Setting the Standard? Revisiting the Unfolding Discourse in American and British Online News on the Snowden Revelations

Bibliographic Data

ID3948281
AuthorsLeon Klomp (0000-0002-9437-995X, Utrecht University, corresponding author), Bouke Van Gorp (Utrecht University)
Year2022
Volume27
Issue5
Pages1599-1621
Publication date2022-10-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2020.1868440
OpenAlexW3138295318
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited44

In Edward Snowden’s surveillance revelations in 2013, online news media had an essential role in constructing discourse on mass surveillance, because sensitive documents were leaked straight to the press. To understand the role of online news in unfolding geopolitical discourses, this discourse analysis examined popular American and British online news reports at the time. The discourse analysis focused on selectivity, priming, and metaphors, while integrating notions on geopolitical code to understand whether online news mirrored the two involved governments’ justifications of surveillance practices. The analysis demonstrated selectivity in which victims of surveillance got attention, and online news tended to prime opinions critical of the surveillance. The justifications of the governments were communicated, but often refuted by other sources quoted in the same stories. Journalists used critical metaphors to convey the scope of the surveillance practices to readers. The findings highlight the role of online news in unfolding discourse of novel geopolitical affairs

Critical discourse analysis · Geopolitics · Ideology · Media studies · News media · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Rhetoric and Communication Studies

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