A MAY TO REMEMBER

Adversarial Images of Immigrants in U.S. Newspapers during the 2006 Policy Debate

Bibliographic Data

ID24315677
AuthorsOtto Santa Ana (0000-0002-1873-3566), Sandra L Treviño, Michael J Bailey, Kristen Bodossian, Antonio De Necochea
Year2007
Volume4
Issue1
Pages207-232
Publication date2007-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDu Bois Review Social Science Research on Race (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1742-058X • E-ISSN: 1742-0598
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1742058x07070117
OpenAlexW2131585557
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited16

Abstract We examine mainstream U.S. print news depictions of the 2006 immigration policy debate. Using critical discourse analysis informed by cognitive metaphor theory, we analyze a substantial sample of mainstream U.S. print news reports in May 2006, at the height of national attention on the “Great May Day” demonstrations across the country. We compare it to a second sample of print news media articles from October 2006, at the time of the passage of the 2006 Secure Fence Act. Mainstream print media represented immigrants with a noteworthy balance between human and nonhuman language during the time of the Great May Day marches. However, the media did not sustain a balanced representation of immigrants in the ensuing months. The conceptual metaphor immigrant as criminal is predominant during both periods. We explore the implication of the language used to frame the immigration policy debate.

Conceptual metaphor · conceptual metaphor theory · immigration policy debate · media representation of immigrants · news framing · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Media Discourse and Social Analysis · Migration, Refugees, and Integration