Othering and voice: How media framing denies refugees integration opportunities

Mainstream media play a significant role in shaping public opinion in modern society. For refugees, misinterpretation (including associations with victimhood, foreignness and deviant behaviour) can hinder integration into New Zealand society and the ability to fully participate in their new communities. This may affect refugees’ successful transition into the workforce through effects on both their self-image and mental health, as well as contributing to negative attitudes in potential employers. This study examines the linguistic framing of refugees in New Zealand print media. Starting from the assumption that language is socially constitutive, a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework is used to explore discourses surrounding this group, to uncover out-of-sight linguistic strategies that reproduce existing structures of power and inequality. Analysis indicates that discourses around refugees create a negative semantic prosody, or ‘aura’ of meaning, in which they are framed as a policy ‘issue’ and as ‘othered’ victims. Furthermore, refugees are afforded little opportunity to define their experiences in their own terms. Addressing refugees’ misrepresentation and any wider societal effects involves granting greater voice to refugees without the need for an ‘expert’ voice to validate their views. Equally, replacing the existing taken-for-granted framing of refugees to positive framings of strength, capability and resilience could arguably counter the ‘othering’ this group experiences and the barriers it may create to inhibit successful transition to employment.