Racist discourse and power in the media 

By: Sandrine Marrassé

What is racism/racist discourse?van Dijk has defined racism as “a social system of domination . . . of a

specific kind of power of one group over other groups, in our case of Europeans (‘whites’) over non-European peoples.” (2005, p. 1-2)

“Racist discourse is a form of discriminatory social practice that manifests itself in text, talk and communication. Together with other (nonverbal) discriminatory practices, racist discourse contributes to the reproduction of racism as a form of ethnic or "racial" domination. It does so typically by expressing, confirming or legitimating racist opinions, attitudes and ideologies of the dominant ethnic group.” (van Dijk, 2004, p. 351)

“There are two major forms of racist discourse:1. racist discourse directed at ethnically different Others;2. racist discourse about ethnically different Others.” (van Dijk, 2004, p. 351)

The media

“The media—press, radio, television, cinema, and so on—have become the arenas through which people receive most of their entertainment and information about the world, so they are the primary sources for how we see the world.” (O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008, p. 34)

Representation - “The media define for the majority of the population what significant events are taking place, but, also, they offer powerful interpretations of how to understand these events.” (Hall et al., 1978, p. 426)

Media researchers Sturken & Cartwright have defined representation as “the use of language and images to create meaning about the world around us. Hence, the material world only has meaning, and only can be “seen” by us, through these systems of representation.” (2001, p. 12)

What is power in the context of racist discourse and the media?

Representation - How we see the worldInterpretation - Through representations the media offer explanations,

teaching people how to make sense of the the world, of other people, and of ourselves

Evaluation - In doing so, they constantly privilege some issues and identities while devaluing others, thus giving a judgmental view of the information about the world that we receive

Circulation - To those that have access, the media are able to be transmitted and and circulated globally. Recent technological developments and the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, have also seen media interaction reach new levels

Gatekeeping - The process of controlling what gets included, and whose voices are heard in the media, particularly in the news

Agenda Setting - The process by which media producers set up the issues—the agenda—that the media will focus on and that audiences will subsequently perceive to be important

(O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008, p. 24, 34)

No stranger to controversy…Last week, the Broadcasting Standards Authority confirmed that in the past two

years, it has dealt with 13 formal complaints involving Paul Henry…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/4194441/Henry-apology-for-G-G-race-comments

In the clip, Henry deliberately mispronounces Mrs Dikshit's name, despite being told at the outset that it is pronounced 'Dixit".

"The dip shit woman. God, what's her name? Dick Shit. Is it Dick Shit ... it looks like 'Dick Shit'," Henry says through bouts of laughter.

"It's so appropriate, because she's Indian, so she'd be dick-in-shit wouldn't she, do you know what I mean? Walking along the street ... it's just so funny." (Kay, 2010)

"Is he even a New Zealander?" Henry asked. ''Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time?'' Paul Henry’s engages in racist

discourse and uses his power as a member of the dominant in-group to otherise Ms Dikshit and Sir Satyanand. Holliday, Hyde & Kullman (2004, p. 180) have defined otherisation as “the process that we undertake in ascribing identity to the Self through the often negative attribution of characteristics to the Other.” Holliday et al. have expanded on this definition: “By otherizing we mean imagining someone as alien and different to ‘us’ in such a way that they are excluded from ‘our’ ‘normal’, ‘superior’ and ‘civilized’ group.” (2004, p. 3)

Paul Henry’s apology - "So in that spirit, I apologise unreservedly to Sir Anand and his family. He's a very

distinguished man. I am a Gypo television presenter."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy

www

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gypo

Racist discourse

Racist practices(Study Guide, 2010, p. 150)

http:// www.facebook.com

In conclusionThrough their power, the media and media producers have the ability to create,

influence and perpetuate racist discourses.Representation - How we see the worldInterpretation - Through representations the media offer explanations, teaching

people how to make sense of the the world, of other people, and of ourselvesEvaluation - In doing so, they constantly privilege some issues and identities

while devaluing others, thus giving a judgmental view of the information about the world that we receive

Circulation - To those that have access, the media are able to be transmitted and and circulated globally. Recent technological developments and the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, have also seen media interaction reach new levels

Gatekeeping - The process of controlling what gets included, and whose voices are heard in the media, particularly in the news

Agenda Setting - The process by which media producers set up the issues—the agenda—that the media will focus on and that audiences will subsequently perceive to be important

(O’Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008, p. 24, 34)

ReferencesBlommaert, J. (2004). Discourse: A critical introduction. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Bower, H., & Martin, K. (2007). Communication across cultures: Mutual understanding in a global world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dijk, T.A.V. (2000). New(s) racism: A discourse analytical approach. In S. Cottle (Ed.), Ethnic minorities and the media (pp. 33-49). Retrieved from www.discourses.org/OldArticles/ New(s)%20racism%20-%20A%20discourse%20analytical% 20approach.pdf

Dijk, T.A.V. (2004). Racist discourse. In Ellis Cashmore (Ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies. (pp. 351-355). London: Routledge.

Dijk, T.A.V. (2005). Racism and discourse in Spain and Latin America. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Dijk, T.A.V. (2002). Discourse and racism. In Goldberg D.T., & Solomos, J. (Eds.), A companion to racial and ethnic studies (pp. 145-159). Retrieved from www.discourses.org/ OldArticles/ Discourse%20and%20racism.pdf

Hall, S., Critcher, C., Jefferson, T., Clarke, J., & Roberts, B. (1978). Policing the crisis: Mugging, the state, and law and order. London: Macmillan Education.

Holliday, A., Hyde, M., & Kullman, J. (2004). Intercultural communication: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.

Johnston, K., & Kay, M. (2010, October 5). Paul Henry suspended. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/ entertainment/ tv/4197611/Paul-Henry-suspended

Kay, M. (2010, October 6). Dikshit giggles: New Henry drama. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved from http://www.stuff.co.nz/ entertainment/tv/4203109/Dikshit-giggles-New-Henry-drama

Knight, K. (2009, August 30). The man who eats guests for breakfast. Sunday Star Times. Retrieved from http:// www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/2812861/The-man-who-eats-guests-for-breakfast

O’Shaughnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2008). Media and society (4th ed.). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Study Guide. (2010). Study Guide for Language, Discourse and Power. Massey University, School of Language Studies.

Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2001). Consumer culture and the manufacturing of desire. Practices of looking: An introduction to visual culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

The Dominion Post. (2010, October 11). Paul Henry [Image]. Retrieved from http:// www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/ 4217429/Paul-Henry-quits-TVNZ

TVNZ. (2010). Inside TVNZ. Retrieved from http://tvnz.co.nz/ content/845005

Wareing, S. (2004). What is language and what does it do? In L. Thomas, S. Singh, J. Peccei, J. Thornnborrow & J. Jones (Eds.), Language, society, and power: An introduction (pp. 1-16). London: Routledge.