2018 British Media Representations of Refugees : The case of The Guardian

Abstract: This study aims to examine the media representations of the refugees in the United Kingdom, during the first three months of 2018. The stated period succeeds the peak of the refugee crisis, which benefitted from a high media coverage. Scholars have concluded that media representations of the refugee crisis during its peak were often stereotyped and collectivised. This thesis aims to find out how the refugee crisis is represented in the period after the peak. Thus, the thesis analyses the newspaper The Guardian, by using the method of Critical Discourse Analysis in order to reveal the frames and collectivisation/individualisation practices in the news articles. In this way, the theories of representation, stereotyping and framing represent the basis of this study. Furthermore, individualisation and collectivisation practices represent the core of this thesis, since studying their presence can reveal underlying stereotypes in the news articles. The analysis revealed that The Guardian’s reports presented both individualised and collectivised representations of the refugees. Hence, the thesis concluded that The Guardian has attempted a more positive way of reporting, but their reports are not totally objective and unbiased.