Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics: Online-First Articles

The discursive representation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Austrian news coverage: 2010–2015–2020

 | Masaryk University
ORCID logo | Masaryk University | Trier University
is paper traces the terminological shifts in the media representation of immigrants from 2010 to 2020. Using a corpus-based approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine the terms “migrant(s),” “refugee(s),” and “asylum seeker(s)” in the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard during the refugee crisis (2015) and five years before (2010) and after (2020). Our research, which employs collocation analysis complemented by critical discourse analysis, reveals significant shifts in the connotations of all three terms. The notion of “migrant” evolves from a positive and individualizing portrayal in 2010 to a more negative, stereotypical one by 2020. Conversely, “asylum seekers” shift from being viewed with suspicion in 2010 to being recognized as legitimate beneficiaries of protection in 2020. Only “refugees” remain relatively featureless. We interpret these changes as a reflection of the balancing act between the left-liberal stance of Der Standard and the rising right-wing extremism in society.
Keywords: corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, refugees, migrants, asylum seekers, representation, media, newspapers, collocates
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Contextualization
    • 2.1Integration becomes a legal obligation: 2000–2010
    • 2.2Building an institutional structure: 2010–2015
    • 2.3More barriers for refugees: 2015–2020
  • 3.Refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in the media
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Description of empirical data
    • 4.2The research design
      • 4.2.1Quantitative perspective
      • 4.2.2Qualitative analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Quantitative perspective
      • 5.1.1Migrant(s)
      • 5.1.2Refugee(s)
      • 5.1.3Asylum seeker(s)
    • 5.2Qualitative perspective
      • 5.2.1Migrants
      • 5.2.2Refugee(s)
      • 5.2.3Asylum seekers
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 January 2025
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.22111.gol
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