Discursively Constructing Refugees: Impacts of the Portrayal of Refugees in American Human Interest Stories

• In Event: Examinations of International News Coverage

Abstract

This study examines top US newspapers’ coverage of refugees in American human interest stories. I find that the refugees are presented (a) as prior victims; (b) as in search of the American Dream; and (c) as unable to achieve the American Dream. As human-interest features, the stories discursively produce a victim status for refugees and depict refugees as further victimized by the American economic crisis; deeply frustrated by their inability to achieve the American Dream.

Author

• Sarah Steimel, Univ of Nebraska, Lincoln