The discourse of austerity in the British press

In this paper we analyse the discourse of austerity in British broadsheets. Theoretically, we combine insights from discourse analysis and political science. Methodologically, we present a novel procedure to build and analyse a robust corpus derived from LexisNexis. Our analysis of this corpus shows...

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Main Authors: Grundmann, Reiner, Kreischer, Kim-Sue, Scott, Mike
Other Authors: Sturm, Roland
Format: Book Section
Published: Nomos 2018
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50583/
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author Grundmann, Reiner
Kreischer, Kim-Sue
Scott, Mike
author2 Sturm, Roland
author_facet Sturm, Roland
Grundmann, Reiner
Kreischer, Kim-Sue
Scott, Mike
author_sort Grundmann, Reiner
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description In this paper we analyse the discourse of austerity in British broadsheets. Theoretically, we combine insights from discourse analysis and political science. Methodologically, we present a novel procedure to build and analyse a robust corpus derived from LexisNexis. Our analysis of this corpus shows the powerful actors in the discourse, and how they were able to exercise this power through ideas and language. Their visibility in the press, and their discursive performance are crucial elements in our analysis. Our analysis of the discourse shows that austerity has negative connotations; that no independent economic expertise was visible; that George Osborne was the most influential actor, providing clever catchphrases; that the oppositional Labour Party failed to develop an alternative narrative; that journalists took up elements of Osborne’s narrative rather than developing their own; and that right-wing think tanks had little visibility.
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publishDate 2018
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spelling nottingham-505832020-05-04T19:25:49Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50583/ The discourse of austerity in the British press Grundmann, Reiner Kreischer, Kim-Sue Scott, Mike In this paper we analyse the discourse of austerity in British broadsheets. Theoretically, we combine insights from discourse analysis and political science. Methodologically, we present a novel procedure to build and analyse a robust corpus derived from LexisNexis. Our analysis of this corpus shows the powerful actors in the discourse, and how they were able to exercise this power through ideas and language. Their visibility in the press, and their discursive performance are crucial elements in our analysis. Our analysis of the discourse shows that austerity has negative connotations; that no independent economic expertise was visible; that George Osborne was the most influential actor, providing clever catchphrases; that the oppositional Labour Party failed to develop an alternative narrative; that journalists took up elements of Osborne’s narrative rather than developing their own; and that right-wing think tanks had little visibility. Nomos Sturm, Roland Griebel, Tim Winkelmann, Thorsten 2018-01-04 Book Section PeerReviewed Grundmann, Reiner, Kreischer, Kim-Sue and Scott, Mike (2018) The discourse of austerity in the British press. In: Austerity: a journey to an unknown territory: discourses, economics and politics. Zeitschrift für Politik (Spec.8). Nomos, Baden-Baden, Germany, pp. 92-128. ISBN 978-3-8487-3849-6 http://www.nomos-shop.de/_assets/downloads/9783848738496_lese01.pdf doi:10.5771/9783845281728-92 doi:10.5771/9783845281728-92
spellingShingle Grundmann, Reiner
Kreischer, Kim-Sue
Scott, Mike
The discourse of austerity in the British press
title The discourse of austerity in the British press
title_full The discourse of austerity in the British press
title_fullStr The discourse of austerity in the British press
title_full_unstemmed The discourse of austerity in the British press
title_short The discourse of austerity in the British press
title_sort discourse of austerity in the british press
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50583/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50583/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/50583/