The aim of this study is to probe for ideological
construction of racism imbricated within the structure of newspaper
reporting. The study focuses on news reports relating to a
Vietnamese gang in Australia whose violent and drug-dealing
activities have received publicity in two Sydney-based newspapers:
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph. The analysis of
these reports adheres to the analytic paradigm of Critical Discourse
Analysis (CDA) and is undertaken in two stages. The first, a general
characterization of the newspaper discourse, reveals evidence of a
systematic ‘othering’ and stereotyping of the ethnic community by
the ‘white’ majority. This is followed by a comparative analysis of two
reports, which surfaces evidence of a racist ideology manifest in an
asymmetrical power discourse between the (ethnic) law-breakers and
the (white) law-enforcers. The study concludes with a discussion to
explain the evidence of ‘Racism in the News’, which both reflects and
reinforces the marginalization of recent Vietnamese migrants into
Australia. |