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Discursive Responses to News Representations of Asylum Seekers Among Western Australian Media Audiences

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Discursive Responses to News Representations of Asylum Seekers Among Western Australian Media Audiences “I take it with a pinch of salt”: Discursive responses to news representations of asylum seekers among Western Australian media audiences Ashleigh L Haw BAPsych, GradDipForSc, MEd This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology from The University of Western Australia School of Social Sciences 2018 Coordinating Supervisor: Associate Professor Farida Fozdar Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Rob Cover Thesis Declaration I, Ashleigh Haw, certify that: This thesis has been substantially accomplished during enrolment in the degree. This thesis does not contain material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in my name, in any university or other tertiary institution. No part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of The University of Western Australia and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree. This thesis does not contain any material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. The work(s) are not in any way a violation or infringement of any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights whatsoever of any person. The research involving human data reported in this thesis was assessed and approved by The University of Western Australia Human Research Ethics Committee. Approval # RA/4/1/7387 The work described in this thesis was funded by the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), Research Training Program Stipend (RTPS), and UWA Safety Net Top-Up Scholarship. Technical assistance was kindly provided by Candice Bydder for interview transcription, which is described in Chapter 5 (Methodology). This thesis does not contain work that I have published, nor work under review for publication. Signature: Date: 2 November 2018 i Abstract The media is a critical source of information on people seeking asylum and therefore, plays an important role in shaping and reinforcing public conceptions of the issue. In Australia, few studies have investigated how media audiences respond to news discourses about asylum seekers, and no research has utilised a combination of discursive and audience reception approaches. This research employed Fairclough’s (1992) Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) alongside an Audience Reception framework (Hall, 1980) to explore how Australian media audiences conceptualise and evaluate news representations of asylum seekers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 residents of Western Australia (WA), who discussed their general views about asylum seekers, their media engagement preferences and habits, and their perspectives regarding Australian news discourses about seeking asylum. Participants discussed the following perspectives about asylum seekers: they are ‘illegal immigrants’; they must follow the ‘right processes’ to be settled in Australia; and they are ‘economic migrants.’ Participants also demonstrated mixed perspectives about Australia’s refugee policies, raising issues involving mandatory detention and off-shore processing, Australia’s annual intake of refugees and international legal obligations, and the impact of refugee migration on Australia. By combining aspects of Conversation Analysis (Sacks, 1974), Rhetorical Analysis (Billig, 1991), and a Discourse-Historical Approach (Wodak, 2001), findings revealed that participants often voiced their perspectives while challenging alternative views, aligning with Fleras’ (1998) concept of ‘duelling discourses’ and Billig’s (1988) notion of ‘ideological dilemmas.’ ii Most participants cited news coverage as their main exposure to information about asylum seekers, with many adding that they choose to engage with content that aligns with their political views. Some reported regularly engaging with news content despite critiquing its reliability, suggesting a complex relationship with the media. The sample also voiced mixed perspectives about the influence of news content on their asylum seeker stance - some felt that their views are shaped by news discourses, while others denied any impact. All participants critiqued how the Australian media represents asylum seekers, emphasising the following key concerns: negative and dehumanising representations; bias, sensationalism; limited transparency; and bureaucratic influences on news content. These perspectives were often constructed as recommendations for how news representations can be improved to more adequately inform the public. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a combination of dominant-hegemonic, oppositional, and negotiated readings of media texts, demonstrating the value of Hall’s (1980) ‘encoding/decoding’ model of communication in explorations of discursive responses to media texts, particularly when adapted for use alongside CDA. While these findings suggest considerable disenchantment with news discourses about asylum seekers, participants offered more than mere critique of Australian media depictions. Rather, they actively engaged with the debate about asylum seekers, often using their critique of media as a means of legitimising their own positions on the topic. These findings carry important implications for the communications and sociological fields, highlighting the importance of transparent, compassionate, and inclusive approaches to reporting asylum issues in Australia. Key words: Asylum seekers, Australia, media, news, discourse, critical discourse analysis, audience reception, audiences iii Acknowledgements This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. I would like to thank the following people who were instrumental in the successful completion of this project: Firstly, this research would not have been possible without the twenty-four participants who donated their valuable time, ideas, reflections, and recommendations. Your candour and generosity is very much appreciated. To my coordinating supervisor, Farida Fozdar, after admiring your work for years, choosing you as my PhD supervisor was a no-brainer. You not only shared thoughtful feedback, support, and immense expertise to guide this project, but your wisdom, patience, and at times, brutal honesty, made this experience truly invaluable for me. I believe that the skills you helped me refine have made me a stronger researcher, writer and critical thinker, and I hope I have made the most of the opportunities you have provided for me. The same goes for my co-supervisor, Rob Cover, whose insightful advice enabled me to widen my understanding of various critical media theories and pivotal work in this field, which encouraged me to consider and apply highly diverse perspectives to my research. The wonderful staff at the University of Western Australia (UWA) for taking the pain out of the many administrative processes that accompany the completion of a PhD. Special thanks to the School of Social Sciences’ Graduate Research Coordinator, Steven Maras, and the incredible team at the Graduate Research School – you are all superstars! I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Candice Bydder, who assisted with the transcription of my participant interviews. You did an incredible job and I cannot recommend your work highly enough. Sybil and the professional services team at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, whom I’ve had the privilege to work with over the past year. Your continued encouragement, humour and flexibility has made me feel immensely supported, iv particularly during those final stressful weeks of my candidature when my thesis was virtually the only thing I was capable of talking about! I have also been lucky enough to be surrounded by some incredible peers and mentors at UWA, the Australian Sociological Association, and the Australia and New Zealand Communications Association – thank you for the countless (and always timely) reminders that the self-doubt, bouts of imposter syndrome, and general “why am I doing this” moments are widely shared and understood. I know I still have so much more to learn from you and I hope I get the chance to do so. On a more personal note: My splendid friends, notably Anna, Alex, Suzi, Laura, and Eleanor (and your ever- expanding families), thank you for always understanding when I flew off the radar during the particularly hectic periods, and for inexplicably knowing how to make me laugh and forget about the set-backs and more challenging times. You have allowed me to focus on the best parts of life, with the best people. Mum and Dad, aside from your unwavering support, both morally and fiscally, during my decade of study (or to quote mum, my “are you almost done yet?” years), the most significant thing that stands out for me is that I have never felt discouraged from my choices (with respect to both my career and my slightly non-conventional hobbies and world-views). You have both consistently emphasised the importance of me forging my own path and pushing against the status quo – for this I am eternally grateful, even if I don’t say it enough. Last, but certainly not least, my amazing partner Dean. It has been a long haul, but we made it! I feel like anything I say is going to be woefully inadequate as it is impossible to articulate just how grateful I am for your love, support, pep-talks, spontaneous date-nights, and pulling me back down to earth when my anxiety was getting the better of me. Anyone who has lived through the PhD
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