(Un)Reporting Xenophobia: Normalising and Resisting Officials’ Discriminatory Discourse on Migration in Online Journalism in Cyprus

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article draws on existing research suggesting that media discourses may contribute in normalising xenophobia. Its objective is to advance these studies by investigating not only how journalists become complicit in naturalising officials’ expressed anti-immigration stance, but also the potential of journalists to counterbalance the normalisation of xenophobic discourse. In doing so, the article emphasises the role of the features of the online news production. The research draws on a multimethod research design that approaches online journalistic reporting on two separate yet interconnected levels: the media reports on migration, through discourse analysis, and the news production process, through in-depth interviews with news producers. The findings reveal that churnalism, sensationalist reporting, excessive reliance on elite sources and the discursive construction of immigrants and refugees as threat and Cyprus as victim work to reinforce the normalisation of xenophobia. Respectively, representing immigrants and refugees as rights-holders and Cyprus as duty-bearer, drawing information from diverse sources, conducting investigative journalism and (re)contextualising migration-related news in a non-negative perspective are elements that resist and challenge xenophobic discourse. However, journalists need to put in extra effort to overpass standardised online news production practices that facilitate the reproduction of xenophobic narratives.