author in this section as they give a definition as to
what ideologies are. This allows us to interpret how ideologies can be used to push a
certain agenda or angle on a news story by exploiting some of the personal
characteristics that allow groups or individuals to affiliate to them. “Ideologies are
representations of who we are, what we stand for, what our values are, and what our
relationships are with other groups, in particular our enemies or opponents, that is,
those who oppose what we stand for, threaten our interests and prevent us from
equal access to social resources and human rights (residence, citizenship,
employment, housing, status and respect, and so on)” (Van Dijk, 1998: 69). Van Dijk
continues to mention how an ideology can be displayed as a binary “Us and Them
social group”. As we have mentioned before, the binary “Us” vs “Them” is critical in
understanding the sometimes hostile perspectives that news outlets display. It is
therefore apparent that the need to consider ideology as a key point in CDA is
essential as it is possible that it can be utilised to act as a divisive means to exploit
situations to further individual agendas.
In section c, the authors expand into Van Dijk’s theory of the “Us and Them”
ideology by introducing his concept of the ‘Ideological Square’. Table 1 shows an
example of how this ‘Ideological Square’ is set out. In the research conducted by
Shojaei, Youssefi, and Hosseini (2013: 862), they used the ‘Ideological Square to
show how newspapers had represented two different factions in articles to do with
‘Iran’s Nuclear Missile Program’. These two factions were ‘Iran/Iranians’ (‘Them’) and

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the ‘UN/IAEA/Western Officials’ (‘Us’). Table 2 shows a shortened example of their
results. This ideological square is an effective example in displaying results drawn
from their primary research as it shows the biased ideology and contrast in language
that is evident throughout these western newspapers.
# Newspaper Iran/Iranians UN/IAEA/Western Officials
1 DML Seeking nuclear weapons;
punished.
Powerful; punisher;
legitimate; rejecting nuclear
weapons.
2 DMR Violator of international laws;
having nuclear weapons
program; defiant; convicted.
Strong; punisher;
authoritative; rejecting
nuclear weapons.
3 DT Dangerous; seeking nuclear
weapons; ill-intended.
Cautious; careful;
prosperous; advisor.
Table 2: Ideological Square used in Lead to Represent Iran’s Nuclear Program
In section d, the authors discuss different literature to do with CDA. The
authors cite Fowler (1991) who explains why it is important to analyse the linguistics
and language that is used in articles to be able to understand their ideology. “The
ideology of the news writers, according to CDA, is not always apparent but is hidden
in the subtle choice of linguistic forms, and only by examining linguistic structures in
a critical way can the ideological underpinnings of news discourse be unpacked”
(Fowler, 1991: 10). The authors then cite Thompson (1990), who explains how CDA
enables them to investigate the “specific discourses and linking of specific texts to
ideologies” (Thompson, 1990: 365).

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In this study, sets of data (news stories) were collated by using relevant
search terms and then ranked in order of relevance to the study. This meant that I
could identify the specific coverage that would be used for the analysis. These
search terms were basic, relevant words and phrases (such as ‘Refugee’, or ‘Syrian
Civil War’) which would hopefully give some indication to relevant data (See Figure
1). With these specific search terms being outlined, I also used Google Trends as a
source of information to discover when there were spikes in queries regarding the
search terms ‘Refugee’ and ‘Syrian Civil War’. Where there was a spike in interest, I
looked for relevant news stories, from the sources I stated before (‘The Guardian’
and ‘The Daily Mail’) that happened around these spikes. I then added these specific
search terms from the stories I found to the original graph that was created prior to
see if there was a correlation.
Figure 1 (Google Trends, 2016)
As we can see in Figure 2, there is one significant spike in searches relevant
to these terms. I identified the first as correlating with the story of a child refugee,
named Aylan Kurdi, who died attempting to reach mainland Europe. This story
started to receive traction during the start to middle of this spike. The second story I
discovered around the time of this spike was one of the deaths of 71 refugees who
were discovered in the back of a refrigerated lorry. As we can see in figure 2 above,
immediately after the search term ‘Aylan Kurdi’ began its positive correlation, so did
the basic search terms of ‘refugee’ and ‘Syrian Civil War’. By looking at the graph of
these events, it is easier to identify the correlation of refugee related events to peaks
in relevant news content. With this basis being established, it is to be assumed that
multiple news outlets, such as the ones being analysed in this research, would
publish articles relating to this story – making the comparison easier to analyse
should there be difference in language, semiotics, and ideology.

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The justification therefore for using specific news articles for my research had
to be that the news was both reported on during the timeframe of the trends’ positive
correlation, and had to have direct reference to Syrian refugees. To discover such
articles, I applied these search terms to LexisNexis;
● Term: “Aylan Kurdi” (Anywhere in the Text)
● Between Dates: “1st September 2015 - 12th September 2015”
● Sources: “The Guardian and The Daily Mail (And Mail On Sunday)”
Both the Guardian (see Appendix 1) and The Daily Mail (see Appendix 2) had
stories on Prime-Minister David Cameron's response to the refugee crisis once the
pictures of Aylan Kurdi were released, both of which were published within 24 hours
of each other.
I used a similar approach when researching the second story. The search
terms I applied to LexisNexis were;
● Terms: “Refugee”, or “Syria OR Syrian”, and “Lorry”, and “71”
(Anywhere in the text).
● Between Dates: “20th August 2015 - 10th September 2015”
● Sources: “The Guardian and The Daily Mail (And Mail On Sunday”
Both the Guardian (see Appendix 3) and the Daily Mail (see Appendix 4) had
created directly relevant news content in relation to this event that had been written
within 12 hours.

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These are only four articles that were written at a time when news content of
the refugee crisis was becoming increasingly widespread. Due to the nature and
level of this study, a small sample size can only be considered for analysis to be able
to yield significant results that can be presented and discussed. As cited before in
the Literature Review, Wu’s (2013) past example of a CDA, manages to analyse only
two news stories, referring to 4 RQs, and yield considerable in-depth results and
primary qualitative data. This is an example of how a small amount of data can be
analysed within the confines of a low word count. I will therefore be answering 4
relevant RQs, as this mirrors Wu’s study of 4 RQs alongside 2 news stories each
from 2 sources. With this being the case, I hope to obtain just as significant results
and they did. For the framework of my analysis, I used Fairclough's CDA framework
in the way I set out to in my literature review. The research questions I then created
off the back of Fairclough’s CDA framework were;
RQ1: Are there different news frames or agendas that the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘the
Guardian’ present?
RQ2: Do the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘the Guardian’ offer different representations of
refugees?
RQ3:Does the ‘Daily Mail’ and ‘the Guardian’ differ in the sources that they
allow to be included within news stories, in particular, ‘Do they allow individual
refugees’ direct perspectives to be broadcast’/’Do they include primary quotes
or interviews from individual refugees’?
RQ4: Does either the ‘Daily Mail’ or ‘the Guardian’ cite race or religion
needlessly with negative connotations?
I believe that these 4 questions adequately cover the framing of the story, the
language used, and the ideologies and assumptions embedded in the text, as set out
by Fairclough's CDA framework.

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In the first part of this section, we will look at RQ1 and the news frames and
agendas of the news coverage of the articles cited in the appendix. Firstly, looking at
the news frames and agendas for The Guardian (Appendix 1), the title ‘Prime-
Minister’ and name ‘David Cameron’ is mentioned more times than the term ‘refugee’
or any of its other synonymous terms are. Despite the fact that the death of Aylan
Kurdi reignited the criticism of David Cameron’s response to the refugee crisis (and
therefore the writing of the article in question), Aylan Kurdi is not even mentioned
until the second paragraph. This is also further reinforced by the amount of times in
total that refugees are mentioned in comparison to government affiliates. In Table 5
(see Tables page), we can see that refugees are only mentioned 6 times in total,
with ‘Government Affiliates’ being mentioned 16 times. The term government affiliate
refers to both individuals, such as politicians, and government bodies, such as the
European Union.
Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Terrorism
/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
5 1 0 16 2 0
The Daily
Mail
5 1 2 19 0 0
Table 5: Sources/Mentions Results Tally for Appendix 1 and 2
This shows that The Guardian news frame focusses far more highly on the
diplomatic and political aspect of the story, as opposed to the victims. This can be
considered as a very depersonalising stance, showing that the refugees are a
problem that have to be addressed, as opposed to being portrayed as humans and
individuals with specific environmental problems they are facing, which aren’t even
addressed in the text. This stance also mirrors the aforementioned study on ‘Racism
and the Press’ by Van Dijk (1991: 55). In his study, the media displayed the riots as
a problem that had to be addressed, instead of the specific outside socio-economic
problems combined with systemic institutionalised racism that were the cause of the
riots in the first place. In the same way within these articles, the refugees are being
portrayed as the problem as opposed to the circumstances that actually sparked the
crisis in the first place (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Daesh). Both of whom
are mentioned far fewer times.
Looking at the news frames and agendas of The Daily Mail (Appendix 2)
headline; it is a short, paraphrased sentence from a statement by David Cameron,
“CAMERON: WE'LL DO OUR DUTY AND TAKE IN REFUGEES”. The use of
language in this headline suggests that the Prime Minister is standing alongside the
rest of the UK in stating that “we’ll” help refugees. This is an attempt to frame the
story with a positive spin on David Cameron, despite the fact that both he and the
members of the Conservative Party were reluctant to increase the amount of

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refugees being allowed in the country, a criticism mentioned in both Appendix 1 and
2 but much further on in the articles. This also sets the agenda for the story, which,
again, appears to make David Cameron the centre of the story, and not refugees or
Aylan Kurdi. Government organisations or individuals are mentioned 5 times before
Aylan Kurdi is mentioned even once, giving a clear indication that the news frame of
this story is not about the victims of the refugee crisis, but the diplomatic and political
effort. This is also reinforced by the fact that, as Table 5 shows, refugees are
mentioned only 6 times in total throughout the article, whereas ‘Government
Affiliates’ are mentioned 19 times.
Next we can look at RQ1 and the news frames and agendas of the news
coverage of Appendix 3 and 4. Looking first at the headline in The Guardian
(Appendix 3), we can see that the writer has started the story by stating; “Hungarian
police make arrests over lorry containing 71 bodies”. Having this approach of citing
police action in the case from the start sets the idea that the story is going to be very
fact based and not include much about refugees. This is very similar to the other
article in The Guardian in Appendix 1. The next paragraph in this article also
continues the theme of putting the refugees second, when the main focus of the
section is the driver of the lorry, his role in the crime, and his arrest: “The driver of
the lorry dumped by the side of a road in Austria where the bodies of 71 people
inside has been arrested, Hungarian police said on Friday, amid indications that
those trapped in the vehicle including four children had suffocated to death”. Only in
the second paragraph, do the refugees/victims get their first substantial mention
where they are the main focus. Even then, this is only the single line stating “Of the
71 dead, 59 were men, eight were women and four children, he said. They included
a girl of between one or two, and three boys aged between eight to 10”. The first real
mention of the victims is through the police, who offer no more than emotionless
statistics on the victims. This, combined with the fact that The Guardian themselves
first describe the victims as simply “bodies”, is an example of a depersonalisation
description that portrays the victims as a group, as opposed to individuals. This is a
clear indication that the article is not taking a humanising route, nor is it recognising
the victims as the main focus of the story. This clearly displays the news frame for
this story, which is The Guardian taking a much more factual and impartial stance.
This is backed by the fact that, as Table 6 shows (see Tables page), refugees are
only mentioned 7 times throughout the article, whereas ‘Government Affiliates’ are
mentioned 18 times.

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Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Criminals/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
6 1 1 18 4 0
The Daily
Mail
8 1 1 8 3 0
However, The Daily Mail in Appendix 4 takes a much more emotive approach
through their use of language in the headline; “71 Refugees Perish in Air Tight
Truck”. The use of the word “perish” clearly evokes more emotion into the story and
sets the idea that the story is going to be more about the refugees. The clear
difference in the way the victims are portrayed in the headline is also a good
indicator as to how the rest of the story is described. The Daily Mail refers to the
victims as “refugees”. This use of emotive language continues to be utilised into the
first sentence when the Daily Mail writer describes the journey as “horrifying” and
that the refugees were “abandoned”. This shows that the news frame for this story is
clearly more emotive, and slightly less fact driven that its other article in Appendix 2.
This point is assisted by Table 6 which shows that refugees were mentioned 9 times
in total, as opposed to only 8 ‘Government Affiliates’ – a much smaller ratio than all
other articles in this study.
Looking at RQ2, we can utilise the ideological square mentioned before to be
able to clearly see the representation(s) of the refugees that are presented (see
Table 3 and 4). Both of the newspaper outlets clearly define the refugees as fleeing
the problem/persecution that is war. However, drawing upon specific examples,
towards the end of the Guardian article, the authors begin to bring in perspectives
that are seemingly critical towards the refugees. The lines between the terms
‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ are blurred into one when the newspaper cites the opinion of
a politician that suggests that further steps need to be taken to ensure that those
seeking refuge in the country aren’t economic migrants. This is one perspective that
the Guardian has allowed to be viewed that the Daily Mail hasn’t mentioned in this
particular case. Looking at table 3, we can see how both of the news articles speak
very highly of both the public and the government in the UK, whereas the refugees
are helpless and even demonised in some cases. The specific “Us VS Them” binary
within the discourse, along with the way in which the two are presented, is a clear
example of post-colonial power structures being displayed and reaffirmed. The
notion that Britain is being a protective nation over a ‘lesser’ counterpart is clearly
displayed in the obvious self-appreciating descriptions, which are displayed in the
“Us” section of Table 3.

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# Name Of News
Outlet
Date Published “Us” (The Public
and Government)
“The Refugees” Top 5 Words
1 The Guardian
(Appendix 1)
Thursday
September 3rd,
2015. 4:20pm
GMT
Moral nation,
outwards facing,
generous hearted,
role of sanctuary,
stepping up,
(doesn’t) turn
inwards/shirk
responsibilities.
Fleeing,
problem,
economic
migrants,
Refugee,
Cameron,
Britain,
Minister,
moral.
2 The Daily Mail
(And Mail on
Sunday)
(Appendix 2)
Friday
September 4th,
2015.
‘Demanding’
homes for
refugees, morally
responsible, giving
more aid,
compassion, moral
nation, (fulfils)
moral
responsibilities,2nd
biggest aid donor,
proud history,
sanctuary giver,
fleeing
persecution,
Refugees,
Britain,
Thousands,
Fleeing,
Crisis.
Table 3: Ideological Square of Appendix 1 and 2
However, looking at Table 4, the newspapers appear to switch sides in their
mention of economic migrants. The Guardian mentions refugees with (only slightly)
more sympathy and no mention of ‘economic migrants’. The article uses terms such
as “victims”, being “forced to/resort to danger”, “fleeing” but “hopeful”, and “trapped”.
The ideological square in Table 4 clearly shows that the Daily Mail does not include
any of the emotive language that we see in The Guardian. The Daily Mail, in fact,
also cites the motivation of many migrants’ journey as being financially motivated
due to the fact they “are usually keener to reach wealthier and more generous
northern European states” (Sears, 2015). This negative reference to economic
migrants is different from that which was mentioned by the Guardian in Appendix 1
as this statement is not quoting an individual of a significant stature. It is the
unsourced opinion of the author of this article. This shows that while the headlines
and the opening paragraphs of the articles may display one perspective of the story,
this does not mean that the story will continue the same perspective towards the
refugees throughout, and can even end changing to the complete opposite, as the
quantitative data shows. In addition to this, as the ideological square shows, The
Daily Mail continue to exacerbate the “Us” vs “The Refugees” binary. Once again, as
we discussed prior, this discourse echoes the post-colonial power structure rhetoric
that was apparent in its previous article (Appendix 2) where Britain and the European

19
Union are being displayed as entities that exist above “Them/The Refugees” – who
are indirectly described as lower citizens.
# Name Of
News Outlet
Date
Published
“Us” The Public and
Government
1 The Guardian
(Appendix 3)
August 29th,
2015.
Saturday.
3:32pm GMT.
Passing blame, no
agreement,
acrimonious, rejecting
modest proposals,
erecting fences,
constructing barriers,
victims, fleeing,
hopeful, trapped,
resorting to
smugglers,
burden,
Hungarian,
police, lorry,
arrested, EU.
2 The Daily Mail
(And Mail on
Sunday)
(Appendix 4)
August 29th,
2015.
Saturday.
European spirit,
showing solidarity,
finding solutions,
Seeking asylum,
(suggesting)
economic
migrants,
Migrants,
people,
Australian,
police,
European
Table 4: Ideological Square of Appendix 3 and 4
Looking at RQ3, we can quantitatively analyse the news article by translating
it into numerical data in order to give a definitive answer as to who is given a voice
and how often. For this, I inserted the data yielded in Table 5 and 6. It should be
noted that the term “Government Affiliate”, in this case, refers to politicians, and
government bodies (such as the European Parliament/Union, political parties, Home
Office/government departments, etc.). In addition to this, the term “Refugees
(Positive)” refers to the refugees as victims, whereas “Refugees (Negative)” refers to
the refugees critically or with cynicism, as having ulterior motives, or using any terms
that could be construed as negative. Looking at Table 5 for the results relating to
Appendix 1 and 2, we can see that, in both cases, the articles refer to “Government
Affiliates” significantly more than they do both “Refugees (Positive)” and “Refugees
(Negative)” combined. This is further explained in RQ2 where the Refugees, in some
cases, are not even in the first part of the article despite the story being allegedly
about them. In addition to this, out of all of the sources cited in both articles Appendix
1 and 2, not a single refugee was given space to comment on the stories, even
though they were directly relevant to their story.

20
Refuge
es
(Positiv
e)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Terroris
m/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
(Appendix
1)
5 1 0 16 2 0
The Daily
Mail
(Appendix
2)
5 1 2 19 0 0
This trend continues to a similar degree in Appendix 3, as displayed in Table
6. The Guardian (Appendix 3) uses a similar proportion of “Government Affiliates” as
it did in its other article, with a similar amount of both positive and negative mentions
of refugees. However, The Daily Mail (Appendix 4) used significantly less
“Government Affiliates” than it did in its previous article, also reducing the ratio of
Government Affiliates to Refugees, as we previously mentioned in the results of
RQ1. Despite this being the case, the article did not massively increase their
mentions of other sources in response. The amount of positive mentions of the
refugees went up marginally, whilst the negative mentions stayed the same. Even
though The Daily Mail (Appendix 4) article includes less mentions of government
affiliates, this does not directly correlate to how positive or negative the perspectives
are that are given on the refugees. In Appendix 3 and 4, as is true with Appendix 1
and 2, there were no direct interviews, quotes, or perspectives given from any
individual refugee.
Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Criminals/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
(Appendix
3)
6 1 1 18 4 0
The Daily
Mail
(Appendix
4)
8 1 1 8 3 0

21
The research question RQ4 was presented as a topic of research because of
the historic racism that exists within both of these outlets, as we outlined in Van
Dijk's (1991) study of newspaper headlines. In Van Dijk’s study, a large sample size
spanning a large time period was considered to give a large enough cross-section of
data to study. Due to the limitations of this current study, it would not be possible to
give such definitive answers as to whether these outlets are guilty of continued
systemic racism. Looking at the articles cited for this study in the appendix, it does
not appear the either source has made any obvious citations of race or religion
needlessly. Islam is, however, referred to within the context of the so-called “Islamic”
state (ISIS), which, it can be argued, has negative connotations and is problematic.
This is because much of the Muslim world does not affiliate to such a fundamentalist,
radical, and antithetical version of Islam, to the point where its characteristics are no
longer synonymous with that of the mainstream. One term for this militant sect that
has been coined by local groups who oppose them is “Daesh”, which, when spoken,
translates to “the sowers of discord” or “one who crushes underfoot” (Stone, 2015).
This term has only recently been appropriated by western, English speaking
countries, with individuals such as Prime Minister David Cameron now using the
term (Stone, 2015). However, due to the fact the pejorative gained traction in the
months after the articles used for this study, it can be argued that the use of the
name “ISIS” or “Islamic State” was cited simply for ease of communication as a more
widely recognised term, as opposed to being motivated by racism.

23
Conclusion
Due to the limitations of this research, the analysis of the discourse within
these articles cannot give a definitive answer to the whether these individual
institutions are themselves racist. More that the analysis can be considered as a
snapshot of the news outlets as a whole. Despite this being the case, we can make
inferences based on the historical foundations that these outlets have been built
upon, alongside the data that has been gathered, and the discourse that has been
analysed.
The results for research question 1 has displayed that both The Guardian and
The Daily Mail do have a particular news frame and agenda. This is clearly to
overlook the refugees themselves, and focus more on the effort that their own
government is doing in response to the refugee crisis itself as a singular entity.
Treating the refugees and the refugee crisis as one singular entity runs at a reflective
parallel to that which the very same news outlets did when historically reporting
issues of race, as displayed in Van Dijk’s (1991) study. Treating individuals as an
issue/as one with an issue can be extremely problematic and often racist as
sweeping generalisations are often provided alongside these issues. The results for
research question 2 show us that both The Guardian and The Daily Mail do not offer
different representations of refugees themselves, although they do subtly display
refugees as being below the British public and the government. This is through the
clear bias and overrepresentation of the British public and government, for example
being allegedly “outwards facing” and “morally responsible” whereas refugees are a
“problem” and “economic migrants”. The results for research question 3 back up the
conclusion given for research question 1 in the sense that they quantitatively verify
that there is a clear overemphasis on ‘Government Affiliates’ in the discourse of the
articles.
In conclusion, comparatively, the differences in the way in which the news
outlets depict refugees is negligible, despite the fact they are different in their political
alignment. As explained in research question 4, comparatively, neither outlet is being
overtly racist in the face value of the discourse it presents. However, the qualitatively
and quantitatively proven overemphasis of the government, combined with the polar
opposite descriptions of refugees in comparison, and the fact that sympathy towards
the refugees is sparse, whilst the government receives much more coverage and
praise, could be considered as undermining and can be construed as latent racism.

24
Bibliography and References

25
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28
Appendices, Tables, and Figures:
Appendices

29
Appendix 1
The Guardian
September 3, 2015 Thursday 4:20 PM GMT
David Cameron says UK will fulfil moral responsibility over
migration crisis;
Prime minister's comments come after widespread criticism of his
refusal to consider taking in more refugees
BYLINE: Patrick Wintour and Nicholas Watt
SECTION: UK NEWS
LENGTH: 828 words
David Cameron has responded to growing international and domestic pressure for Britain to take
more refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war and other conflicts by saying that the UK would fulfil its
moral responsibilities.
In a marked shift of tone, as Europe's human rights watchdog criticised Britain for failing to offer
shelter, Cameron spoke of how moved he was by the picture of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old
Syrian boy whose body was washed up on a Turkish beach.
Related: Cameron says Britain will fulfil its 'moral responsibilities' towards refugees - Politics live
Speaking at a Hitachi train plant in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, the prime minister said: "Anyone
who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as a father, I felt deeply moved by
the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey. Britain is a moral nation and we will fulfil our moral
responsibilities.
"We are taking thousands of people, and we will take thousands of people."
His remarks stopped short, however, of a specific commitment to take more refugees. Cameron said
he would keep the issue under review, a stance that gives Whitehall time to work out a scheme with
the Home Office, local councils and international agencies.
Cameron stressed that Britain had already stepped up to meet the challenge of the refugee crisis
facing Europe by assisting in the rescue mission in the Mediterranean, spending 0.7% of GDP on
international aid and donating money to fund Syrian refugee camps in the Middle East.
He insisted, however, that taking more refugees was not the only answer to the problem. "We need a
comprehensive solution, a new government in Libya, we need to deal with the problems in Syria.
"I would say the people responsible for these terrible scenes we see, the people most responsible,
are President Assad in Syria and the butchers of Isil [Islamic State] and the criminal gangs that are
running this terrible trade in people. And we have to be as tough on them at the same time."
The prime minister's intervention came as he faced growing domestic and international pressure,
including from within his own party, to start to take the numbers already being taken elsewhere in
Europe.
The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, accused him of adopting a "walk on by on the other side"
approach after he said on Wednesday that the UK would not take any extra refugees.
Harriet Harman, the interim Labour leader, has called on Cameron to convene an emergency meeting
of Cobra cabinet committee to coordinate the government response.

30
The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, stepped up her criticism of his refusal to accept more
than a few hundred refugees. "It is shameful, utterly shameful, that our prime minister is just turning
his back," she said.
"My problem with the prime minister's response is that he only wants to talk about the things that he
will do to help far away, but he won't actually do anything here at home. We have a responsibility to
act."
London's mayor, Boris Johnson, became the most senior Conservative to call for more action, saying
it was Britain's moral responsibility to take those fleeing persecution. But he said the UK must not
become a magnet or pole of attraction for "economic migrants".
Johnson said it was time to look harder at resolving the Syrian problem. "No one would say non-
intervention is working," he said.
Related: Refugee crisis: what can you do to help?
The chancellor, George Osborne, speaking during a factory visit in Sunderland, said: "There is no
person who would not be very shocked by that picture - and I was very distressed when I saw it
myself this morning - of that poor boy lying dead on the beach.
"We know there is not a simple answer to this crisis. What you need to do is first of all tackle Isis
[Islamic State] and the criminal gangs who killed that boy."
In a letter to Cameron, Harman urged him to adopt a four-point plan to help more refugees. She urged
him to:
. Agree now that Britain will take more refugees, both directly from Syria and from the
southern European countries where most refugees have arrived.
. Convene an urgent meeting of EU leaders next week to agree a process for resolving
the immediate refugee crisis on Europe's borders.
. Convene an urgent meeting of Cobra so that a cross-government plan can be agreed
and implemented. This was now a problem spanning beyond the Home Office, affecting
transport, small business, tourism and local communities, she said.
. Bring together a summit of local authority leaders to agree a framework on what more
can be done locally to support refugees and asylum seekers.
She added: "We are all proud of Britain's historical role of offering a sanctuary to those fleeing conflict
and persecution. We are an outward-facing, generous-hearted nation, not one that turns inward and
shirks its responsibilities. I know you will not want to be the prime minister of a government that fails to
offer sanctuary while our neighbours are stepping up to respond."
LOAD-DATE: September 3, 2015
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
JOURNAL-CODE: WEBGNS
Copyright 2015 The Guardian, a division of Transcontinental Media Group Inc.
All Rights Reserved

31
Appendix 2
DAILY MAIL (London)
September 4, 2015 Friday
CAMERON: WE'LL DO OUR DUTY AND TAKE IN REFUGEES
BYLINE: BY DANIEL MARTIN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 650 words
DAVID Cameron last night bowed to demands to offer thousands of Syrians a home in Britain.
A day after insisting that the UK would not take in more and more refugees', the Prime Minister made
a U-turn to say the country would fulfil its moral responsibilities' to those fleeing war.
His change of heart follows pressure from backbenchers and the publication of harrowing pictures of
three-year-old Aylan Kurdi lying dead on a Turkish beach.
Last night, Downing Street said Britain had taken in 5,000 Syrian refugees over the past four years
but would now accept thousands more. Officials were understood to be looking urgently at various
options, including details of numbers, funding and where in the country the refugees will be sent.
It is expected that those selected to come to Britain will be drawn from the UN camps on the Syrian
border. The Prime Minister believes that taking refugees already in Europe would encourage others to
make the perilous journey.
Further options include more aid for refugee camps and military action to tackle people-smuggling in
the Mediterranean.
Tory MPs had lined up to urge Mr Cameron to offer sanctuary to more refugees - with one saying it
was a test of our country's humanity'. But other backbenchers urged caution, saying that an emotional
response to one picture was no way to make policy.
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, said his heart was broken by the images of refugees
fleeing persecution.
This is a hugely complex and wicked crisis that underlines our human frailty and the fragility of our
political systems,' he added. We must respond with compassion.'
The Government has opted out of UN and EU schemes that could mean accepting tens of thousands
of asylum seekers, arguing that the focus should be on bringing peace to the areas they are fleeing.
But Mr Cameron said: Anyone who saw those pictures overnight could not help but be moved and, as
a father, I felt deeply moved by the sight of that young boy on a beach in Turkey. Britain is a moral
nation and we will fulfil our moral responsibilities.
That's why Britain is the second biggest bilateral donor in the world to?...?Syrian refugee camps. And
that is why, yes, we are taking thousands of Syrian refugees and we will continue to do that. As I said
yesterday, we keep that under review.'
He added: There's not a solution to this problem that is simply about taking people. We need a
comprehensive solution, a new government in Libya, we need to deal with the problems in Syria.'
The statement by the Prime Minister came following mounting criticism from Tory backbenchers.

32
Nadhim Zahawi MP, an Iraqi migrant who came to the UK with his family aged nine after fleeing
Saddam Hussein's regime, tweeted in response to the photo of Aylan: We are nothing without
compassion. Pic should make us all ashamed. We have failed in Syria. I am sorry little angel, RIP.'
His colleague Nicola Blackwood MP wrote: Britain has a proud history of giving sanctuary?...?We
cannot be the generation that fails this test of humanity.'
But Tory MP Andrew Percy said his constituents were not clamouring to accept more refugees,
tweeting: It is incredible comparing the media coverage of the migrant crisis with the emails I am
receiving from constituents.' Meanwhile, tension was also mounting across Europe as Brussels was
accused of turning the Mediterranean into a cemetery' for refugees. Turkey's president Tayyip
Erdogan accused EU states of being responsible for the death of every single victim of the crisis,
saying: European countries, which turned the Mediterranean Sea - the cradle of ancient civilisations -
into a migrant cemetery are party to the crime that takes place when each refugee loses their life.'
Nils Muiznieks, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, attacked Britain specifically
for doing much less' than other countries to ease the crisis.
Comment - Page 16
© Daily Mail
LOAD-DATE: September 3, 2015
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Papers
Copyright 2015 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

33
Appendix 3
The Guardian
August 29, 2015 Saturday 3:32 PM GMT
Hungarian police make arrests over lorry containing 71 bodies;
Four men arrested in connection with the discovery of a lorry dumped in Austria in which 71
people perished
BYLINE: Luke Harding, Daniel Nolan in Budapest and agencies
SECTION: WORLD NEWS
LENGTH: 1055 words
The driver of a lorry dumped by the side of a road in Austria with the bodies of 71 people inside
has been arrested, Hungarian police said on Friday, amid indications that those trapped in the
vehicle including four children had suffocated to death.
The victims appeared to have been mostly Syrians fleeing war and, on the final leg of their long
journey, hoping for a better life in Europe. Hans Peter Doskozil, police chief for the Austrian
province of Burgenland, said one Syrian travel document had been found but it was too early to
say from which countries the entire group had come.
Of the 71 dead, 59 were men, eight were women and four children, he said. They included a girl of
between one and two, and three boys aged between eight and 10.
Three Bulgarians and an Afghan were detained, Hungarian police said. One had been charged with
human trafficking. All four would appear in a Hungarian court on Saturday, authorities said, where
it would be decided whether they could be held beyond an initial 72-hour period.
Those arrested included the owner of the vehicle and two drivers, and were likely "low-ranking
members ... of a Bulgarian-Hungarian human-trafficking gang", said police spokesman Hans Peter
Doskozil.
About 20 witnesses had been interviewed and houses searched, the authorities added. Detectives
in Austria identified the owner of the refrigerated truck as a Bulgarian of Lebanese origin.

34
The lorry had set off from the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in the early hours of Wednesday
morning and arrived at the border at about 9am. It crossed into Austria at night. It was spotted at
about 5am or 6am on Thursday, abandoned on the hard shoulder of the A4 motorway between
Neusiedl and Parndorf.
The victims almost certainly took the same arduous western Balkans route, via Turkey, Greece and
Macedonia, as thousands of other refugees. According to the International Office of Migration
(IOM), the Hungarian authorities routinely remove migrants from trains and buses bound for
Austria and Germany.
"They [refugees] have resorted to smugglers, as no other means of transport is available to
them," Magdalena Majkowska-Tomkin of IOM's office in Hungary said.
The IOM's director, William Swing, added: "Just as we have seen on the Mediterranean for these
last three years, the spectre of death now haunts the European continent. Something must be
done, and soon, to make all migration safe and legal."
Austrian police said those trapped inside the lorry appeared to have perished before they entered
the country. A large hole was found on one side of the vehicle's rear area. It was unclear if this
was made by smugglers or by the refugees trying to get out.
Autopsies were being carried out to discover the cause of death, with the strong probability all
were asphyxiated.
In Libya, meanwhile, at least 105 refugees were feared dead after two boats capsized on
Thursday soon after leaving the port of Zuwara. Libya's coastguard said it had pulled dozens of
bodies from the water and towed a flooded boat into harbour. The boat contained drowned victims
floating face down, one wearing a life-vest.
The grim details came at the end of another dismal week, during which European leaders have
blamed each other for the escalating migration crisis, there has been no firm agreement on a
Franco-German plan to introduce a refugee quota system among EU member states, and the
death toll this year has surpassed 2,500.
Speaking on Friday, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said EU leaders could hold a special
summit on the refugee crisis, but only if "certain decisions" can be reached. Germany says it
expects to accept 800,000 asylum seekers this year, more than any other European state, and
wants the burden shared more equitably among all EU countries.
At an acrimonious summit in June, EU leaders failed to agree a new system of mandatory quotas
forrefugees. Spain and most of eastern Europe rejected modest proposals made by Brussels to
introduce quotas on a small initial scale.
Related: A laboratory for refugee politics: inside Passau, the 'German Lampedusa'

35
In the absence of meaningful political agreement, individual states have been taking their own
unilateral steps to deal with the problem. In a continent where walls came tumbling down at the
end of the cold war, two and a half decades ago, new barriers are being rapidly erected.
Hungary - the entry point to the EU and the Schengen area - is erecting a fence along its border
with Serbia. Bulgaria is building its own wall with Turkey. This week, Estonia announced it is
constructing a barrier to keep out Russia. Ukraine - which has lost control of part of its eastern
border to Kremlin-led rebels - wants to build a wall along its border with Russia, too.
The sheer scale of the problem confronting the EU was underlined by figures from the UN's
refugee agency revealing that 300,000 people have crossed from the Mediterranean to Europe so
far this year. This compares with 219,000 for the whole of 2014. The rate of those arriving in
southern Europe is running at 3,000 people a day, it adds.
Thursday's lorry tragedy has led to recriminations as to which country bears most responsibility for
the smugglers. Austrian police said that the traffickers appeared to be part of a Bulgarian-
Hungarian mafia gang. One of those arrested had Hungarian papers, though his exact nationality
was unclear, they added.
The Hungarian authorities, however, have denied that any of those arrested are Hungarian. On
Friday, János Lázár, the minister in the prime minister's office, said the truck had a temporary
licence plate registered to a Romanian citizen from the city of Kecskemét. Romania's foreign
ministry insisted none of its citizens was involved.
The county of Bács-Kiskun appears to be at the centre of the people smuggling operation in
Hungary. Three police officers based in the county - of which Kecskemét is the largest town - were
recently arrested by Hungarian security service agents for helping smugglers to evade police
patrols.
Nazli Avdan, an expert on migration at the University of Kansas, said: "Hungary's recent
endeavours to quickly construct a fence across its border showcases that Europe has no concerted
or coordinated plan in mind when coping with involuntary migration."
With AFP
LOAD-DATE: August 29, 2015
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper
JOURNAL-CODE: WEBGNS
Copyright 2015 The Guardian, a division of Transcontinental Media Group Inc.
All Rights Reserved

36
Appendix 4
DAILY MAIL (London)
August 29, 2015 Saturday
71 REFUGEES PERISH IN AIR TIGHT TRUCK
BYLINE: BY NEIL SEARS
LENGTH: 845 words
THE horrifying journey of the 71 migrants found dead in an airtight lorry abandoned by an
Austrian roadside was being pieced together last night.
The partly decomposed state of the bodies had initially masked the scale of the tragedy.
At first the death toll was put at 20 but yesterday it was established that four children including a
girl aged one, eight women and 59 men died.
Documents found on board revealed the victims had travelled from Syria, Austrian police said.
The journey from their war-torn homeland had almost certainly taken them through Turkey and
Macedonia into Serbia, where the 7.5-ton lorry had originated. They had then been transported, in
desperate conditions, through Hungary and over the Austrian border.
They are believed to have been heading to Germany to seek asylum.
The truck, which had Hungarian number plates, bore the logo of a Slovakian poultry firm which
said it no longer owned the vehicle.
Police, who believe it may have started its journey in Serbia, know it left an area south of
Budapest on Wednesday. Just before 9am that day, it was caught on camera on the Hungarian
side of the border with Austria. At around 5am on Thursday morning, there were confirmed
sightings of it parked in Austria in a lay-by on a motorway about 25 miles east of Vienna.
Traffic police investigated shortly before noon, by which time it may have been abandoned for 24
hours.

37
Initially they believed the driverless truck had broken down but then they saw blood dripping from
the cargo area and could smell the rotting bodies.
They broke the locks and discovered the scene of horror inside.
Officials said the victims almost certainly died from suffocation inside the airtight refrigerated
compartment.
It is suspected they were already dead when the vehicle crossed the Austrian border and the
people-traffickers fled when they realised what had happened. The lorry was towed to a
refrigerated customs building where forensic investigators worked through Thursday night to
examine the bodies.
However the advanced state of decomposition will make identification difficult. An Austrian police
spokesman said: Among these 71 people, there were 59 men, eight women and four children
including a young girl one or two years old and three boys aged eight, nine or ten.
There was also a Syrian travel document found so of course our first assumption is that these
people were migrants, and likely a group of Syrian migrants. We can rule out that they were
Africans. We cannot however yet say whether they were all Syrian nationals.'
Autopsies would take some time, he added, but our preliminary investigation found that there was
no ventilation possible through the sides of the lorry'.
He said that Hungarian police had arrested seven suspects, detaining three - a Bulgarian of
Lebanese origin thought to be the owner of the truck and two drivers, one Bulgarian, the other
with Hungarian identity papers. An Afghan linked to the group was also understood to be in
custody last night, while a further 20 people were being questioned and a series of addresses were
raided. He added that those arrested so far were believed to be low-ranking' gang members.
The dead migrants were thought to have been heading for Germany, whose government has
relaxed the rules, making it easier for Syrian refugees to be granted asylum.
Some 140,000 migrants are believed to have entered Hungary this year - 10,000 this week -
usually on their way to northern European countries including Germany, and sometimes Britain.
Germany gives asylum seekers the right to housing and social security while their claims are
assessed.
Hungary is often the first EU country migrants reach, but they are usually keener to reach
wealthier and more generous northern European states. The Budapest government is in the
process of constructing a fence to stop arrivals streaming across its border. The land route has
been widely considered to be safer than that across the Mediterranean from Libya.

38
Repeating previous German calls for other European nations to open their doors to Syrian
refugees, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in Austria for a summit with Balkan leaders on the
migrant crisis, said yesterday: This is a warning to us to tackle this migrants issue quickly and in a
European spirit, which means in a spirit of solidarity, and to find solutions.'
Last night, Labour leadership contender Yvette Cooper said: Britain needs to be leading a
European-wide plan to prevent more people drowning at sea or dying in the backs of lorries as
they cross the continent.
People arriving in Europe need to have their immigration and asylum status assessed as soon as
they arrive so they can be offered the support they need.
We need much stronger action against the gangs of traffickers that prey on misery and
vulnerability. And Britain also needs to take more refugees, especially from Syria.'
* A petrol bomb was thrown through a window at an asylum-seekers' hostel in Salzhemmendorf,
north-western Germany. The device started a blaze but the 30 residents escaped without injury.
Comment - Page 16
© Daily Mail
LOAD-DATE: August 28, 2015
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Papers
Copyright 2015 Associated Newspapers Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

40
Tables

41
Tables
Table 1
An Example Ideological Square
# Newspaper (‘Us’ group) (‘Them’ group)
1 (Insert Newspaper 1 Name) (Insert Words Used To
Describe ‘Us’ Group From
Newspaper)
(Insert Words Used To
Describe ‘Them’ Group
From Newspaper)
Newspaper)
From Newspaper)
Newspaper)
From Newspaper)
Table 2
Ideological Square used in Lead to Represent Iran’s Nuclear Program
# Newspaper Iran/Iranians UN/IAEA/Western Officials
1 DML Seeking nuclear weapons;
punished.
Powerful; punisher;
legitimate; rejecting nuclear
weapons.
2 DMR Violator of international laws;
having nuclear weapons
program; defiant; convicted.
Strong; punisher;
authoritative; rejecting
nuclear weapons.
3 DT Dangerous; seeking nuclear
weapons; ill-intended.
Cautious; careful;
prosperous; advisor.
Table 3: Alyan Kurdi
# Name Of News
Outlet
Date Published “Us” (The Public
and Government)
1 The Guardian
(Appendix 1)
Thursday
September 3rd,
2015. 4:20pm
GMT
Moral nation,
outwards facing,
generous hearted,
role of sanctuary,
stepping up,
(doesn’t) turn
inwards/shirk
responsibilities.
Fleeing,
problem,
economic
migrants,
Refugee,
Cameron,
Britain,
Minister,
moral.
2 The Daily Mail
(And Mail on
Friday
September 4th,
‘Demanding’
homes for
fleeing
persecution,
Refugees,
Britain,

42
Sunday)
(Appendix 2)
2015. refugees, morally
responsible, giving
more aid,
compassion, moral
nation, (fulfils)
moral
responsibilities,2nd
biggest aid donor,
proud history,
sanctuary giver,
Thousands,
Fleeing,
Crisis.
Table 4: 71 Refugees Found Dead in Lorry
# Name Of
News Outlet
Date
Published
“Us” The Public and
Government
1 The Guardian
(Appendix 3)
August 29th,
2015.
Saturday.
3:32pm GMT.
passing blame, no
agreement,
acrimonious, rejecting
modest proposals,
erecting fences,
constructing barriers,
victims, fleeing,
hopeful, trapped,
resorting to
smugglers,
burden,
Hungarian,
police, lorry,
arrested, EU.
2 The Daily Mail
(And Mail on
Sunday)
(Appendix 4)
August 29th,
2015.
Saturday.
European spirit,
showing solidarity,
finding solutions,
Seeking asylum,
(suggesting)
economic
migrants,
Migrants,
people,
Australian,
police,
European
Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Terroris
m/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
5 1 0 16 2 0
The Daily
Mail
5 1 2 19 0 0
Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Criminals/
ISIS
Primary
Refugee
Sources
The
Guardian
6 1 1 18 4 0
The Daily
Mail
8 1 1 8 3 0

43
Table 7: Percentages
Refugees
(Positive)
Refugees
(Negative)
Public Government
Affiliate
Terrorism/
Criminal/
ISIS
The
Guardian
20.3% 3.7% 1.8% 63% 11.1%
The Daily
Mail
27% 4.1% 6.2% 56.3% 6.3%

44
Figures

45
Figures

46
Abbreviations
BBC British Broadcasting Company
CDA Critical Discourse Analysis
POR Point of Reference
PSB Public Service Broadcaster
RQ Research Question

47
RESEARCH ETHICS Form
General Details
Name of student Luke Renwick
SHU email address b3040536@my.shu.ac.uk
Course or qualification (student)Media (BA)
Name of supervisor Dr Ruth Deller
email address acesrad@my.shu.ac.uk
Title of proposed research A Comparative Textual and Semiotic Analysis of Media Coverage
Between Opposing News Outlets During The Syrian Refugee
Crisis
Proposed start date 1/11/15
Proposed end date 8/4/16
Brief outline of research to
include, rationale & aims
(250-500 words).
I ill e o pari g 2 e s outlets’ o erage o the Syria
refugee crisis. I will be contrasting the text/language and the
accompanying illustrations/pictures and displaying my findings.
The aim of this research is to discover, if any, the differences
between the coverage.

48
Where data is collected from
individuals, outline the nature of
data, details of anonymisation,
storage and disposal
procedures if required (250-500
words).
The data is collected from print newspapers. There should be no
need for anonymisation, storage, or disposal with this data.
1. Health Related Research Involving the NHS or Social Care / Community Care or the
Criminal Justice Service or with research participants unable to provide informed
consent
Question Yes/No
1.
Does the research involve?
• Patients recruited because of their past or present use of the NHS or
Social Care
• Relatives/carers of patients recruited because of their past or
present use of the NHS or Social Care
• Access to data, organs or other bodily material of past or present
NHS
patients
• Foetal material and IVF involving NHS patients
• The recently dead in NHS premises
• Prisoners or others within the criminal justice system recruited for
health- related research*
• Police, court officials, prisoners or others within the criminal justice
system*
• Participants who are unable to provide informed consent due to
their incapacity even if the project is not health related
N/A
2. Is this a research project as opposed to service evaluation or
audit?
For NHS definitions please see the following website
http://www.hra.nhs.uk/documents/2013/09/defining-research.pdf
If you have answered YES to questions 1 & 2 then you must seek the appropriate
external approvals from the NHS, Social Care or the National Offender
Management Service (NOMS) under their independent Research Governance
schemes. Further information is provided below.
NHS https://www.myresearchproject.org.uk/Signin.aspx
* All prison projects also need National Offender Management Service (NOMS) Approval
and Governor’s Approval and may need Ministry of Justice approval. Further guidance at:

49
http://www.hra.nhs.uk/research-community/applying-for-approvals/national-offender-
management-service-noms/
NB FRECs provide Independent Scientific Review for NHS or SC research and initial
scrutiny for ethics applications as required for university sponsorship of the research.
Applicants can use the NHS proforma and submit this initially to their FREC.
2. Research with Human
Participants
Question Yes/No
Does the research involve human participants? This includes surveys,
questionnaires, observing behaviour etc.
No

50
Question Yes/No
1. Note If YES, then please answer questions 2 to 10
If NO, please go to Section 3
-
2. Will any of the participants be vulnerable?
Note: Vulnerable’ people include children and young people, people with
learning disabilities, people who may be limited by age or sickness, etc. See
definition on website
-
3. Are drugs, placebos or other substances (e.g. food substances,
vitamins) to be administered to the study participants or will the study
involve invasive,
intrusive or potentially harmful procedures of any kind?
-
4. Will tissue samples (including blood) be obtained from participants? -
5. Is pain or more than mild discomfort likely to result from the study? -
6. Will the study involve prolonged or repetitive testing? -
7. Is there any reasonable and foreseeable risk of physical or emotional
harm to any of the participants?
Note: Harm may be caused by distressing or intrusive interview questions,
uncomfortable procedures involving the participant, invasion of privacy, topics
relating to highly personal information, topics relating to illegal activity, etc.
-
8. Will anyone be taking part without giving their informed consent? -
9. Is it covert research?
Note: ‘Covert research’ refers to research that is conducted without the
knowledge of participants.
-
10. Will the research output allow identification of any individual who
has not given their express consent to be identified?
-
If you answered YES only to question 1, the checklist should be saved and any course
procedures for submission followed. If you have answered YES to any of the other
questions you are required to submit a SHUREC7A (or 7B) to the FREC. If you answered
YES to question 8 and participants cannot provide informed consent due to their incapacity
you must obtain the appropriate approvals from the NHS research governance system.
Your supervisor will advise.
3. Research in
Organisations
Question Yes/No
1. Will the research involve working with/within an organisation (e.g.
school, business, charity, museum, government department,
international agency, etc.)?
No

51
2. If you answered YES to question 1, do you have granted access to
conduct the research?
If YES, students please show evidence to your supervisor. PI should retain
safely.
-
3. If you answered NO to question 2, is it
because:
A. you have not yet asked
B. you have asked and not yet received an answer
C. you have asked and been refused access.
Note: You will only be able to start the research when you have been granted
access.
-

52
4. Research with Products and Artefacts
Question Yes/No
1. Will the research involve working with copyrighted documents, films,
broadcasts, photographs, artworks, designs, products, programmes,
databases, networks, processes, existing datasets or secure data?
Yes
2. If you answered YES to question 1, are the materials you intend to use in the
public domain?
Notes: ‘In the public domain’ does not mean the same thing as ‘publicly
accessible’.
• Information which is 'in the public domain' is no longer protected by
copyright (i.e. copyright has either expired or been waived) and can be
used without permission.
• Information which is 'publicly accessible' (e.g. TV broadcasts, websites,
artworks, newspapers) is available for anyone to consult/view. It is still
protected by copyright even if there is no copyright notice. In UK law,
copyright protection is automatic and does not require a copyright
statement, although it is always good practice to provide one. It is
necessary to check the terms and conditions of use to find out exactly
how the material may be reused etc.
If you answered YES to question 1, be aware that you may need to consider
other ethics codes. For example, when conducting Internet research, consult the
code of the Association of Internet Researchers; for educational research,
consult the Code of Ethics of the British Educational Research Association.
Yes
3. If you answered NO to question 2, do you have explicit permission to use
these materials as data?
If YES, please show evidence to your supervisor.
-
4. If you answered NO to question 3, is it because:
A. you have not yet asked permission
B. you have asked and not yet received and answer
C. you have asked and been refused access.
Note You will only be able to start the research when you have been
granted permission to use the specified material.
A/B/C
Adherence to SHU policy and procedures
Personal statement

53
I can confirm that:
− I have read the Sheffield Hallam University Research Ethics Policy and Procedures
− I agree to abide by its principles.
Student
Name: Luke Renwick Date: 14 /10/2015
Signature:
Supervisor or other person giving ethical sign-off
I can confirm that completion of this form has not identified the need for ethical approval
by the FREC or an NHS, Social Care or other external REC. The research will not
commence until any approvals required under Sections 3 & 4 have been received.
Name: Date:
Signature:
Additional Signature if required:
Name: Date:
Signature:
Please ensure the following are included with this form if applicable, tick box to indicate:
Yes No N/A
Research proposal if prepared previously X ☐ ☐
Any recruitment materials (e.g. posters, letters, etc.) ☐ ☐ X
Participant information sheet ☐ ☐ X
Participant consent form ☐ ☐ X
Details of measures to be used (e.g. questionnaires, etc.) ☐ ☐ X
Outline interview schedule / focus group schedule ☐ ☐ X
Debriefing materials ☐ ☐ X
Health and Safety Project Safety Plan for Procedures ☐ ☐ X

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