Constructing xenophobic discourses: The case of the Daily Sun

Abstract

While evidence confirms that the role of the South African print media in creating a xenophobic environment (Danso and McDonald 2001, 124; McDonald and Jacobs 2005, 306) should not be depreciated, particularly in the manner in which the media has stigmatised non-nationals, ‘this does not necessarily [mean] that the print media was complicit in the events of April/May 2008’ (Smith 2011, 111). A systematic analysis of the print media for the period April to May 2008 is nevertheless a lacuna that needs to be addressed (Smith 2010, 188). As part of an ongoing research project, a critical discourse analysis (CDA) is conducted on excerpts from the South African tabloid, Daily Sun, published during April to May 2008. The focus of this research is to contribute to the existing body of research by focusing not only on the way in which this tabloid presented ‘the other’, but by also identifying some of the underlying ideologies that underpin these representations.