australian news narrative on unauthorised boat arrivals
TRANSCRIPT
Australian News Narrative on Unauthorised Boat Arrivals
During Federal Election Campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013
Le Tam Tu (B.A. Master of Media Practice)
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
School of Communication
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
University of Technology Sydney
2019
i
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP
I, Le Tam Tu, declare that this thesis is submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for
the award of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the
University of Technology Sydney.
This thesis is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. In
addition, I certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the
thesis.
This document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic
institution.
This research is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program.
Signature:
Date: 10 May 2019
Production Note:
Signature removed prior to publication.
ii
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my supervisor (late) Professor Alan Knight and other supervisors
who evolved in directing me in this thesis such as Professor Saba Bebawi, Professor
Andrew Jakubowicz and Dr Kyungja Jung. I am also grateful to Dr Penny O’Donnell
for first inspiring me to take on doctoral level research.
I wish to extend my great appreciation to Professor Alan McKee and Professor Sandra
Schuck who encouraged and provided essential support to me in accomplishing this
project. My sincere thanks are due to Dr Peter Manning for his kind and constructive
criticism and much helpful advice on my thesis. I would like to thank Dr Alex Munt,
with administration advice and support. I’d like to sincerely express my appreciation for
the assistance of Dr Terry Fitzgerald. I couldn’t have finished this project without the
great editing support from Terry. I am also grateful to Dr Katherine Hamilton who was
a precious mentor during my study.
I record my sincere thanks to my UTS friend, PhD candidate John Robert, for his
boundless encouragement and sharing of challenges and achievements during this
journey. I am also thankful to other members of Alan Knight’s research team for useful
conversations such as journalist Greg Wilesmith and journalist Karl Wilson. A special
thanks to writer Hayley Juriansz for proofreading the initial copy of my thesis.
I would like to thank the SBS Vietnamese team and other SBS colleagues for their
support and help me maintaining motivation with the project. I thank Bankstown
Library for creating a pleasure study space so that I could write up this thesis.
Finally, I would like to thank my husband Sinh Chuong Nguyen, for supporting me
during the writing of this thesis, and members of my extended family for everything
else.
iii
Table of Contents
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ........................................................ i
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... ii
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... iii
Lists of figures and tables .............................................................................................. vi
List of figures ......................................................................................................................... vi
List of tables ........................................................................................................................... vi
Chapter One: Introduction to the Thesis ...................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.3. Research Aims and Questions ...................................................................................... 12
1.4. Research Design and Methodology .............................................................................. 15
1.5. The significance of the research ................................................................................... 19
1.6. Chapter Outlines ............................................................................................................ 22
1.7. Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................... 24
Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review ............................... 25
2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 25
2.2. News as narrative ........................................................................................................... 26
2.3. Structuralist perspectives on the identical elements of news narrative .................... 30
2.4. Field theory: The changing nature of the journalistic field ....................................... 42
2.5. Contextual change in Australian media outlets .......................................................... 44
2.6. Research perspectives on Australian media covering IRAS boat arrivals ............... 46
2.5. Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................... 58
Chapter Three: Methodology....................................................................................... 61
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 61
3.2. Contextualising the news narrative research project ................................................. 62
3.3. Research sample ............................................................................................................ 72
iv
3.4. Research design .............................................................................................................. 78
3.5. Variables explanation .................................................................................................... 85
3.6. Media content analysis: methodological limitations and options .............................. 89
3.7. Concluding remarks ...................................................................................................... 92
Chapter Four: Quantitative Content Analysis Results.............................................. 93
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 93
4.2. General descriptive result ............................................................................................. 93
4.3. Orientation analysis of news narrative ...................................................................... 109
4.4. Word frequencies ......................................................................................................... 114
4.5. Origins of the articles, the main actor and direct quotations .................................. 118
4.6. Occasions of reports .................................................................................................... 132
4.7. Conclusion and remarks ............................................................................................. 135
Chapter Five: Thematic Analysis of the ‘Boat’ News Narrative ............................ 138
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 138
5.2. General findings ........................................................................................................... 138
5.3. Themes .......................................................................................................................... 143
5.4. The tones of the press .................................................................................................. 161
5.5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 165
Chapter Six: Contextual Analysis ............................................................................. 168
6.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 168
6.2. Voices of the politicians and authorities in the ‘boat’ story ..................................... 169
6.3. The un-naming of the IRAS ........................................................................................ 185
6.4. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................... 190
Chapter Seven: Discussion ......................................................................................... 192
7.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 192
7.2. Press and the Creation of the Grand Narrative ........................................................ 193
7.3. The interrelationship between the press and the political leaders in the ‘boat’ stories .............................................................................................................................................. 202
v
7.4. Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................... 208
Chapter Eight: Conclusion ......................................................................................... 211
8.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 211
8.2. Summary of the Research ........................................................................................... 212
8.3. Implications .................................................................................................................. 219
8.4. Final remarks ............................................................................................................... 225
References .................................................................................................................... 228
List of Appendices ....................................................................................................... 241
Appendix A: List of sample articles .......................................................................... 242
Appendix B: Codebook for the content analysis of Australian press on the IRAS boat arrivals on The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald ........................................................................................................................... 263
Appendix C: Actors/Objects/ Direct Quoted Source ............................................... 268
Appendix D: Main Theme Categories ....................................................................... 270
Appendix E: Word Frequency Result ....................................................................... 275
Appendix F: Orientation of the Press ....................................................................... 279
Appendix G: Thematic Analysis and Results ........................................................... 287
Appendix H: Analysis of main actor quotes and attitudes ...................................... 338
vi
Lists of figures and tables
List of figures
Figure 2.1. Propp’s four spheres and 31 key functions 35 Figure 4.1 Volume of coverage by year 87 Figure 4.2 Number of articles each newspaper published each month of
Examination 88 Figure 4.3 Comparison of the total number of articles per day of the three
newspapers and the highest number of articles from a newspaper 89 Figure 4.4 Comparison of the sum and the average words per article
per issue of the three newspapers studied 95 Figure 4.5 Number of articles published on page 1 of the three newspapers 97 Figure 4.6 Section of articles in the three time periods 98 Figure 4.7 Types of articles in three time periods 100 Figure 4.8: Numbers of positive, negative and neutral articles about
the IRAS boats 102 Figure 4.9 Occasions of reporting 126
List of tables
Table 3.1 Australian Newspaper Readership 67 Table 3.2 Volume of Government quotes and paraphrasing in pilot study 76 Table 3.3 Attitudes of Government quotes and paraphrasing in pilot study 77 Table 4.1 Size of articles in words during the three time periods 94 Table 4.2: Comparison of the orientation between hard-news and editorials 104 Table 4.3: Origins of the IRAS articles 112 Table 4.4 Appearance of Australian politicians and authorities in
comparison with the IRAS and other main actors 115 Table 4.5 Similarity in selecting types of sources as the main actor in
The SMH and The Australian 117 Table 4.6 Direct quotes in comparison with paraphrased quotation 119 Table 4.7 Volume of Australian Government politicians and authorities
quotes and paraphrasing (by words) compared to other actors 121 Table 4.8 Campaign visibilities 125 Table 5.1 Categorised themes by year 130 Table 5.2 Categorised themes of the news narratives by newspaper
in the three periods 131 Table 5.3 Evaluation of the IRAS articles 154 Table 6.1 Occurrences of main actors’ quotations and paraphrasing 161 Table 6.2 An example of Propp’s attempt at morphology applied in the
IRAS narrative covered by The Australian in the 2013 election campaign 164
Table 6.3 Context of the identified word "boat" 168 Table 6.4 Word count of anti- and pro- IRAS boat arrivals
of politicians and authorities quotes and paraphrasing 172 Table 6.5 Occurrences of the keywords in the main actor quotation
and paraphrasing compared to all quotations and paraphrasing 177
1
Chapter One: Introduction to the Thesis
1.1. Introduction
This thesis examines the print media’s representation and narration of the immigrant,
refugee and asylum seeker (IRAS) boats in Australia. This chapter provides an
introduction and a background for the research, and an overview of subsequent
chapters.
This chapter is organised as follows: Section 1.2 provides the background of the study.
Section 1.3 provides an overview of the research, explaining the objectives and the
research questions. Section 1.4 describes the research design and conduct of the study.
Section 1.5 reviews the significance of boat people within the Australian press. This
section establishes the motivations for selecting the coverage of IRAS boat arrivals
amid the three federal election campaigns as the foci of this thesis. Section 1.6 presents
an overview of the chapters that follow.
1.2. Background
The assizes they are over now, the Judge is going away
But many aching hearts are left within the town today
Tho's crime is bad, yet poverty's made many ones to be
A transport from his native land, and cross the raging sea.
The Summer Assizes 1824 (Harris 1970)
The boat has a strong symbolic value in Australian culture as it was for over a century
the only means of allowing numerous diaspora communities to settle in Australia.
Before that, the ancestors of many Australians also sought new beginnings in what was
then known as New Holland sailing with the First Fleet, landing initially in Botany Bay
in 1788, and then forming the first European settlement in Australia at nearby Port
Jackson. Those convicted migrants are now symbolic of Australia's pride and cultural
values, which include egalitarianism, mateship, anti-authoritarianism and larrikinism
(Dyrenfurth 2015; Pobjie 2017; Waterhouse 2000). Following the First Fleet,
Australia’s future as a colony was built by a range of different settlers, that included
2
immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Today, such settlers would be labelled ‘boat
people.
However, the Australian Government’s treatment of IRAS and unauthorised boat
arrivals has been controversial since Federation, with the 1901 Immigration Restriction
Act, the 1947 Aliens Act, and the 1958 Migration Act and later amendments. More
recently, for example, in the Code of Conduct for asylum seekers living in Australia,
released in December 2013, the federal government forbade people making sexual
contact with another person without that person’s consent, involvement in criminal
behaviour, providing false identities, lying, harassing, intimidating and bullying others
(Legislation 2013). The asylum seekers, once released from a detention centre, were
forced to sign this code of conduct, which threatens cancellation of visas and results in
transfer to offshore processing if they fail to meet the code of conduct. Boat people,
once the image of brave people who sought freedom, have become less welcomed, and
are viewed as bringing an increasing number of problems to Australia. According to
Marr and Wilkinson (2005), "The problem for boat people was always the boat: the
symbol of Australia's fears of invasion. People worried far less about asylum seekers
arriving by air. Even though they were jumping the same queue" (Marr & Wilkinson
2005, p. 48). A hostile attitude toward boat people can be seen in prominent narratives
within Australia’s immigration history.
In the 1850s, Australia underwent an influx of new migrants rushing for gold (Graham
2009). The colony of Victoria's goldfield population peaked at 150,000 in 1858 (Annear
1999). Between 1856 and 1879, thousands of Chinese gold diggers occupied the new
goldfields, leading to the exclusion of European labour (Harris 1970). Anti-Chinese
riots resulted in injuries and deaths (McGowan 2004, p.327). In response to the riots,
The Bulletin campaigned for republicanism and nationalism and, according to (Lawson
1983), showed bias against the Chinese.
After World War II, Australia carefully selected immigrants who were healthy and
wealthy enough to immigrate (Jupp 2007; Lack & Templeton 1995; Windschuttle 2004;
York 2003). As Jupp (1998) points out, Australia refused entry to those refugees who
were in trouble, especially during the Jewish crisis in the southern summer of 1946–
1947: the Australian quota system limited Jews to no more than 2.5% of all immigrants,
3
and from July 1947 they were excluded from the “Displaced Persons” program of
Australia. Similarly, Oeser and Hammond state that the Australian attitude at that time
was in favour of German immigration, which was "ranked second in desirability after
English while Jews were ranked seven just above the blacks” (Rutland & Encel 2009, p.
79).
During this period, the assimilation policy towards the Balts was also used to present
the image of Australia as both a melting pot and a nationalistic-oriented country. The
Canberra Times of 11 October 1947 reported that 860 Balts would soon leave for
Australia on an American ship. The news narrative affirmed to readers that before
reaching Australia these displaced people would be educated in a camp in Berlin about
how to become excellent Australian citizens. The Balts from Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania would learn the English language and the Australian way of life.
On 1 February 1952 the Inter-Governmental Committee for European Migration was set
up. The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) of 24 January 1955 reported that the committee
had been responsible for 66,650 European migrants coming to Australia, of which 4,700
came through Australian Council of Churches. On 26 January 1955, The SMH quoted
the Governor-General, Sir William Slim, as saying that the foundations of Australian
nationhood were British, Christian and democratic. Indeed, these criteria were first
applied to the new migrants, with the Australian Council of Churches desiring to bring
believers to Australia. Even in the 1970s most Vietnamese refugees coming to Australia
were found through churches.
In the years after the end of the Vietnam War, over one million people fled that country.
Most Vietnamese refugees’ stories collected during this time told of Southern
Vietnamese people who had worked for the Republic of Vietnam being sent to
concentration and re-education camps in remote areas of Vietnam. Meanwhile, children
and teenagers whose parents or relatives had worked for the South Vietnamese
Government faced discrimination and could not go to school (Hoang 2010). This
resulted in small boats starting to flee Vietnam’s central coast and the southwestern
beaches. Grant (1979) stated that between 1975 and 1979, the United States and
Australian authorities estimated that up to 50 per cent of people who had set out from
4
Vietnam’s shores never touched land again and that between 100,000 and 200,000
people perished
The wave of Vietnamese boat arrivals to Australia began with the first boat reported in
1976 and ended with the “Orderly Departure Program” in 1985. Most Vietnamese
refugees came to Australia from overseas camps. The SMH was the only Australian
newspaper to report the arrival of the first Vietnamese boat in Darwin on 28 April 1976.
On 10 November 1976, a second small fishing boat from Vietnam, carrying 50 people,
arrived in Darwin. Within three days Australian newspapers reported that the
Government accepted all those on board as permanent settlers in Australia. These boat
people did not face detention but were initially just referred to charities for assistance
while the authorities assessed their claims. Later boat people stayed in migrant hostels.
In the late 1970s, the first groups of 2,000 Vietnamese boat people came on 54 boats.
During the 1980s, the “Orderly Departure Program” brought thousands of Vietnamese
refugees from other refugee camps to Australia. This influx of Vietnamese refugees
affected Australians’ perceptions because it was presented in a negative light, as a
source of problems and as invaders bringing “third world diseases” to Australia
(Anderson 2012, p. 503). In a 1979 poll, 30 per cent of respondents said Australia
should take none of the the Vietnamese boat people, although a majority said that
Australia should take some of the arrivals, with eight per cent saying that all boat people
should be allowed to settle in Australia (Marr & Wilkinson 2005).
During the 1980s, the rise of IRAS and the media’s interest in reporting IRAS news and
events stirred public debate on how Australia could receive these non-British
immigrants, especially after Professor Geoffrey Blainey’s speech in 1984. Various
Australian newspapers quoted Blainey as confirming a view that Australia had given
powerful preference to Asian migrants. Following Blainey’s claim of “Asianisation”,
the news media continued the debate whether Australia was moving too far and too fast
in regards to Asian migration.
Public debate again shifted in the early 2000s after the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks in New
York and the wars between the American-led Western countries (including Australia)
and the Muslim countries Afghanistan and Iraq. People seeking asylum in Australia
from Middle Eastern nations were put into isolation, with McCallam and Posetti (2008)
5
observing a significant tightening and sharpening of Australian immigration policy,
particularly towards refugees from Islamic countries. Indeed, the “Children Overboard”
narrative resulted in the “War on Terror” announced by the Howard Government and
spread widely by the news media in an attempt to stigmatise the IRAS boat arrivals as
terrorists and deviant others (Manning 2003). The term “War on Terror” was initially
defined by former US president George W. Bush, in the aftermath of the 9/11 incident
(Frank & Malreddy 2018). Frank and Malreddy (2018) claim that the global responses
to the American ‘war on terror’ had resulted not only in the long-held wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, but also in “the realignment of geopolitical power relations, the
formation of new terrorist networks (ISIS) and regional alliances (Iraq/ Syria); the
growing number of terrorist incidents in the West; the changing discourses on security
and technologies of warfare; the leveraging of fundamental constitutional principles;
and the ethical anxieties surrounding the lack of accountability for the violence carried
out in the name of countering terrorism” (p. 92). Among those responses was
Australia’s Pacific Solution policy, adopted on 27 September 2001, which took boat-
arriving asylum seekers to Nauru and Manus Island detention centres, out of the
Australian immigration zone.
On 24 November 2007, the Rudd Labor government won the federal election. On 8
February 2008, The SMH reported that 28 Sri Lankan refugees had arrived in Australia
from Nauru, which meant the detention camp there was now empty. This move marked
the end of the Pacific Solution. However, in 2008, there were still 80,000 people who
had been in detention centres in Australia since 1992. The SMH quoted Immigration
Minister Chris Evan confirming the effectiveness of the detention centres for border
protection. It aslo called for a reform in the use of detention centres from a risk-based
model towards an immigration processing model.
Detention centres across Australia were under the private management of Global
Solutions Limited from 2003 to 2008 and Serco Australia Limited from 2009 to 2014.
The construction and day-to-day management of detention centres were contracted out
to such large and multinational private corporations, who also operated prisons and
security services (Flynn 2014). Amendments to the Immigration Act included the
privatisation of mandatory detention facilities in the late 1990s, while the introduction
of temporary protection visas (TPVs) has seen Australia adopt one of the world's most
6
aggressive approaches to asylum seekers (Coghlan 2005). Silverman and Nethery
(2014) estimated the cost of immigration detention centres to be approximately three
times as high as the cost of accommodating detainees in community housing and
providing them with a basic living allowance.
Viviani (1996) described mandatory detention and the fear of boat people as creating a
series of policy blunders in the 1990s, with Coghlan (2005) claiming that the opening of
the Woomera detention centre in 1999 was one of the worst. According to Jupp (2007),
the increase in numbers and the remoteness of Woomera meant that effective processing
was slowed down. And when the Immigration Minister suspended the processing of
Afghan asylum seekers after the overthrow of the Taliban at the end of 2001, many
hundreds of detainees in Woomera were left in limbo, which resulted in their
conducting mass hunger strikes and self-mutilation in 2002.
During the 2010s, national security has remained the most critical concern directed
against boat people. On 14 August 2012 national news reported that PM Julia Gillard
accepted an expert panel's 22 recommendations, announcing the rebirth of the Pacific
Solution policy. The reports quoted Immigration Minister Chris Bowen warning that
asylum seekers now would have to wait years for processing in Nauru and Manus Island
– at least as long as those would-be refugees waiting in other countries.
Since the Coalition parties won government in the federal election of 2013, IRAS boats
have been ‘turned back’, under the border protection policy. Asylum seekers intercepted
at sea have been sent to Nauru and Manus Island for offshore processing and told they
would never call Australia home. This policy is under the Operation Sovereign Borders
scheme. The policy also embraced an Australian Defence task force, authorised to turn
back any suspected entry vessel within Australian waters. Called by the media the "turn
back the boat" strategy, this policy has denied permanent protection visas to asylum
seekers arriving by boat, renewed TPVs, and invested in the building of offshore
detention centres.
In 2014, UNHCR (2014) reported that 51% of refugees were less than 18 years old, the
highest rate for child refugees in more than a decade. In 2015, more than 1,750 migrants
perished in the Mediterranean – 30 times more than during the same period of 2014,
according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) (The Daily Telegraph
7
2015). On 20 April 2015, amidst this crisis in the Mediterranean, PM Tony Abbott said
it was urgent that Europe take an active approach similar to Australia's Operation
Sovereign Borders scheme. Around the same time a migrant crisis also occurred in
Australia with the arrival of thousands of the Rohingya ‘boat people’ from Myanmar
and Bangladesh.
When the Turnbull government was in power during 2015, people smuggling was
believed to increase (ABC 2016). Meanwhile, the news narrative was still in doubt
about the government’s solution to prevent the boat arrivals. On 1 May 2016, The Daily
Telegraph (The DT) warned: “The boats are back, thanks to the [Papua New Guinea]
Court’s decision that Australia’s Manus Island processing centre was unconstitutional
and must close.”
In 2018, The Guardian reported that 12 refugees and asylum seekers had died while in
Australian detention on Manus Island and Nauru. The Australian Border Deaths
database from 2000 to 2019 documented 2,017 deaths of people either travelling to
Australia or in Immigration detention centres. However, the Australian Institute of
Criminology, which operates the National Deaths in Custody Program, has never
counted deaths in immigration centres. At present, when a person dies in Immigration
detention, their death is not brought before a coroner’s court. It could be seen as one
reason that Australian people seem to care less about refugee issues and show less
sympathy to this group (McKay, Thomas & Kneebone 2012).
In summary, stories of IRAS boat arrivals have been significant in Australian narratives.
The attitude of Australians toward the unauthorised boat arrivals is divisive. When
hearing a news story about the experience of IRAS coming by boat, many Australians
are likely to feel it is just another saga of the strangers’ settlement in Australian land.
Entering Australian waters in refugee boats is frequently considered an illegal path of
migration.
Substantially, the issue of the IRAS boat arrival is the conflict between two fundamental
rights: 1) the right of every person to seek asylum in a safer land, and 2) the right of a
country to conserve the prospect of its security and not accept more IRAS than it has
capacity for. The critical point is whether to accept a quota of IRAS that would allow
for Australia’s continuing sustainability. This is the heart of the discussions within
8
Australia. Indeed, given the opinion poll results on the IRAS boats over the years,
Australian political parties have made the IRAS boat issue debates central to the gaining
of votes in federal election campaigns.
Media representation of the refugees
Society’s attitudes towards refugees are likely to have a profound impact on
Government policy and the ability of boat arrivals to be accepted. Questions of public
attitude frequently appear in political debates (Cover 2013). These attitudes are likely to
be shaped by public exposure to media messages concerning the arrivals of boats in
Australia.
Refugees representated as problems
Although boat arrivals have been repeated events in Australia’s history of immigration,
scholars have observed negative media coverage of them. Manning (2003) concluded
that asylum seekers had been represented in Australian media as a threat and linked to
terrorism, although this is not associated with government statements. Manning shows
37 per cent of articles from The SMH and The Daily Telegraph (DT), after 11
September 2001 mentioned the word “terror” in association with the words “refugee”,
“asylum seeker” and “boat people”.
Due (2010) used discourse analysis to examine the negative attitudes toward asylum
seekers in Australian news media. She confirmed Manning’s findings that asylum
seekers were frequently represented through discourses of ‘illegality’, ‘unlawfulness’,
‘threat’ and ‘non-genuineness’. Similar to the study by Dunn, Klocker and Salabay
(2007), Due also noted that the Australian media had followed government policy in its
production of a ‘climate of fear' in the public arena. However, Dunn et al. (2007)
implied that some sections of the media had maintained a critical perspective of the
government’s statements and actions regarding Islam.
Szörényi (2004) examined representations of refugees in contemporary media such as
newspaper reports, photography and documentary films. She concluded that the image
of the refugee was a result of the Western colonialist imposing itself on the East. The
Western humanitarian in this context is considered xenophobic. Pickering (2001)
9
examined discourses around the refugees in the Brisbane Courier-Mail and The SMH.
She revealed the reportage of refugees focused on the image of the racialised and
diseased deviant, which had come to be regarded as "common sense" among
Australians (p. 169).
In 2015, Lueck, Due and Augoustinos (2015) researched the incidents of the Jaya
Lestari 5 and the Oceanic Viking vessels and showed that boat people were represented
not only as ‘unlawful', ‘a threat' and ‘non-genuine', but also as economic opportunists.
They concluded that the neoliberal portrayal focussed on economic perspectives, such
as people smuggling as a trade and the stigmatisation of asylum seekers as economic
migrants.
Refugee representation as a victim at risk
The second media characterisation of IRAS identified in related studies is the
representation of asylum seekers as victims at risk (Hightower 2014; Lippi, McKay &
McKenzie 2017). Lippi et al. (2017) commented that in pro-asylum seeker reporting,
asylum seekers are often framed as either ‘gifted’ or as ‘victims’ requiring assistance.
The ‘gifted’ frame has been suggested by Every and Augoustinos (2007) as a way to
focus on refugees and asylum seekers with ‘skills’ who can contribute positively to
Australian society, and who are therefore welcome. However, according to Lippi et al.
(2017), the ‘victim’ frame is often employed specifically to criticise deterrence policies,
and as a way to advocate or promote human rights. Within this frame, asylum seekers
are represented as ‘outsiders’ who are traumatised and require Australia’s help. This
sets up a situation for governments where asylum seekers are represented as the ‘other’
and have the potential to be identified as a group who need help, stripping them of
autonomy and self-determination, and further creating a situation where if an asylum
seeker is not ‘obviously’ suffering or sick then they do not ‘legitimately’ fear
persecution.
The boundary of Us and Them
Researchers have highlighted a boundary between Australianness and Otherness that
new immigrants can hardly pass through. As Anderson (2012) has pointed out, the
boundary that the media built is not purely cast in legal or geo-national terms, but
10
through boundaries of cultural belonging. Indeed, researchers have questioned the
media emphasis on national identity in reporting the refugee issue: “The reporting of
refugee issues was generally characterised by nationalistic views and commentary”
(McKay, Thomas & Warwick Blood 2011, p. 623). In contrast, Rai (2008) claimed that
Australian news constantly references the global or international environment when
reporting refugee issues. The problem here is that the media are implicated in coverage
of the “contentions” regarding globalisation and state sovereignty aiming at shaping
public understanding and opinion (p. 119). In Australia these contentions have appeared
mostly in the debates between the Government and the Opposition and among Members
of Parliament. For Gale (2004), the issue is reflected in both the populist and
nationalistic view: “With a White Australia identified as a traditionally Christian
country, asylum seekers were represented as the illegal, non-western and non-Christian
Other” (p. 334).
Studying nationalism in the light of psychology, Saxton (2003) followed Hage's
conceptualisation of tolerance to examine Australians attitudes towards refugees via the
‘Letters to the editor' in The SMH in 2001. Saxton contended that there were limits to
the tolerance and that the discourses of the nation rather than race were predominantly
employed in the letters. Saxton suggested these letters represented a threat toward the
asylum seekers because the white hegemony remained unexamined.
The primary source of the press in the IRAS story
The IRAS representation in Australian news media is seen to be heavily reliant on
officials’ and politicians’ interpretations of the news and current affairs relating to the
IRAS (Anderson 2012; Every 2006; Matthews & Brown 2012; Portin 2015). Since the
Tampa incident in 2001, the censorship of the Australian Government towards visual
images of the refugees has been tight. The Minister for Defence at the time said, “Don’t
humanise the refugees” (Gordon 2005, p. 20; Grewcock 2009, p. 164). Since that
warning, there was no human face appearing on media coverage of this story (Marr &
Wilkinson 2005, p. 108). Rather, the media has tended to use quotes and information
from politicians, without checking the truth (Maclellan 2002, p. 145). Indeed, some
difficulties journalists faced are understandable: they could not speak to refugees
because refugees rarely speak English, are scared of appearing in media, are in remote
11
areas, and news from them has been blacked out because of the Government censorship.
As SMH journalist O'Brien (2012) said in her research project, "The more I pushed for
answers, the more the government agencies tried to block my inquiries." In addition,
non–government organisations were also reluctant to speak with the media or facilitate
access to their refugee clients (Romano 2007).
Van Dijk (in De Saussure, Baskin & Meisel 2011) considers politicians, journalists,
scholars, teachers and writers as symbolic elites who are the most influential sources of
news. Similarly, Schudson (2008) questions journalists’ overuse of expert quotes and
explanations in their articles that somehow lead to the truth established by the political
leaders: “[In some current issues] journalists tend to quote politicians' views as experts
without questioning whether that expert could represent the views of constituents" (p.
118). Macken-Horarik (2003), while exploring the politics of the framing and voicing of
the ‘child overboard’ narrative in Australian media texts, claimed that the voicing and
framing have been semiotically paralleled to each other and disconnected from the
original story – “those first-order semiotic mechanisms such as framing and voicing that
shape our perceptions of news events and newsmakers in powerful but convert ways”
(p. 301).
A question of change
Criticising the lack of voices in media reporting of the IRAS boat arrivals, Dreher
(2010) suggests a change in the narrative of the boat people: “The question of media
change in the context of multiculturalism becomes a question of changing the processes
and politics of hearing rather than of speaking” (p. 98). Romano (2005) has suggested
that journalists should “speak with asylum seekers and not simply about them”. As
shown in Romano’s research, asylum seekers and refugees accounted for just 3% of all
sources that The Australian used for quotes and information in its many stories
However, McKay, Thomas & Warwick Blood (2011) have shown there is a broader
range of perspectives in the provision of expert opinions, asylum seeker views and
editorial discussion. In revealing the backstory of a journalist’s investigation of a SIEV
boat’s sea accident in 2009, O'Brien (2012) points out there have been significant
changes for the better in the Freedom of Information (FOI) laws following the
12
introduction of the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010 and the Freedom of
Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010.
Romano (2007) claims that academic researchers and media commentators have
identified significant problems with media representation of asylum seekers and
refugees that might have limited the public’s understanding of the issue. It is therefore
necessary to analyse the dominant news narratives on which the public base their
knowledge of the maritime asylum seeker and refugee issue. This is also the main aim
of this thesis: to identify significant narratives within the Australian print media and the
extent to which they remain constant or change over time.
1.3. Research Aims and Questions
This study is primarily concerned with the news narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals
amid the Federal Election campaigns and includes the application of narrative theory.
The media coverage of unauthorised boat arrivals has gained attention from Australian
researchers. Previous studies have examined the representation of the IRAS, and how
they are portrayed in different situations. For example, the Tampa incident in 2001
attracted global research on Australia’s treatment of refugees and boat people (Marr &
Wilkinson 2005). This was used as recently as 2015 to compare the European and
Australian media reports during the European migrant crisis. During the 1980s,
researchers were interested in new Asian communities and the Indochina boat people.
From 2000, the focus had changed to new Muslim groups such as Afghan and Iraqi
communities, and Indonesian and Indian migration. More recently, research has been
aimed at the new phase of African immigration and its representation in the narrative of
the country (Sonn et al. 2017).
During the 1990s narrative theory was a central topic for literary, cultural, social and
communication studies (Herman, Manfred & Marie-Laure 2010). Drawing on Propp’s
classification of roles (1968) and Lévi-Strauss’ binary oppositions (Dundes 1997), I
argue that while narrative theories have developed from structuralism to post-
structuralism, denying the grand narrative and promoting the power of individual and
humanism of narrative, the news narrative continues by describing reality through
indicative characters and by repeating the news templates. I assume that the news
templates, or similar patterns of narrative generation, are reused to save time during
13
highly censored events such as the unauthorised boat arrivals, and this has allowed the
grand narrative of the ‘boat people’ to persist in Australia.
In this thesis I hypothesise that Australian news narratives about IRAS boat arrivals
remained unchanged in the period between 1977 and 2013. The news narrative about
the ‘boat’ has been structured in a problem–solution perspective, with the focus on
opposing the boat people while supporting the narrative of politicians and authorities. In
a ‘boat’ story, the politicians and authorities are seen as the heroes of the nation, who
win the support of the majority of voters to rule the country.
Propp’s (1968) emphasis on functioned characters and sequences is especially useful for
both structural analysis and the analysis of content, the main focus of this study. Propp
asks: "Is it permissible in this field also to consider the problem of typical schemes …
schemes handed down for generations as ready-made formulae capable of becoming
animated with a new mood, giving rise to new formations?” (p. 116). News templates
have been used among journalists (Fulton 2005), with the their reportage reflecting the
authors’ shortage of story-telling skills (Huisman, Murphet & Dunn 2006).
Henry and Tator (2009) found a constant and fundamental tension between the
experiences of boat people and the perceptions of media personnel, “who have the
power to redefine that reality” (p.13). Indeed, Strauss’s notion on binary oppositions is
seen as the ‘transparency’ of a ‘Proppian’ match between pairs of narratives. Strauss’s
conceptualisation of typical conflicted characters such as hero and villain is useful for
grasping how the main actor of the news narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals can
indeed be the hero of a narrative that, on first glance, appears to be politically oriented.
Dogra (2016), in a review of Proppian functions, follows Dundes's comment that
Propp's taxonomic model disregards and excludes the reader and is unable to look
beyond the surface structure. Therefore, Propp’s identical formula is disconnected from
the culture or various cultures in which it is formedand misses historical and contextual
features. However, Dogra admits that the Proppian fundamental formula is well adapted
to various contemporary media text. Analysis of the ‘rules’ by which non-fiction
narratives are generated or transformed is another research prospect suggested by
Propp's pioneering study.
14
Another gap discernable from the literature reviewed is the lack of source analysis in
news media coverage of boat arrivals, especially the commentary of the politicians. To
make their points of view about the boat arrivals, previous studies have focused mainly
on particular case studies and text analyses to see how the media frames the IRAS, not
how it frames the politicians and the quotes the media gets from politicians. Therefore,
this thesis aims to fill this gap, which finds evidence about the politician’s side. By
using Strauss’ concept of hero and villain, insider and outsider, this thesis aims to
illustrate the representation of the politician in the IRAS news stories as the hero and the
insider.
From 1 July 2015, the Australian Border Force Act came into effect and impacted
journalists' sources. The sources for journalists who cover immigration and detention
centres may be exposed to penalties, including imprisonment, for disclosing protected
relevant information. The Bill also creates an offence, which is punishable by up to two
years imprisonment, if an ‘entrusted person’ makes a record or discloses protected
information. Entrusted persons could include officers and employees of the Department
of Australian Public Service and in some cases third-party contractors or consultants
engaged by the Department. Protected information is broadly defined as any
information that is obtained by a person in their capacity as an entrusted person.
However, not until 2015 was the control of boat information tightened. During the 2001
and 2013 election campaigns, the warning was sent to the media, which the image and
interview of the IRAS on boats should follow the conditions of the Crimes Act (The
Guardian 2015).
In this study I am concerned with how the media dealt with sources and conflicts of
interests of journalists. Hence, I propose that the narratives of the boat people were
closely tied to the narratives of the election campaigns held during 1977, 2001 and 2013
and that the corresponding intensive election news waves were triggered by the key
events of the boat arrivals. The main research questions in this project is:
“Have the news narratives on unauthorised IRAS boat arrivals been unchanged over 40
years of press coverage? To what extent the news narratives have drawn on substantial
IRAS myth, which was initially established in the 1970s?”.
Alongside this are the two research sub-questions:
15
Sub-question 1: What were the prominent narratives in Australian newspaper reports
on IRAS boat arrivals in Australia during the chosen time frames?
Sub-question 2: What was the main theme of the news narrative about IRAS boat
arrivals during the three time periods?
I explore the prominent grand narratives about boat arrivals regarding maritime asylum
seekers and refugees during the federal election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013. I
assume that media created a grand narrative. After all, the media relied on facts not
myths, but the repeated template (the order of the facts in a story) made the boat story
boring and lacking balance and objectivity.
1.4. Research Design and Methodology
The present study presents a content analysis of substantial three-period samples of 724
articles about the IRAS boat arrivals published in three newspapers during the federal
election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013. Included are one national daily newspaper,
The Australian, and two Sydney metropolitan daily newspapers, The SMH and The DT.
According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, The Australian still gained the highest
circulation nationally with 96,602 at the end of 2016, although declined by 5.4% from
102,068 at the end of 2015. However, the newspaper’s digital subscriptions went up
11.8%, from 75,018 at the end of 2015 to 83,833 at the end of 2016. The DT and The
SMH were the two dominant daily newspapers in New South Wales with circulations of
221,641 and 88,634 respectively in June 2017.
The present study focuses on the print media, which are almost always ‘traditional’ in
their professional contexts, but which also set the agenda of the multimedia news
industry globally (Van Dalen & Van Aelst 2014).
Research has identified elections as the critical contributors to public understandings
because elections represent a period of increased and deep media reporting around a
range of issues (Burstein 2003). A federal election campaign is an opportunity to review
all IRAS-related events in that year and for the coming year, offering voters a chance to
look at events in more general view. Under the pressure of an election and increased
voter readership, the media will tend to show stronger views on this issue.
16
The IRAS boat arrivals became one of the topics debated during the years before and
after the 1977 election campaign. On 26 April 1976, the first Vietnamese boat people
arrived in Darwin, marking the new era of Asian migration in Australia (Smit 2010, p.
82). The year also marked the Australian population reaching 14 million. On 18
November 1977, the Australis departed Southampton for the final time, carrying 650
British migrants among other passengers. The voyage terminated in Sydney on 17
December 1977 (Plowman 2006, p. 138). In the United States of America, Democratic
presidential candidate Jimmy Carter won the 1976 election, replacing Gerald Ford to
became American president. Carter’s new administration approached the Vietnamese
government with a different attitude in order to bring American benefits to the Asia
Pacific. On 6 January 1977, the first steps towards the normalisation of relations
between USA and Vietnam were discussed. Although these discussions did not reach a
successful outcome, Australia also began to establish relations with Vietnam in 1977,
marking the first contact of the two nations after the Vietnam War.
On 20 April 1977 the war at the Cambodian border against Pol Pot started, and on 31
December 1977 Cambodia unilaterally ruptured diplomatic relations with Vietnam. In
November 1977, in Australia the State Ethnic Broadcasting Advisory Councils
(SEBACs) were established in NSW and Victoria. On 11 November 1977, The
Governor-General of Australia proclaimed the setting up the multicultural Special
Broadcasting Service (SBS). On 30 May 1978, the Galbally Report on migrant services
encouraged ‘multiculturalism’, that is, active government support for the maintenance
of cultural traditions and traditional languages among migrants (Waxman 1998).
In 2001, the 9/11 incident in New York affected the Australian federal election and
Australians’ attitudes to IRAS boat arrivals. Some of the prominent events of the 2001
Federal Election were the ‘Tampa’ and the ‘Children Overboard' stories. On 7 October,
early news about children supposedly being thrown overboard in the northern waters of
Australia reached the media. The first response from The SMH was compassion for
desperate Middle Eastern refugees. The paper compared this incident to the Vietnamese
tragedy and how the Vietnamese boat arrivals affected the poll in the 1977 election.
Then, on 11 October, news media presented two photographs taken by the Navy of a
mother with a child in the water and the father, mother and child in the water. The SMH
reported other parties questioning the Government's claim that a child was thrown
17
overboard to pressure Australia to take the boat people. One day later, The SMH quoted
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson confirming the evidence and saying that boat
people had "from time to time" thrown their children into the water to attract help from
the Navy.
The Australian on 08 November 2001 quoted former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser as
saying that in the 1970s there had been the same concern among Australians over boat
people from South-East Asia, but all the government's efforts had been directed to
easing public fears rather than raising them. As well, in this same news article, a former
Fraser Government minister, Fred Chaney, similarly blamed the Howard Government,
but also said the Opposition Labor Party were "appealing to the worst in our natures", in
contrast to the "soothing" statements of the Fraser government when there were
concerns about Vietnamese boat people in the 1970s.
In 2013, with Australian now under a Rudd Labor government, the press published
reports criticising both political parties for having shut the door to asylum seekers.
Media investigations on Iranian asylum seekers were mostly against Foreign Minister
Bob Carr’s views of asylum seekers as economic migrants, not genuine refugees. The
event of 10 Iranian men holding a hunger strike at the Christmas Island detention centre
further raised the ‘boat’ debate between the Labor and Coalition parties before the
Federal Election of that year. The press were concerned that if Liberal Party leader
Tony Abbott were to win the election he would deny permanent residency to 30,000
asylum seekers who were waiting to have their claims processed. Whitlam et al. (2013)
commented that the situation that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced in mid-2013 was
not significantly different from the situation faced PM John Howard faced in the early
2000s.
The boat policies that featured in the election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013 have
led me to investigate how Australian news media reported such similar events. My
approach consists of two separate methodological strands: one involves a quantitative
content analysis, using computer software to investigate wide-scale linguistic patterns
and trends in the data, and the other is a qualitative content analysis to carry out a close
interpretation of the underlying messages.
18
In the quantitative process, the text is coded into established categories to support the
generation of ideas, which is the first-level coding process. This first process contains
two steps: manual coding and software coding. First, all the microfilms of the selected
articles covered the IRAS issue during the 1977 federal election campaign were typed
into Microsoft Word files. Second, all the selected articles from the 2001 and 2013 data
were generated from the search databases provided by the University of Technology
Sydney (UTS). All the samples were then skimmed through to decide which article was
eligible for analysis and which was to be excluded. When the exact number of articles
was chosen, a process of first-level coding began through line-by-line manual analysis. I
read through the samples and filled in particular analytic categories in the coding sheet.
In the qualitative process, the research samples were read carefully to fill out the
common core topic categories, the main actors and objects, and the action and attitudes
of the main actors toward the objects. This method helps to find out underlying
narratives in the news stories. The main topic of the article was given the highest
coverage in the article. After initial coding the main topic, I compared topics by days
and by the three newspapers to notice the flow of narration, then categorised them into
similar areas and extracted the topics into related sections. The samples were read one
more time to find the relationship between the common core topics. The reading this
time was not followed by days but by categories and sections to check whether the
decision was carefully and reasonably made. The last reading was to extract significant
examples to give the topics the substantial evidence for discussion.
The above process was conducted manually, which required me to read through the
samples several times before involving the computerised process. In the computerised
data analysis, SPSS software was used to calculate the repetition of variables and for
following the sets of questions generated in the codebook. The data originated from the
manual coding process wss applied to SPSS software. The results generated from this
SPSS calculation were illustrated in tables, graphs and charts. In analysing qualitative
results, keywords and concepts were then further explored and indexed using NVivo, a
qualitative data analysis computer software package. NVivo was used to examine the
words related to IRAS boat arrivals. The ‘key-word-in-context’ method has been found
to be relevant when studying how words appear in the text and how they are used
(Weber 1989). The main actors' quotes and paraphrasing were investigated to study
19
their actions and attitudes. ‘Word count’ rather than column inches was used to
determine the volume and the attitudes of the main actors in comparison to other
sources.
1.5. The significance of the research
As both a Vietnamese radio content producer for the Special Broadcasting Services and
an international PhD student, I found that an investigation of Australian news narrative
about the IRAS boat arrivals provides several benefits in the field of journalism study
and practice.
First, it contributes to the studies of the journalistic field, which is lacking in analysis of
news narrative and grand narratives in the media coverage of the IRAS stories. This is
vital for media studies because journalists influence the narrative construction of social
issues and continue to be a tool in the unveiling of urban issues such as immigration.
(Iorio 2014) tells us communities are woven together by narratives that invigorate their
collective understanding of good and evil, happiness and reward, and the meaning of
life and death.
Media content analysis on the IRAS has been conducted in a wide range of studies
about the first Pacific Solution in 2001, when PM John Howard played the refugee card
to gain victory in the federal election. However, the method has not been widely
employed in studies of the second Pacific Solution, which occurred in 2013, and the
federal election debates in the same year. Indeed, in the three time periods (1977, 2001
and 2013) analysed here there were significant similarities that have not yet been
investigated in media studies.
During these three election campaigns the following events related unauthorised boat
arrivals occurred:
• The trawler Song Be 12 and the fishing boat Kien Giang arrived in northern
Australia during the 1977 federal election campaign.
• The drowning of 370 asylum seekers on an unauthorised vessel of the coast of Java
and the ‘children overboard’ incident happened during the 2001 federal election
campaign.
20
• The drowning and crying for help from an unauthorised vessel with 106 people on
board happened amid the 2013 Federal Election campaign.
The above events triggered media coverage of the boat people and tested the policies of
the ruling Government and the Opposition parties. This thesis contributes to the studies
in the journalistic field, where these timeframes have not been explored, compared and
contrasted.
Second, the boats arriving during these election campaigns also tests how journalists
covered such conflicts and sensitive issues in similar ways through three time periods.
The findings from this research show the newspapers creating ‘grand narratives’ about
the boat story and how the sequences and characters of the news stories functioned.
Results illustrate a story template of ‘boat’ news that Australian journalists used
repeatedly. However, since this thesis is particularly concerned with the news narrative
of the boat people events in general, it ignores narrative journalism, or literary
journalism, as a genre of media practice. Propp (1968) said, “Function is understood as
an act of a character, defined from the point of view of its significance for the course of
the action” (p.9). "An act of character" in the fairy tales translates to news stories is the
course of actions of a character in the news. This character is constructed by the media,
from the media' point of view about a particular issue. This opens for discussion on how
the act of a character is build by the media point of view.
In this thesis I assume politicians and authorities are the main actors, the heroes of the
IRAS stories. This interpretation then contributes to the confirmation of the media
representation of the IRAS as The Other, which has been previously established in the
literature (Cottle 2007). However, regarding the Vietnamese boat people, fewer studies
deal with how media reports of the Vietnamese boats arrived directly to Australian
shores. Many cases discuss the media portrayal of the settled Vietnamese community
and study the media coverage of the Orderly Departure Program, which focussed on
Australia’s international relations.
Third, this thesis fills the gap in studies about the IRAS by analysing the stable,
constant narrative in IRAS news stories, and how journalists created fundamental
components and similar details – the grand narrative – of the boat story. Indeed, the
21
critique of using grand narratives in the IRAS boat issue contributes to increasing the
quality of news teams’ accounts of this particular immigration phenomenon. Findings
from this study reveal the "foreign relations threat" as the main theme over the three
time periods; "number threat" the second theme in 1977; "election threat" the second
theme in 2001; and "security threat" the second theme in 2013. Previous studies have
shown that Australian media had covered the refugee story with the orientation of
nationalism and xenophobia, but this research argues that during the election times
studied, the press focused on the foreign relations crisis.
Fourth, the patterns, themes and quotes reoccurred in the ‘boat’ news indicates an
authoritarian model in the press covering the ‘boat’ issue. The model expresses the key
direction of media professionalism, which the ultimate result of professionalism is
institutionalisation. More or less, all of the press is binding to a certain ‘top-down’
model. As a result, telling grand narrative of the “boat people” is a process for creating
the national myth because any ruler in power should desire to write the historical
narrative exclusively, in order to create a grand narrative to regularise their power and
any wrongful practice, enforcing on the imagination of future generations. An
explanation for the constant work of journalism about the IRAS boat arrivals also
includes the peculiar habits of the journalistic mind. It reflects the media assimilation
when conveys an underlying explanation; these new IRAS in 2013 are essentially
assumed to be the same as the earlier IRAS generations in 1977 and 2001.
So, in attempt to balance their covering, the press fell into the doctrine of dualism of
binary oppositions, such as the narratives of ‘Threats’ and ‘Sympathy’, the heroic and
valiant characters, the insiders and the outsiders in the sense of nationalism. It also
results in the neutral attitude found in the quotes and paraphrasing of the main actors,
the politicians. Neutral articles had been found in earlier studies about refugee media
coverage, but this thesis explores how the neutral view poorly constructed the situation
of the boat people in audience/voter minds during these three election times.
The dualism in reporting simplifies the complexity of the IRAS issue and its
implications for the world in the modern ages. It leads to the readers' readily accepting
the grand narrative, which influenced not only the Australian residents but also the
politicians through the history.
22
1.6. Chapter Outlines
This section briefly describes the remaining seven chapters of this thesis.
Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review
Chapter Two discusses the theoretical framework and whether the news narrative on
unauthorised boat arrivals has changed over the past four decades. This chapter
investigates the exisiting research about news narratives and the positions scholars have
taken for and against the change of news narratives. This chapter is primarily concerned
with narrative theories applied to print media narratives.
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter Three describes the epistemological views that underpin this research and
outlines the methodology, including a detailed discussion of the primary method –
media content analysis. It has six sections. The first section elaborates on the
methodological tensions that have arisen between the fields of narrative study and
journalism study, and then contextualises this research project in these debates and
methodological practices. The second section describes the research sample, the
population from which it was drawn, and the sampling strategy used. The third section
is the research design section. It outlines the list of steps from the detailed methods of
data collection to the process of data analysis and discusses the pilot study undertaken
in the first year of this research project. The fourth section describes each variation in
the coding sheet and elaborates on the variables. The fifth section explores the potential
limitations inherent in media content analysis generally and the limitations of this study.
The last section will summarise all the elements that have been presented in this
chapter.
Chapter 4: Quantitative Content Analysis and Results
Chapter Four presents the first level of content analysis and describes the quantitative
results. The research covers three federal election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013,
during the periods of the three weeks leading up to the polling day of each election. The
first election campaign studied covers the period 22 November 1977 to 9 December
23
1977, the second campaign 23 October 2001 to 9 November 2001, and the third
campaign 20 August 2013 to 6 September 2013.
The overall characteristics of the three newspapers’ coverage of the IRAS boat arrivals
are examined in this chapter. The volumes of their news flows are important, as are the
placement, section and type of the sample articles. The occasions of these reports, their
sources, and the main actors' quotes and are examined.
Chapter 5: Thematic Analysis of the ‘Boat’ News Narrative
Chapter Five is the first part of the qualitative analysis. It describes the use of
syntagmatic approach to explore the repeatable patterns in the news narratives and
follow the story dimension. This thematic analysis investigated the unchanged messages
of the press in their telling of the ‘boat’ story. The thematic analysis revealed that the
news narrative was mainly associated with the Vietnamese refugees in 1977 and the
Middle Eastern asylum seekers in 2001 and 2013. The unchanged narratives during the
three election campaigns will be highlighted in the study to make comparisons between
how the subjects repeatedly ranked news factors over four decades, and how Australian
media chose to emphasise such topics published in these three periods.
Chapter 6: Contextual Analysis
In this second part of qualitative analysis, the main actors and their functional actions
will be identified by the paradigmatic approach. Chapter Six explores the primary pair
of Strauss’ binary oppositions through the main actors, actions and objects of the news
stories. Bloomberg and Volpe (2012) consider this process as a quasi-statistical
approach, using words or phrase frequencies to determine the relative importance of
terms or concepts. The main actors’ quotes will be examined and searched for in the
context of the keyword ‘boat’. This is to test how the main actor acted whenever the
boats arrived amid the election campaigns and whether the IRAS could define the
situation themselves.
Chapter 7: Discussion
Chapter Seven provides an interpretive discussion of the content analysis results. This
chapter discusses how the politicians and authorities remained the main ‘heroic’
24
characters in an IRAS news story; the grand narrative of the ‘boat’; and the
representation of neutral attitude by the political candidates during the three election
periods.
Chapter 8: Conclusion
In Chapter Eight, the results of the news narrative studies are considered together,
general conclusions are drawn and final remarks offered.
1.7. Concluding Remarks
This initial chapter has introduced the vital role the news narrative plays in telling the
stories of the unauthorised IRAS boats amid three federal election campaigns. The
chapter identified the situation of the media coverage of refugees in Australia and
highlighted the need to examine the news narrative on the IRAS boat arrivals. This
thesis seeks to place a narrative about IRAS boat arrivals in a national context,
characterise the consistent patterns of Australian news narrative, and consider the
implications for future journalism on this topic.
25
Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework and Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
In this chapter, I attempt to explore the narrative research on news writing, which has
nonetheless been essential to comprehend Australian press representation of the IRAS
boat arrival. I also identified a number of themes which together provide a framework
and reflect Australian research position on the “boat people”. To examine popular
Australian print media in the federal election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and 2013 is to
choose the periods in time when boat arrivals not only stirred political debates, but also
triggered issues of journalistic coverage of these boat events.
The theoretical framework presents two turns of narrative theory and how the theory
may be applied to the study of non-literature texts such as news media. Narrative is one
essential aspect of the process of producing and exchanging meanings among cultures
and communities. Fisher (1989) has proposed that all humans are active participants in
the creation and evaluation of messages. Every person is a storyteller in various
contexts of life, communication and information exchange. Beyond the need for sharing
among human beings, narratives are contextual constructs that establish common
knowledge; through their central themes they disseminate information. The shared
meaning of narrative makes it easier for the public to follow the sequences of stories.
In contrast, Hall (2010) criticises the sequence of news stories because the ordering of
events in terms of ‘logic’ fits the narratives of news. Hall quotes Coman claiming that
“journalists promote, legitimise, and secure their authority to control the process of
reporting and retelling events, that is, to dominate the process of constructing variants of
reality according to the audience‘s expectations” (p. 131). Thus, the “shared meaning”
of narrative that Griffin (1993, p. 1096) proposed has become a controversial aspect of
news narratives insofar as journalists dominate the sequence of constructing reality in a
common logical sequence in them. In question is whether readers of news would have
expected the news narrative of boat arrivals before they read about them, and to what
extent the “shared meaning” of IRAS boat narratives would have become ‘common
sense’ for the public, given their expectation of news as a ‘shared’, ‘master’ or ‘grand’
narrative. The following section reviews the ‘grand narrative’ explored in the literature
concerning the ‘boat’ news coverage.
26
2.2. News as narrative
The definitions of narrative as a particular field of study show agreement among
narratologists over time. For example, Prince (1982) defines narrative as "the
representation of one or more real or fictive events communicated by one, two or
several narrators to one, two or several narrates" (p. 8). Genette (1983) states: "One will
define narrative without difficulty as the representation of an event or a sequence of
events" (p. 7). Similarly, for Abbott (2008), "Narrative is the representation of events,
consisting of story and narrative discourse, story is an event or sequence of events (the
action), and narrative discourse is those events as represented" (p. 227).
Narrative is representation. The above definitions accept that after a narrator tells of an
event that has happened, the narrative is defined. The narrative is considered a story that
is seen through the eyes of a narrator and told toward a listener or reader, via words or
language.
Narrative is often considered fictional and studied in literature, in which re-presentation,
re-telling and re-creation seem to be essential. However, in the 1970s, narrative gained
momentum with the expansion of structuralism. Herman, Manfred and Marie-Laure
(2010) state that French structuralists, such as Roland Barthes and Claude Bremond,
freed narrative from the literature field so that it could be studied under interdisciplinary
approaches. Bremond claimed that stories could be transposed among different media
without losing their properties, and Barthes agreed that narrative exists in various
platforms of communication such as written literature, oral conversation, drama, film
and dance (Ryan 2007). Indeed, structuralism’s ambition to transfer literature study into
a field in which the objective of study is only the “text” and the “grammar” of the
“text”, erased the border between fiction and non-fiction. Hence, a piece of news is as
valuable as a literary masterpiece.
In November 2003, an international conference on narratives was held in the University
of Hamburg. It was the first time that narrative researchers had discussed how to adopt
definitions of traditional narratives in the studying of non-literature texts, including
news articles and media reports. Ryan (2004), who was among narrative analysts who
adapted traditional narrative theories to non-fiction, says the narrative that includes the
news narrative can be recognised through five dimensions: the spatial, temporal, mental,
27
formal, and pragmatic. In other words, the story should happen in the real world where
the individuals exist; the story has a time frame and non-habitual events; the events
must have participants who are intelligent agents and act purposefully; the story must
lead to closure; and the story must transfer relevant ideas to the audience. For Ryan
(2004), each of the above conditions can help to classify whether the text is a narrative
because they fit the news elements, or “news grammar”, of What, Who, When, Where,
Why and How (p. 33).
In media, the term narrative is used to describe an organisation or coherence of a
sequence of events or stories. Fulton, Huisman, Murphet and Dunn (2005), define the
way that the receiver receives from the narrative as ‘representation’; to ‘represent' is to
re-present, which means “the experience is already present, and in a text, it can be
presented again, but this time in language" (p. 311). Indeed, Hall (1997) announced the
central concept of the media to be representation, observing that there is a conceptual
map among members of the same culture that they use to share the same experience in
interpreting the signs of the same narrative. For Hall, language is "one of the 'media',
through which thoughts, ideas and feelings are represented in culture. Representation
through language is therefore central to the processes by which meaning is produced"
(p. 6).
When news is considered as narrative, narrative is no longer just a genre of journalism,
as previous scholars have claimed. Bird and Dardenne (1997) tell us that as early as
1926 Mead stated that there was a division between ‘facts’ and ‘story’ in the news, seen
as ‘hard news’ and ‘soft news’ respectively. Carey (1975) said, "News reading, and
writing is a ritual act and moreover a dramatic one" (p. 8). Carey defined narrative as a
genre of journalism, called narrative journalism, which adds human-interest facts into
the story and tells the news in a story formation, having introduction, body and
conclusion. Carey's (1975) news narrative strategy refers to tabloid stories used in
mainstream newspapers as well as television and magazine. This perspective suggests
narrative was not the only method for organising facts into a coherent media text. As a
result, news is defined as either ‘hard news’ constructed as ‘fact’, or ‘soft news’
constructed as a narrative.
28
Hyvärinen (2008) observed a profound change between the study of narratives as
separate, complete and self-sufficient texts and their study in context and interaction as
narrative practices. Fulton (2005a) comments that contemporary work in discourse and
cultural theory assumes that both “hard news” and “soft news” are narratives but they
are constructed with different techniques (p. 227). While news narratives differ from
fictional narratives because news does not follow chronological order and lacks
causation, they are undoubtedly narratives in the sense of being shaped into stories or
common myths about the "way things are" (p. 242).
By contrast, Koch (1990) has proposed that social narratives are often used in news
mediums to inform the public. Johnson-Cartee (2004) commented that journalists would
appear somewhat uncomfortable when academicians and social critics referred to their
communication products as either stories or narratives because they justified their career
perspective as the ‘mirror on reality’. The author quoted Chibnall (1981): "If you put a
number of journalists in a news event, all journalists will produce the same news story"
(Johnson-Cartee 2004, p. 157). The objectivity of journalism as the ‘mirror on reality’
has been questioned by Bird and Dardenne (2009), who argue that the sameness in news
products is evidence of "formulaic narrative construction". Fulton (2005c) also states
that nominalisation is one of the main stylistic features of the ‘objective’ form of news
reporting and a consequence of discourse rather than retrieval of ‘facts'; that
nominalised forms help to construct the capacity of objectivity and factuality of a news
story; and that “using nominalisation rather than assigning agency assures us that the
story is factual and objective and that it comes from a reputable professional source” (p.
251). Furthermore, Lindlof (2002) considers journalists an “interpretive community” (p.
62), which is built and maintained through a common disquisition that teaches
appropriate constructed narratives and behaviours for their interpretation of
occurrences.
Among news narrative studies, there are three common arguments to support the notion
that storytelling is news: the news story should lead to a resolution; the news is a
selection of facts; and the news authorship exists.
Conflict resolution
29
According to Johnson-Cartee (2004), the story format exists in most general news
reporting because it is an efficient structure for reducing complexity to a minimum, and
for collapsing a long time frame into a short and exciting summary. She quotes Gary
Woodward’s insight into the news informing process:
The word story is such as basic descriptor of a news event that we tend to forget
that it defines a unique way of organising ideas. Storytelling involves the
organisation of facts and human motives in a definite sequence of stages. To tell
a story is to set up a general structure for organising a set of actors and events in
ways that meet certain prior expectations. The story format defines actors
moving through a sequence of events usually filled with victims, villains and
heroes. Conflict generates our interest and sets up the search for a final or at
least temporary resolution. (Johnson-Cartee 2004, p. 157)
Similarly, Dunn (2005a) quotes National Broadcasting Company (NBC) executive
Reuven Frank:
Every news story should, without any sacrifice of probity or responsibility,
display the attributes of fiction, of drama. It should have structure and conflict,
problem and denouement, rising action and falling action, a beginning, middle
and an end. These are not only the essential of drama, and they are the essential
of narrative. (p. 144)
However, Hall (2010) argues that narrative forms restrict news writers particularly in
narrowly defined time and place, when and where the news story become more alike the
official statement.
Selection of facts
Tuchman, cited in Ettema and Glasser (1988), considered news a story because it was a
“selective reality”, which can be characterised by its recurring themes and its peculiar
forms (p. 8). Dunn (2005a) argues that “news comprises a set of formal conventions of
representation and narration that together shape a view of ‘reality’” (p. 140); the
professional criteria that journalists employ in gathering, selecting, writing and
presenting the news relies on the so-called news values. Among the news values,
journalists select facts that might shape the story and their news reporting. However, as
30
McNair (1998) insisted, while journalists stand on the truthfulness and accuracy of their
reporting, they may fail to recognise that in their selection of facts and their
contextualising of those facts they create news by giving such facts "meaning and
context – when they are transformed into a story or narrative – by an author" (p. 5).
Authorship of news
McNair’s (1998) notion of the news story author who transforms real meaning and
context into a story or narrative, opens up questions about the depersonalisation of the
news voice and the authorship of news becoming opaque (see also Scott 2014).
Johnson-Cartee (2004) has argued that authorship is an important component of news
narrative, and by denying the narrative quality of news, journalists also deny their
authorship of news:
By portraying themselves as mere purveyors of information, they negate the act
of authorship. (p. 157)
To negate authorship is a deliberate obfuscation of the ideological dimensions of
news. Such a practice not only separates the journalist from the news story, but
it also hides the source of expression of values, beliefs, and worldview presented
within the news story. (p. 158)
For Fulton (2005d), one of the consequences of presenting news as a narrative is
individualisation, which leads the reader to the notion that news reporting is the work of
the individual agency and the event is perceived mainly through individual experience.
However, as will be commented on later in this chapter, structuralists who work on the
formulas of the narrative give the impression that news narratives are not unique
productions of any journalist, but they are written based on what had been said and done
previously. If it is the case that news narrative is an unchanging formula, is the
authorship of news still that essential? The Results chapters of this thesis show the
extent to which a journalist can replace a news story about IRAS boat arrivals in 1977
with a news story covering a similar event in 2013.
2.3. Structuralist perspectives on the identical elements of news narrative
31
The previous section described how narrative theory has been freed for inter-
disciplinary research thanks to the development of structuralism. The evolution of
structuralism became the first significant movement in narrative theory – the ‘linguistic
turn’ (Cullum-Swan & Manning 1994). Structuralism, both as a theoretical perspective
and a methodological approach, sees documents as ‘text’ and seeks to identify their
elements through systematic procedures. One of the fundamental foundations of
structuralism is the syntagmatic construction of units such as codes (in Barthes), or
mythemes (in Levi-Strauss). Language is referred as either a signifier or signified. If
‘the signifier’ is either a word, a letter or sound, ‘the signified’ is the object or concept
which ‘the signifier’ refers to in the world or rather in people’s perception of the world
(Slobin 2005). Well added that the signifer also presumes a person is a ‘speaking
object’, that has a singular voice or perspective on their experience; this ‘speaking
object’ is consistent and subservient to the context (Wells 2011). Hence, when choosing
structure as the object of study, structuralists ignore the creative and uniqueness of
individual work and its author because every ‘text’ is established from what has already
been written in the past.
The second movement, post-structuralism, contains modifications of structuralism, and
is considered the deconstructionist approach to narrative. Post-structuralism reconsiders
written texts and their formulation, and turns attention to dominant cultural values;
documents are read and understood within the given cultural context (Cullum-Swan &
Manning 1994, p. 468). This second turn presumes that the human subject is positioned
within conflicting societal discourses and is fragmented and conflicted. As Wells (2011)
implies, the first (structuralist) view suggests the narrative analyst could provide an
interpretation that had consistent shape and direction, while the second (post-
structuralist) view suggests there was no external point from which the true story of the
subject can be told (p. 83). Besides, Chomsky (2002) claims grammar is separated from
meanings of language, the ‘narrative-ness’ or the grammar of narrative being also one
of human's cognition The narrative is not only the construction of text but also the
construction of the cognition of societies. Language is also necessarily and inevitably
imprecise. This idea calls attention to the instability of narrative and the meanings of
things, which is a central concept of post-structuralist theory and lies at the heart of
postmodern representation. As Fulton (2005b) puts it, "Postmodern narrative [is] based
32
on the uncertainty, repetition with variation, multi-modalism and constant disruption of
the movement from signifier to signified that stabilises meaning” (p. 300).
With these views of structuralism and post-structuralism in mind, we should now take
into account the terms ‘textual’ and ‘cultural’ as dimensions of the narrative.
(O'Sullivan et al. 1994) commented that these terms might correlate to the terms of
‘story’ and ‘discourse’ to represent different perspectives in the narrative study.
Exploring these perspectives in news media, Fulton (2005b) insists that although
“postmodernism explicitly rejects totalising narratives with their neat explanations and
carefully signposted points of closure … There is no doubt that contemporary media
texts, and their narrative modes, continue to locate themselves comfortably in the
aesthetic of classic realism” (p. 300). This comment reflects how news stories typically
connect the events with related cultural communities and individuals. The individuals
connected to the events drive the news narrative and give the news stories
characteristics. Fulton (2005a) also observes: “The use of conventional story templates
based on news values constantly reproduced in the media determines what can be
presented as ‘news’ and therefore how the ‘real world’ is defined” (p. 221) and "Real
individuals who form part of news stories, therefore, have their ‘characters’ constituted
from the same kinds of discursive material as fictional characters" (p. 237). The
judgement is rooted in Propp’s (1968) classification, which analysed unchanged types
of individuals appeared in the wonder tale. Propp considered these individuals as
identical characters of the narrative.
For Propp (1968), “Both constants and variables are present in the preceding instances.
The names of the dramatis personae change (as well as the attributes of each), but
neither their actions nor functions change” (p. 20).
Proppian functional characters and sequence of the function
With his book Morphology of the Folktale, Propp (1968) is considered by Lévi-Strauss
as the pioneer of structuralism. As Serdechnaya (2012) later quoted Bremon: "Most of
the works which are considered to be the structural examinations of narrative texts were
created on the basis of Morphology of the Folktale” (Serdechnaya 2012, p. 22). Propp’s
(1968) direction is to analyse the construction of wonder tales in order to examine the
general historical context of society; the objective is to study the unchanged
33
components beside the unstable components of folk tales. For him, the word
‘morphology’ means the study of forms. The study of folk tales would therefore be an
investigation into the rich sphere of the attributes of dramatis personae (characters), and
it would treat in detail questions of metamorphosis, that is, of the transformation of the
tale. Propp identified 31 key functions, or actions of characters, within a tale, which
occur in a defined order (sequence). The second part of this section deals with the
sequence of these 31 key functions. Propp also condensed identical characters into
seven basic categories, which means there are seven primary characters to be introduced
in a tale (p. 58). The first two of these categories – the hero and the villain – will now be
described briefly.
The hero
The first and dominant character of the tale is the hero, who always seeks something or
is approached with a request or command. There are various types of the hero character,
such as the victimised hero and the seeker-hero. For Propp (1968), "Whether or not tales
develop in the same manner with each type of hero will be apparent further on" (p. 63).
Victimised hero and seeker-hero can be found in news narrative nowadays. For
example, in a sports story, victory is attributed not to the team or the corporation but to
the individual athlete, who is constructed as a seeker-hero in regards to their talent.
These individual players become the lead characters of the news narrative. Fulton
(2005a) claims:
News reporting does not merely incorporate ‘characters’ into a story but also
actively aims to associate events with individuals rather than with institutions.
(p. 238)
News stories continuously reconfirm the ideology of randomness, of the
inexplicability of events and the need for charismatic individuals – politicians,
movie stars, ‘ordinary heroes' or military leaders – to restore order in an
otherwise chaotic world. (p. 244)
For Fulton, the lack of main actors suggests that the events are in some way inevitable.
34
The villain
The second main character is the villain who opposes the hero. For Propp (1968):
The villain, first of all, assumes a disguise. The majority of characters' acts in
the middle of a tale are naturally motivated by the course of the action, and the
villain, as the first primary function of the tale, requires a certain supplementary
motivation. (p. 102)
Here, Propp observes that a tale usually starts with an initial situation. This situation is
not a function, but it is an important element that describes a particular and emphasised
prosperity. At this point, a new personage, who can be termed the villain, enters the tale.
The villain’s role is to disturb the peace of a happy family, to cause some form of
misfortune, damage, or harm, often called the “affliction of misfortune” (Propp 1968, p.
25). The act of the villain creates a new ‘move’:
On examining this phenomenon, we can observe that these tales prodeed from a
certain situation of insufficiency or lack, and it is this that leads to quests
analogous to those in the case of villainy. We conclude from this that lack can
be considered as the morphological equivalent of seizure. (p. 61)
When making news, a journalist’s purpose is to capture the readers’ attention and
persuade them to continue reading the story to the end. Building the image of a villain is
a popular way to maintain the readers' motivation. In the third part of this chapter, the
news stories that covered IRAS boat arrivals will be shown to have usually created the
dramatic initial situation, brought the ‘affliction of misfortune’ in the first place, and
given the impression of an act of villainy.
There are five other Proppian fundamental characters in a tale: the donor who helps the
hero; the dispatcher that sends the hero on his way; the false hero who falsely assumes
the role of the hero; the helper who gives support or help to the hero; and the princess
who is the reward for the hero. Hyvärinen (2008) states that the power of the Proppian
model lies in the compression of the seemingly unlimited number of agents and their
possible moves into a limited number of alternatives, and in arranging the functions into
a sequence, which Propp called the firm order of the actions of characters. Hyvarinen
35
then said “The merit of the model is to suggest that well-established cultural genres may
privilege specific categories of agents, repertoires of actions and processes” (p. 451).
However, Hyvarinen did not indicate precisely how different cultures become more
reliant on specific categories of agents.
Sequence of functions
Earlier in this section, a function is described as an act of a character. Propp (1968)
defined function as established from “the point of view of its significance for the course
of the action” (p. 48). So, the public tends to connect various events and find a way to
explain things and issues, relying on the links and connections, in other words, the
‘sequence’. When reading news, one expects the structure to be the introduction, the
body, and the conclusion of a story. The public understands and builds up the meaning
through their own life experience and their experience of reading about other events.
For Propp, as every new action unfolds, every new lack of explanation will create a new
turn for the story. According to Propp's principle, the transformation or the motion
could have happened, but the sequence of functions is always identical:
As for groupings, it is necessary to say first of all that by no means do all tales
give evidence of all functions. However, this in no way changes the law of
sequence. The absence of certain functions does not change the order of the rest.
(Propp 1968, p. 22).
When he studied the morphology of folk tales, Propp (1968) observed that all the stories
in a particular group had similar narratives and were rooted in one myth. If a story is a
sequence of events, narrative analysis asks us to ignore the content of the events but
focuses on the connection between those events and the nature of those events. The
purpose of narrative analysis is to find the function of the story. So, Propp observed 31
identical key functions of different wonder tales that contemporary writers follow to
create recurring plot devices in fiction and non-fiction text. Propp observed these
functions in four stages, which he called “spheres” (see Figure 2.1).
36
Figure 2.1. Propp’s four spheres and 31 key functions
37
In the study of narrative, Propp’s (1968) classification paved the way for the binary
formulations stated by Lévi-Strauss, who paired characters across myths by function.
The present study proposes that news narrative is fundamentally a sequence of cycles
between binary elements and values recurring over time. Using Proppian classifications,
this project attempts to establish a set of general categories to describe the identical
functions (action) of the main actors towards an object in news stories about IRAS boat
arrivals.
In Propp's type of structural analysis, the structure of a folkloristic text follows the
chronological order of the linear sequence of elements (as shown in Figure 2.1). So, if
the tale consists of typical elements, the structure of the tale will be delineated in this
same sequence. Serdechnaya criticised that Lévi-Strauss accused Propp of formalism
and, in contrast to Propp’s linear sequential structural analysis, used a binary opposition
pattern to describe the pattern of opposition in the folkloristic texts (Serdechnaya 2012).
Here the elements are regrouped in different positions, as a paradigmatic matrix, in
which polar opposites such as life/death, male/female are mediated. Dundes (1997)
commented that the patterns or organisation in the Lévi-Strauss type of structural
analysis might be termed ‘paradigmatic’, borrowing from the notion of paradigms in the
study of language. I will address this later in this section. Lévi-Strauss’s theory of
binary oppositions can be applied to the understanding of conflicts in news narratives.
For example, news stories constructed around IRAS boat arrivals to Australia have
often been examined in the context of ‘us’ and ‘them’ (Cottle 2007; Manning 2006;
Romano 2007; Willis 2010). Other Lévi-Strauss’s binary oppositions that have also
became popular in news narrative analyses are man and woman, white and black, young
and old, hero and villain, the West and the East, and good and bad. Reading news from
the perspective of binary oppositions, there are always people who have the voice in
news narrative. In contrast, there are some groups of people who are the voiceless.
Fulton et al. (2005) claim, “It is typical to hear from a senior federal politician in the
news; it is not typical to hear from members of the general public or members of
minorities, those characterised as deviant or otherwise marginalized” (p. 208). Adapting
Lévi-Strauss’narrative theory of binary oppositions and Propp’s narrative ‘functions’, it
is common for the journalists to listen to the man, the white people, the hero, the young,
the Western people and the good people in the news; while it is not typical to hear from
38
those marginalised such as the woman, the black, the villain, the old, the East and the
bad.
Dunn (2005b) also comments: “The cast of characters is quite restricted in the news as a
form. It is not difficult to find examples of news depicting people, nations or
organisations as ‘heroes' or ‘villains'. News stories about dramatic events, such as
accidents or natural disasters, as well as those about salient political issues, such as
asylum seekers or acts of violence (‘terrorism') provide a rich source of such
oppositions”.
Abbott (2008) concludes that there are numerous ‘types’ of characters in narratives,
fictional or nonfictional, and these are selected of from vast multitude of types in the
Western English-speaking culture that “migrate freely back and forth across the line
between fiction and non-fiction and between literary art and other narrative venues” (p.
129). Typical characters circulating through all the various narrative modes are: the
hypocrite, the flirt, the evil child, the Pollyanna, the strong mother, the stern father, the
cheat, the shrew, the good Samaritan, the wimp, the nerd, the vixen, the stud, the
schlemiel, the prostitute with a heart of gold, the guy with a chip on his shoulder, the
orphan, the yuppie, the Uncle Tom, and the rebel – all of which are represented in
various news narratives. Abbott's notion was inspired from the ‘identical characters’
appearing in Propp’s folktales and Lévi-Strauss’ description of the pattern based upon
the apriority binary principle of oppositions.
By contrast, Dogra (2016), in a review of Proppian functions, followed Dundes'
comment that Propp’s taxonomic model disregards and excludes the reader and is
unable to look beyond the surface structure; Propp’s ‘identical formula’ is therefore
disconnected from the culture or various cultures in which it is formed, missing
historical and contextual features. This is the main criticism that post-structuralism
imposes on structural analysis. However, Dogra, following previous critics, admits that
the Proppian structural formula is well adapted to various contemporary media texts.
Analysis of the ‘rules’ by which non-fiction narratives are generated or transformed is
another research prospect made possible by Propp's pioneering study.
Based on the similarities in the functions of news and myth in society, Lule (2002)
concluded that news reports are understood through storytelling. He applauded news
39
reports that summarised actual events involving ‘real’ people and emphasised how
throughout history, scholars and scientists have used basic contextual patterns to explain
origins, promote order, and represent social beliefs and values. Lule provides examples
to show that both news and storytelling offer dramas of order and disorder along with
portrayals of heroes and villains. News and storytelling both function to inform the
public through individual stories of public interest. Hero versus villain is a popular
binary opposition in news narratives, and contemporary culturists have employed
Propp's classification into their proposed notions about the social construction of news
to create myths and beliefs.
The message of news narrative
This section demonstrates that the ‘inverted pyramid’ convention of a news article is a
result of the narrative formula employed from movies and drama; the lead, or the point
of closure of news, presents the angel, the message or the identification of the news.
Focalisation of news story
The narrative theory of focalisation refers to the various ways the viewpoint in a story
may be told. Introduced by Gerard Genette, focalisation is defined as “a restriction
imposed on the information provided by a narrator about his characters” (Edmiston
1989, p. 730). The writer ideologically constructed different forms of the narratives,
which will be introduced to the readers through the system of elements, such as the
characteristics of the individual character, the direct speech, the actions, the
arrangement, the events and so on.
Narrative theory defines three common ways of viewing: the focalisation extradiegetic
narration (outside the diegesis), the homodiegetic narration (a character in diegesis), and
the heterodiegetic narration (extradiegetic story told within diegesis) (Rimmon-Kenan
2006). Heterodiegetic narration occurs when the narrator has the absolute power to
control the narrative moves and characters' thoughts. In contrast, the focalisation
extradiegetic narration is told by the outsider; the author usually tells the story as
thought without any knowledge of the characters' thoughts, ideas and emotions. In
homodiegetic the narrator is one of the main characters of the story; the story is told
through one character's speech. These three forms of viewpoint are unchanged among
40
different narratives, and they are the specific methods to understand the identification of
the story and to differentiate one story from another.
In news narrative, a story told by the external narrative voice – the focalisation
extradiegetic narration – represents an assumed “common-sense” position, which
encompasses “the dominant ideologies and institutional interests within the social
order” (Fulton 2005a, p. 239). More importantly, the question of identification in the
news narrative is the question of “point of view”, which will distinguish different genres
of journalism. So, Fulton suggests that focalisation need not be fixed and it shifts
around, highlighting different actors and identifications. For example, the objective
‘hard news’ typically relies on the third-person narrator who claims no advantaged
knowledge of how the events occured. With direct and indirect speech, focalisation
shifts from the reporter or the journalist to the speaker, further distancing the journalist
from the events being recounted. Although the journalists are distant from the events
and give no commentary or opinion to the news narrative, they are still acting in the role
of creating the message by choice of the speakers who will give an opinion for the
news. Hard news, particularly in newspaper articles, is developed by the ‘lead and
body’ style that reflects the most important points of information, not in sequence.
Fulton (2005a) admits that most news producers still favour the narrative approach,
considering it a way for journalists to engage and promote the relationship between
news and its audiences. According to Serdechnaya (2012), focalisation represents not
only the axiological but also the communicative determination of a narrative. “A
narrator's position, here the journalist’s perspective, concerning space, time, and
language of the story is directed towards readers' perception” (p. 39). Therefore, a news
narrative becomes a communicative event itself when the journalist writes the first
words in the news lead, and also with the sub-editors’ efforts to make the headline ‘sell’
the story or lure the readers.
The lead of the news
In a typical four-paragraph inverted pyramid news item; the lead is the headline or the
first paragraph of the news story that establishes the angle and the general outline of the
news narrative. Fulton (2005a) tells us that since the conventional ‘inverted pyramid’
has reconstructed news narrative, the construction of news to turn daily life into a story
41
is now believed the most objective way of reporting the world. For Lewis (1994), "It is
like being told the punchline before the joke, or knowing the result before watching the
game or being told ‘whodunit’ at the beginning of the murder mystery" (p. 30).
However, Barnhurst and Nerone (cited in Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitzsch 2009) argue that
a particular style of journalism, characterised by brevity and ultimately the inverted
pyramid, is a way of organising news narratives. Fulton (2005a) states that the angle of
news narrative determines the narrative templates, similar to the narrative plot in
fictional narratives; these news narrative templates seem to be generic and almost
universal, usually constructed in several news formats, which can be “negative or
positive” (p. 234). Fulton gives an example of one popular news format in media
research, which is the ‘moral panic’. The narrative structures of ‘moral panic’ stories
often indicate the threat that a community is facing, and that the threat needs to be
solved urgently by various official interventions, such as stricter policy or lower intake
of migration.
A news story may have more than one angle, however, and the lead of the inverted
pyramid hard news is often presented in the first paragraph as the summary of
everything the reader needs to know in the story, including the outcome or the solution.
This lead paragraph has various names: the point of closure, the topic of the story, the
main focalisation of the story, and the identification of the story. In Bell's (2005)
explanation, the lead paragraph is where the journalist focuses the story. The most
salient information will be condensed in several sentences, providing the top of the
news to the readers. White (2005) argues that a closer examination of the text’s
structure, in particular how the lead prioritises certain information, would ideologically
inform value judgements.
So, news stories are focused or summarised in the headline and the lead paragraph,
making these elements of the news essential subjects for analysis. Van Dijk (1999)
emphasised the importance of the headline and the lead paragraph as ‘summary’, in
anchoring the meaning of the news narrative. To summarise this ‘summary’ element of
the news, it is worth drawing on Johnston (2007), who proved how Australian print
media learned to love the narrative. Johnston quotes Clark’s translation of the ‘5Ws and
H’ into a narrative formula: Who becomes character; What becomes action; Where
becomes setting; When becomes chronology; Why becomes motive, and How becomes
42
narrative. Indeed, the lead is established to cover most answers to these six questions.
Bell (1991) claims once the journalist decides what the lead is, the rest of the story often
falls into place below it, and if no good lead can be found, the material may be rejected
altogether as a non-story.
2.4. Field theory: The changing nature of the journalistic field
As described in the previous section, Hall (1982) argued that news was not comprised of
a given set of facts but was defined and produced through the selecting and presenting of
facts. Since then, news production has been considered as reality construction,
storytelling or mythic narrative. Under this structural research perspective, the concept of
‘news objectivity’ as an ethical standard to value news production has been denied.
Instead, structural researchers have focused on the representation and discourse of the
news, how it mediatises social and political events.
One critical question about the media and the political discourses generated in the main
actor’s narratives is to what extent does a news narrative reflect a politician’s narration.
This question is integrated into the field theory of Bourdieu (Bourdieu 1993), which is
used to analyse the reportage. Bourdieu’s notion of field was elaborated in ‘Le sens
pratique’ (Bourdieu 1980) and published in English in 1990 as ‘The logic of practice’.
Nash (2018) claims field theory enormously attracts practice-led disciplines such as
education, journalism, law and medicine. Reed-Danahay argued that Bourdieu “can be
seen to gradually substitute the word field (associated with what he called ‘institutions’
such as the church or the economy) for structure” (cited in Nash 2018, p. 220).
Bourdieusian analysists quote Bourdieu describing the field as “structured structures” and
“structuring structures”, to emphasise the relational character of ‘field’ (Bourdieu &
Wacquant 1992).
Bourdieu (1993) said that in the journalistic field, agents and institutions in a ‘field’
always experience the struggle between their economic capital and cultural capital, and
their rules and regularities, and they resist the effects of top-down domination. Bourdieu
suggested field research should first analyse the positions of the field in terms of power;
in other words, the rules or the lawmakers. From this perspective, the present study argues
that in the ‘boat’ story, the press considers itself as belonging to the same elite level as
43
the politicians. When journalists are related to the political and institutional field, the
press becomes part of the bureaucratic system.
When journalism comes under the culture of institutionalism, obligation is more valuable
than creation, the normal is more useful than the unique, personality is not as precious as
teamwork, and speciality is unimportant while common sense is praised. Journalists
would favour their responsibility to the nation more than to their profession and loyalty
to the national ideology more than to an industry code of ethics. This illustration is
comparable to an authoritarian model of journalism. This study presents similarities to
that model; it suggests these are cultural and economic struggles in regard to the
journalistic field’s dealing with the ‘boat’ story.
Critical concepts in Bourdieu’s framework are capital and habitus. Bourdieu (1993)
claims there are two stages of the reproduction of the cultural capital of the field of
journalism practice. First, social origins define individual interest, which refers to an
ongoing and deepening relation of a person to particular subject content. Second, the
phenomenon simultaneously fosters new social groups, which have similar interests,
‘habitus’, and living styles. In this case, the group will choose with whom it wants to
participate and how. This differentiation develops to the point of group discrimination
and will form different cultural and social levels among cities, communities and
ethnicities (Bourdieu 1993). Bourdieu’s notion of group discrimination is similar to the
racial and ethnic prejudices toward the IRAS represented in the ‘boat’ story. The literature
related to these prejudices will be reviewed in Section 2.5.
One critical issue that field theory has to engage with, according to Nash (2018), is the
capacity of a field, in perceiving and defending ‘problems’, then exposing to a ‘habitus’
to embark on any arising social situation or new context. The capacity to recognise the
relative inappropriateness of a field suggests that the field could shift to whatever the
social context requires. The present study examines whether the new narrative on IRAS
boat arrivals has been consistent through time. It argues that however the situation of
IRAS boat arrivals has evolved, the nature of the journalistic field remains unchanged.
This argument leads to further discussion relating the journalistic field and its struggles
with cultural and economic capital, and whether the field is able to understand ‘errors’
and practice the truth.
44
In summary, Bourdieu’s concept of field offers an appreciation of the professional space
of news production in Australian society. However, the independence of the journalistic
field is bound up with its internal struggles and the autonomy of journalism as an
independent institution. Therefore, it is essential to review the background relating to the
systemic and institutional changes that have taken place in the media outlets in the 36‐
year period being analysed. Historical context needs to be added in order to review the
‘boat’ as a debating issue in the three studied election campaigns, and how the issue was
rated during these campaigns.
2.5. Contextual change in Australian media outlets
The ownership of the studied publications
The present study investigates the news narratives in The Sydney Morning Herald
(SMH), The Australian and The Daily Telegraph (DT). The SMH was until 2018 a title
of Fairfax Media, while The Australian and The DT are owned by Rupert Murdoch’s
News Corp. publishing vehicle News Ltd. The Packer organisation sold The DT to Rupert
Murdoch in 1972, while The Australian has been a title of Murdoch’s News Ltd since it
began in 1964 (Parliament of Australia, 2016). The SMH was taken over by Nine
Entertainment in 2018 and no longer has an association with Fairfax Media.
In 2011, the three media organisations that dominated the national daily newspaper
market were Murdoch’s News Ltd, with six titles accounting for 65% of metropolitan and
daily circulation; Fairfax Media with four titles accounting for 25%; and Seven West
Media Ltd.’s one title, with a 10% market share (Papandrea & Tiffen, 2016). Daily
newspaper market shares by circulation in 2011 showed News Ltd as the largest
newspaper publisher in the country with 57.5%, while Fairfax Media was at the third
place with 28.5% (Papandrea & Tiffen, 2016). According to Papandrea and Tiffen (2016),
this mixture of concentrated ownership and influential personalities has meant that media
policy has sometimes been a contentious issue in Australia, especially with the News
Corp.’s titles alone then making up around 65% of the market. These authors claim that
the legislated removal of cross-ownership restrictions in 2006 has made the newspaper
and other media markets even more concentrated. Besides, there have been continuing
45
accusations of bias, especially against News Ltd., with assertions that Rupert Murdoch
influences the news media he controls with little regard for editorial independence and
strong politically conservative views (Papandrea & Tiffen, 2016).
Churnalism of the press
The issue of churnalism and the role of government public relations are significant to this
review, particularly in the lead‐up to the 2001 and 2013 election campaigns. Johnston and
Forde (2011) draw on Frijters and Velamuri to say that due to economic cutbacks, most
newspapers have come to rely on ‘recycled news’ from wire services, and that news
agencies and wire services are not only playing a growing role in the contemporary news
environment but also becoming the de facto distributor of public relations material.
Referring to this type of news processing, the term “churnalism” was popularised by Nick
Davies in 2008 (Forde & Johnston, 2017). Churnalism occurs when news reports repeat
and reuse material obtained from sources such as press releases and marketing activities.
Original research and first-hand sources, which normally distinguish journalism practice,
have become increasingly ignored in response to digitalisation, where the boundaries
between journalism and other communication roles have been demolished (Forde &
Johnston, 2017). Johnston and Forde (2011) describe how an AAP journalist might decide
to use some original quotes from a press conference transcript and combine these with
paragraphs from the media release to form a story which combines several media outputs
on the same issue.
Fisher et al. (2019) state that news organisations and reporters are increasingly taking on
marketing functions, appearing on social media to promote breaking news stories, thus
blurring perceptions of their professional roles from the perspectives of both practitioner
and audience. Hall’s (2010) investigation of the news values of The Australian’s reporting
on IRAS imprisoned in Australia’s Villawood detention centre implies that in
authoritative events, such as election campaigns or incidents of unauthorised boat
arrivals, news journalists’ sources might be limited to official information, such as would
come from the government’s public relations department. Hall agreed with Koch’s (1990)
claim about the criteria governing “newsworthiness”:
46
Investigations into the narrative rules of news, those limiting context by place, time and
actor’s role, show a narrative pattern whereby journalists are confined to a specific event
in which only a minimal number of actors are involved in a narrowly-bounded, sanctioned
event. (Koch, 1990, p. 25).
The issue of churnalism is considered in the Chapter Seven in terms of a discussion on
the effect of the government’s media releases on the language used in news stories during
the election campaigns in 2001 and 2013.
2.6. Research perspectives on Australian media covering IRAS boat arrivals
Actors in an IRAS news story
For Van Dijk (1995), politicians, journalists, scholars, teachers and writers are symbolic
elites who are the most influential sources in the news. Similarly, Schudson (2008) tells
us that in respenct of some current issues, “journalists tend to quote politicians’ views
as experts without questioning whether that expert could represent the views of
constituents” (p. 118). The representation IRAS in the news is seen to rely heavily on
the officials and politicians’ interpretation of the news and current affairs relating to the
IRAS (Anderson 2012; Berry, Garcia-Blanco & Moore 2016; Every 2006; Matthews &
Brown 2012; McGoldrick & Lynch 2014; Portin 2015). With their dominance of news
narratives related to IRAS boat arrivals, officials and politicians are considered the main
actors.
Gabrielatos and Baker (2008) conducted a corpus analysis of 175,139 articles in the UK
newspapers’ reporting of IRAS from 2002 to 2005. They observed that dominant topics
such as major wars, natural diseases and terrorist attacks resulted in an increased focus
on IRAS. However, there were two sharp growths in the data that co-occurred with
political events: the Asylum Bill in 2004 and the UK general elections in 2005. During
these events, the analysis showed that media dehumanised the IRAS as an ‘issue’. Their
study showed that the number of asylum applications to the UK dropped dramatically
between 2002 and 2005 but the UK media chose to disregard this fact. The authors
blamed conservative and tabloid British media for creating and maintaining a moral
panic around IRAS. Moreover, Burke and Goodman (2012) found that the terms
47
‘immigrant’ and ‘asylum seeker’ are often conflated in online groups discussing the
issue of asylum in the UK.
In most of the Australian IRAS cases studied, it is the government of the day that is
eligible to be quoted in news about boat arrival and to define the legitimation of
unauthorised immigrants (Every 2006; Hall 2010; Sørenes 2010). Indeed, the
legitimated role of political sources has been reconfirmed to become the constant sense
of normality, or in another words, common sense (Capdevila & Callaghan 2008;
Pickering 2001; Schuster 2003). As a result, IRAS voices are absent from general daily
communication.
After the World Trade Center attack in 2001, the UK, Australia and other Western
countries were concerned with the ongoing refugee crisis in Afghanistan. UK media
showed an increased interest in Afghan IRAS, with reports dominated by dramatic
imagery of the disaster and reviews of government strategies (Wright 2004). Wright
(2004) examined the collateral coverage of the Afghan refugee crisis and the September
11 tragedy: the central topics were the iconography of the disaster and the consequential
forced migration, both of which became inflated through the UK media’s presentation
(p. 107). The author gave an example of an alternative approach to news story
narratives, that is, the ‘No Comment' images used on television without voice-over or
commentary. These news formats featured the refugees speaking but did not translate
their words. As a result, the lack of commentary and contextualisation created a sense of
being less mediated than the usual presentation of the news (Wright 2004).
Bleiker, Campbell, Hutchison and Nicholson (2013) filled a gap in the scholarly
research when they examined the emotional nature of asylum seeker images and the
manner in which the images framed the political discussions on the topic. Their study
comprised images on the first page of The Australian and The SMH and found that these
newspapers portrayed asylum seekers in highly political and profoundly dehumanising
ways. Sixty-six percent of the images were of medium- to large-sized groups on boats,
and photographs of clearly recognised facial features made up two percent of all
images. The authors argued asylum seekers were framed not in a humanitarian way but
as a threat to Australia's sovereignty and security (p. 413).
48
Dreher (2010) has made further suggestions, arguing that the politics of listening could
shift the focus and responsibility of “community media interventions” in shaping who
or what can be heard in the mainstream media. Dreher's study shows that community
media interventions are capable of talking back to the news media and shifting the news
agenda by developing projects outside the news. This suggestion demonstrates Cottle’s
(2007) comment that the struggles and dependence of Australian mainstream media in
reporting narratives cannot be told by transferring from the position from speaking up to
being heard. According to Cottle, the media, especially television journalism, have
increased their communicative power in interviewing politicians and displaying the
"active others" deserving of recognition and respect.
Lueck, Due and Augoustinos (2015) observed that the voices of asylum seekers
remained largely overlooked in the coverage of the Jaya Lestari 5 IRAS boat incident.
Although it was the first time the media had direct access to boat people in Australia,
the pleas directly made by spokesman Alex and the nine-year-old Brindha were rarely
reported on within a human-interest frame.
The IRAS status
Studying the press coverage of the refugee crisis in Europe, researchers Berry, Garcia-
Blanco and Moore (2016) examined thousands of articles written in 2014 and early
2015 in European newspapers and found significant differences between countries in
terms of the sources journalists used (domestic politicians, foreign politicians, citizens,
or NGOs), the language they employed, the reasons they gave for the rise in refugee
flows, and the solutions they suggested. Germany and Sweden, for example,
overwhelmingly used the terms ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’, while Italy and the UK
press preferred the word ‘migrant’. In Spain, the dominant term was ‘immigrant’. These
terms had an important impact on the tenor of each country's debate.
In a Refugee Council report titled "Refugees without refugee" (Refugee Council 2017)
a survey to 54 newly recognised refugees revealed that negative social categorisation
and label still affect the newly granted refugees to find job, to secure a bank account or
accommodation. O'Doherty and Lecouteur (2007) argue that the unchanged labels
adopted for those people, such as ‘illegal immigrant', ‘boat people', or even ‘asylum
seekers', are problematic. By analysing 200 articles in the Fairfax and the Murdoch
49
press during 1996–2001, O'Doherty and Lecouteur claim that the shift of social
categorisation of IRAS in examined texts serves to legitimise and justify the actions of
sending them home and the policy of mandatory detention (p. 9).
Similarity, Saxton (2003) questioned the how the term ‘asylum seeker’ was repeatedly
used in connection with the actions by these people and not as an evaluation of their
motivation, rights or legitimacy. The person who seeks asylum may or may not meet the
requirements for refugee status. Such a choice of label is problematic because it
obscures the significant differences that exist within this group of people and may serve
to reify the categorisation ‘asylum seeker'. Indeed, one of the challenges of discourse
analysis is that the language used to present the analysis is in itself a discursive
construction (Saxton 2003).
Anderson (2012) studied nine popular newspapers in Australian capital cities that
reported about arrivals in 1979 and found that Indo-Chinese boat people were
represented with “dehumanising imagery and illegality” (p. 500). Supporting Leo
Chavez’s ( 2013) thought that illegality is “socially, culturally and politically
constructed" (p. 27), Anderson (2012) revealed how the terms "boat people" and
"refugee" are often conflated and used in tandem in media texts concerned with
illegality.
The IRAS as racial and ethnic opposition
Many scholars have observed the negative media coverage about claims that boat
arrivals are repeated events in Australia’s history of immigration. Concerning
Vietnamese boat people, the SBS television documentary Once Upon a Time in
Cabramatta (Northern Pictures 2012) covered these Vietnamese Australians' stories and
how they overcame numerous challenges to be successful in their new country. For
some of the Vietnamese refugees who appeared in the SBS documentary, to be
Australian meant assimilation. On the other hand, they no longer belonged to their
homeland, having lost their ethnic identity in the melting pot. The documentary also
commented that the second generation of the Vietnamese community in Australia were
facing the loss of Vietnamese language and culture. In the 1990s, the media tended to
symbolically ‘ghettoise’ the Vietnamese identity and suburbs where this community
settled (Loo 1991). Loo (1994) observed that the Vietnamese community was the “most
50
hated” group in Australia and was portrayed in news stories as the carriers of virulent
Asian forms of crime and criminal organisations (p. 73). Carruthers (1995) found that
Vietnamese youth in Australia remained largely marginal, opaque, isolated and faceless
in Australian mainstream print media, with media reports of incidents of Vietnamese
youth criminals conjuring up the traditional Australian paranoia about the 'yellow
hordes'. Carruthers stated that the relation between the Vietnamese audience and
Australia's mainstream media could be a site for the conversational creation of an exile
culture.
Regarding the Middle Eastern immigration, the aftermath of the 2001 New York attacks
introduced terrorism and national security as the significant flashpoint during that
decade (McCallam & Posetti 2008). Notably, during the Howard Government’s years,
the narrative about Islam and Muslim IRAS conflated ethnicity and religious practice
with crime, oppression and terrorism. Pickering (2001) found similarities when
investigating the narratives of The SMH and The Courier Mail from 1997 to 1999, in
particular the dominance of ‘problems’ presented in news stories regarding border
security, race and health. For Pickering (2001), these "immigration discourses and
criminal discourses are enmeshed with discourse about tactics of war" (p. 173).
Klocker and Dunn (2003) examined 383 articles in The Advertiser, 87 in The Sunday
Mail, and 55 government media releases from August 2001 to January 2002, observing
the overall tenor and critical themes used to describe asylum seekers. They found 90
percent of governmental sources and 76 percent of news articles negatively portrayed
asylum seekers. There is evidence of a significant exchange of meaning between
government and media at the thematic level, labelling the asylum seekers as
uncontrollable, illegal, of bad behaviour and a burden. The authors asserted the
government-directed media negativity about the asylum debate proved that a
“hierarchical pattern of influence” had been operating over the duration of the study
period (p. 89). The authors did admit that thematic approach contained a weakness
because “empirical results were not in conjunction with the constructed media images”,
as well as being isolated from historical and social contexts (p. 74).
Dunn, Klocker and Salabay (2007) investigated themes relating to Islamaphobia in the
Sydney Morning Herald and the Daily Telegraph. Their thematic approach used a
51
public survey and Federal Government statements. The authors did not focus on the
propaganda model, as observed in Klocker and Dunn’s (2003) earlier research, but the
produced evidence of media resistance to top-down control. Results showed that 66
percent of the survey respondents stated that Islam posed a security threat and cultural
threat to Australia. Themes of threat also appeared in media representation of Sydney’s
Lakemba area, a key Muslim location. Indeed, the dominant themes of threat were
‘crime’, ‘violence’, ‘September 11’ and ‘local victims’, all of which made up 63 percent
of the samples.
Meanwhile, official statements revealed the most common theme of this period was
‘illegitimacy’, followed by ‘illegality’ and ‘threat’. Dunn, Klocker and Salabay (2007)
concluded that while the public gained a poor perception of Islam in Australia, "this
antipathy was reinforced by problematic media treatment and a hostile government
disposition" (p. 582). However, the authors implied that some sections of the media
maintained a critical perspective on Government statements and actions regarding
Islam, and some public organisations, such as the Islamic Council, retained a healthy
cynicism regarding both media and Government. This conclusion supports Dreher’s
(2010) concept of 'community media interventions', which promotes the vital role of
community media in changing the media representation of Muslim community, used to
be connected to the perception of 'war on terror' and the ‘globalisation of the Other’.
In 2014, the report of a two-year AuSud media project was published (Marjoribanks &
Muller 2014). This project, titled ‘Media Treatment and Communications Needs of
Sudanese Australians’, analysed how media portrayals of Sudanese people in Australia
affect their everyday lives, and then trained the Sudanese community in media skills so
they could make their voices heard (p. 4). The findings showed that the most familiar
stories in Victorian metropolitan newspapers positioned Sudanese people within ‘law
and order’ frames centred on violence and criminality. The authors explained: “This
reached a spectacular peak in the Federal Election year of 2007 when immigration and
asylum-seeker policies were of high political salience and [Minister] Kevin Andrews
made his remarks” (p. 29). Windle (2008) added that the use of particular frames, such
as unfounded accounts of Sudanese ‘gangs’ and the identification of Sudanese people as
refugees, have served to link representations of Sudanese people with those of other
groups collectively characterised as threats to Australians.
52
The IRAS as victim
Another media characterisation of IRAS identified in related studies is the
representation of asylum seekers as a victim at risk (Every & Augoustinos 2007;
Hightower 2014; Lippi, McKay & McKenzie 2017). In pro-asylum seeker reporting,
asylum seekers are often framed as either ‘gifted’ or as a ‘victim’ requiring assistance
(Lippi et al. 2017). The ‘gifted’ frame has been suggested by Every and Augoustinos
(2007) to focus on refugees and asylum seekers with ‘skills’ who can contribute
positively to Australian society, and who are therefore welcome.
According to Lippi et al. (2017) the ‘victim’ frame is often employed specifically to
criticise deterrence policies, and as a way to advocate or promote human rights. Within
this frame, asylum seekers are represented as ‘outsiders’ who are traumatised and
require Australia’s help. This sets up a situation for governments where asylum seekers
are represented as the ‘other’ and have the potential to be identified as a group who
need help, stripping them of autonomy and self-determination, and further creating a
situation where if an asylum seeker is not ‘obviously’ suffering or sick then they do not
‘legitimately’ fear persecution. Lippi et al. argue that such framing has the effect of
simplifying and reducing the community’s understanding of refugees and asylum
seekers to a single or homogenous victim who cannot care for themself. Within the
sympathetic representation of refugees and asylum seekers, a marked emphasis on
women, children and families was juxtaposed with the idea of the criminal, male
refugee or asylum seeker who became the focus of negative representations.
Hightower (2014) has explored the ‘limbo’ metaphor, which appears to be the
‘normalised' central space where IRAS belong. The media represents ‘limbo' and
‘refugee' under three meanings: the physical spaces, the legal irreconcilability, and the
mental and bodily states. Hightower found that the media ‘packaged’ refugee and
asylum issues in a structure of limbo. Importantly, this limbo not only “exists” but also
was created by the media. The limbo metaphor establishes a sense of hopelessness, and
means that Australia has tried to send a strong message to boat people that “They will
53
not make Australia home”. Hightower draws comparisons with Kafka’s The Trial and
the current system in Australia: “This is limbo. This is the criminal en masse sans
frontiers” (p. 355).
Tilbury (2004) helped bring this conclusion to a small-scale level, with local media
reporting of supportive talk to Afghan Hazara refugees in Albany, Western Australia.
Tilbury claimed that hidden inside the ‘supportive talk' in media was a discourse on the
need for homogeneity: “Refugees are to be welcomed if they try to integrate, learn the
language, adopt our values and practices, are law-abiding, and make economic and
sporting contributions” (p. 10). This sort of local acceptance looks suspiciously like
assimilation.
Presenting the news story in the individualisation strategy has a significant ideological
consequence, the events narrated as a series of transactions between groups of
individual “characters” (Fulton 2005a, p. 238). Problems are caused by one or more of
these individuals, and solutions have to be found by other individuals. This version of
the news narrative not only oversimplifies the issues but also elides political and
economic factors that enable us to contextualise the events and therefore to analyse
them separately from the people involved (Lueck, Due & Augoustinos 2015).
The IRAS as the Other
Researchers have highlighted a boundary between Australianness and Otherness that
new immigrants cannot penetrate. For Anderson (2012), the boundary that the media
has built is not purely cast in legal or geo-national terms, but through boundaries of
cultural belonging. And according to Fulton (2005d), "By constructing these powerful
narratives of who ‘we’ are, the media separate ‘us’ from ‘them’, those others who do
not share or understand the stories we know and believe to be true" (p. 239).
Bell (1997) observed the similarities in the way the speeches of historian Geoffrey
Blainey in 1984 and politician Pauline Hanson in 1996–1997 had been taken up by the
media and amplified to become the ‘Blainey Debate’ and the ‘Hanson Debate’.
Intensively covered because of her newsworthyness, Hanson claimed that arguments
about levels of immigration reflected the opinions of "ordinary Australians", the
“mainstream", or the “silent majority" (Bell 1997). Louw & Loo (1997) found the
54
consistent appropriation of Hanson within the news narrative was symbolic of a
“malaise and uncertainty felt by the grassroots” (p. 11) and seemed to create a degree of
believability in the situation. The authors also investigated how Hanson appeared in the
news narrative in the context of being an agent for future adverse events, such as
“affecting Australia's trade with Asia; reduction of Asian students coming to Australia;
and undermining the efforts of the country's policy of multiculturalism” (p. 11).
Cottle (2007) observed the mediatised recognition of Australian television’s
constructing of the ‘other'. By analysing three television programs, Cottle confirmed
some sections of the media portrayed disadvantaged groups as the ‘other', stripping
them of their identity and humanity in spectacular news visualisations. However, while
critical scholars condemned such media representation of outsider groups as a
demeaning stereotype and a discourse of denigration, Cottle argued that mainstream
journalism productively represented the ‘other' and that broadcast media are capable of
giving voice to the voiceless and identity to images, fleshing out the ‘other' as active
subjects (p. 46). Cottle urged for more studies on new mediating forms in a global
context and for circulating representations into the broader struggles for media access,
media control and media agendas.
Three years after claiming the media were establishing a contrast between a "positive
self" and "negative other", Saxton (2006) deepened the topic of negative media
presentation toward IRAS by analysing the importance of understanding the ‘us’ side in
360 ‘Letters to the editor’ in the SMH during 2001. The author concluded that while
these letters largely showed tolerance towards the boat people, that tolerance was still
limited by discrimination and a nationalist point of view. Indeed, the tolerance failed to
disrupt understandings of asylum seekers as ‘the other’.
The IRAS as political taking advantage
The SIEV IV incident, also termed as the ‘Children Overboard' affair in the Australian
mainstream news narrative, attracted intense media attention when the Howard
Government accused asylum seekers of throwing their children into the sea. Studies
claim the Howard government utilised effectively the encounter between the SIEV IV, a
boat filled with asylum seekers heading for Christmas Island, and HMAS Adelaide,
which detected and rescued the occupants of SIEV IV, in order to gain political success
55
during the 2001 election campaign (Cottle 2007; Mares 2002a; Marr & Wilkinson 2005;
Sørenes 2010).
MacLellan (2002) has pointed out the weaknesses of the media and journalism
concerning the SIEV IV incident, such as blaming censorship as an excuse, uncritically
accepting government press statements, and misstating the genuineness of Afghan
IRAS. Responding to problems of the media in the case, Mares (2002b) demanded that
"higher ethical standards in journalism, higher degree of training, greater attention to
detail and increased editorial rigour" was needed (p. 75). Mares criticised editorials in
the mainstream media that encouraged a tabloid approach to the issue and over-
simplified and sensationalised the refugee crisis. Mentioned especially was talkback
radio for its distorting of the facts, reducing public debate and exaggerating fears. The
construction of fear was also evident in Slattery's (2003) discursive analysis of the
media and political dialogue of the ‘Children Overboard' affair, in which the
government attempted to represent the IRAS as a threatening ‘other' (p. 103).
Other investigations were particularly interested in analysing the images of the
‘Children Overboard' affair. Phillips (2006) explored the art of surveillance imagery and
the visual constitution of terror and otherness. Asylum seekers unwittingly brought the
surveillance gaze into play, and their being ‘read’ was also crucial to their political
status and immediate safety. People on board the SIEV IV had maintained that they held
up the children to produce empathy. However, it had a reverse: “Who were these people
to do this?” (p. 89). Phillips explained: "The mistaken image of the would-be-sacrifice
of the child was distinct from the more general sacrifice with the risk of ocean-going. In
a way, this mistake, unfortunately, echoes the intractable will-to-sacrifice that had
become identified with Islamic militancy" (p. 90). Macken-Horarik (2003) claimed that
the disconnection of this story from its empirical frame and voice was the crucial first
step in a longer-term media shaping of the event for public consumption (p. 301).
The IRAS as economic migrant
More recently, Lueck, Due and Augoustinos (2015) returned to the topic of the Jaya
Lestari 5 and the Oceanic Viking vessels. They investigated the representation of IRAS
in the 12 daily newspapers with the highest circulation in Australia at that time and
found that boat people were represented not only as ‘unlawful', ‘threatening' and ‘non-
56
genuine', but also as economical opportunists. They concluded that a “neoliberal
portrayal was seen with economic perspectives”, such as people smuggling as a trade
and asylum seekers stigmatised as economic migrants (p. 18).
Similarly, narratives about the IRAS entering the UK were dominated by five main
topics: ‘economic migration’, ‘numbers as a threat’, ‘burden on welfare and job
market’, ‘criminality, deportation and human rights’ and ‘the need for immigration
control’ (Philo, Briant & Donald 2013). These authors compared those topics to myths
that informed public understandings around issues related to refugees and asylum
seekers. In their content analysis they observed the interactions between government
and the media. For example, a Channel Four newscaster asked a UK government
minister: “How many employers have you prosecuted in the last year for employing
illegal immigrants?” (Philo et al. 2013, p. 167).
On the topic of ‘economic migration', Moore (2013) has explored the discourse of
‘asylum shopping', a popular metaphor and powerful signifier constructed by the media
since the 1990s. The author claims the media has normalised the process of seeking
asylum as a type of consumer activity in which the IRAS ‘go shopping' freely across the
borders to choose the best deal on a new lifestyle. Similarly, in 2003 the BBC's
‘Asylum Day' debate questioned whether asylum seekers were economic migrants. This
program attracted public attention by introducing binary questions such as: "Are we a
‘soft touch'?” and “What about organised crime?" (Macdonald 2007, p. 683). Despite
the BBC commenting that the program was of great ‘representational diversity',
Macdonald (2007) argued that the discussion was less engaged with a diversity of
perspectives, less creative, and less challenging to existing structures.
In Australia, Laney, Lenette, Kellett, Smedley and Karan (2016) stress that it was after
the 2013 election of Tony Abbott as Prime Minister that the government introduced the
Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which constructed the narrative about asylum
seekers as the threatening ‘other’. Dimitrov (2014) confirms the media’s reproduction
of the language of politicians when calling refugees from Iran and Afghanistan
‘economic refugees’. These so-called economic refugees played the passive role, hidden
behind the ‘people smugglers’. The author blamed this narrative about people
smugglers on the Abbott Government, which even framed the smuggling of refugees as
57
akin to smuggling drugs or trafficking in other forms of contraband such as narcotics,
slaves and sex workers.
The IRAS as criminal violence
Woomera, a town in regional South Australia, was considered since 1999 unsuitable for
long-term detention and was reduced to a holding camp for potential deportees. Since
then, the Australian government constructed asylum seeker detention centres outside of
Australia’s migration zone. The frustration of detainees in detention centres has been
represented in the media; examples being the riots on Australia Day (26 January) in
2002 and again in the last weeks of December 2002, when fires and protests occurred
daily between 27–31 December at the Baxter Detention Centre in South Australia, and
there were riots at the Villawood Detention Centre in New South Wales. Coghlan
(2005) claimed that although the mainstream media's coverage concentrated on the
financial cost and property destruction of these events, few journalists asked why the
riots occurred. For example, the narrative told of widespread feelings that “South
Australians had been imposed upon, had not been consulted about the detention centres,
and that these centres not only brought the already financially strapped state little
benefit but actually cost it dearly in policing and servicing, as well as in reputation”
(Bishop 2003, p. 3). Bishop (2003) confirmed that at the heart of media performance lay
the question of “violence”, both real and symbolic: “Detainees were shown escaping
through gaps in the fence, while gathered and milling all around are protestors. The
atmosphere is dynamic, dramatic, desperate and celebratory” (p. 6).
Giannacopulos (2006) claims the media reporting of the Cronulla (a beachside suburb
of Sydney) riot between 5,000 mainstream Australians and some Lebanese-Australians
in December 2005 was the legitimisation of the violence toward refugees, especially the
those from Lebanon and the Middle Eastern. While media representations did not
burden participating local youths with ethnic descriptors, they did describe the Middle
Eastern people by ethnicity and as non-Australian. Due and Riggs (2008) confirmed that
the Lebanese Australians were positioned as not belonging either on Cronulla’s beach
or in Australia more broadly. They were framed as people of "Middle Eastern
appearance" who bashed a "local man unconscious" (p. 216). This representation
created the so-called locals as the rightful owners of Cronulla beach and led to a
58
distinction between legitimate violence and ethnic criminal violence. During this event,
the mainstream news media showed police, witnesses and local people drawing an
image of the Middle Eastern community, especially its young male teenagers, as scary
and naturally violent (Due & Riggs 2008; Kabir 2007). Kabir (2007) claims coverage of
the Cronulla riot in The Australian clearly depicted the mainstream Australian youths as
the victims. The author suggests the newspaper’s quote of PM John Howard saying "We
are not a bunch of racists" could be construed as a further incitement of the riotous
behaviour. Similarly, Due and Riggs (2008) observed the violence seen at the Cronulla
riots was explained in the press by reference to Australian values and the concept of
belonging, with a corresponding denial of any discriminating behaviour.
2.5. Concluding remarks
Narratives are any kinds of storytelling that link events past and present to listeners or
readers in a sequence of written or spoken sentences or a series of images (Abbott 2008;
Genette 1983). A narrative can include non-fiction writing such as journalism and
media reporting. In media studies, narrative is a term used to describe the organisation
of a coherent sequence of events or stories. In a news narrative, the dominant actors and
the sequences of their actions provide journalists with personalities and opinions to
write about. It is therefore worthwhile to explore to what extent the opinions of the
dominant actors in the 1977 IRAS narratives are echoed in the narratives covering the
2001 and the 2013 IRAS events.
Propp’s (1968) famous work is notable for two related structuralist ideas: all fictional
works have the same structure underneath; and a story can be created by instantiating a
sequence of abstract plot elements. Fulton (2005a) has discussed contemporary news
templates and speculated that these structures could apply to the simple non-fiction
narratives of modern culture. Propp’s (1968) three elements of folktale have been drawn
on in this chapter. First, the functions of characters are presented as stable and constant
elements in a narrative, regardless of their names, statuses, personalities and families.
The functions of characters are their actions or movements, and these constitute the
fundamental components of a narrative. For example, the heroes will act courageously
and sensibly while villains will act wickedly. Second, each narrative is limited by
59
Propp’s 31 key functions, the sequence of which is always identical. And last, Propp
stated that all fairy tale narratives are of one type regarding their structure.
This study asks if IRAS news, as non-fiction narratives, contained identical elements
and patterns, when reporting similar IRAS events such as boat arrivals. Furthermore, the
research asks whether a Proppian news template would be applicable to news coverage
of sensitive topics, such as the IRAS boat arrivals, during the condensed timeframes of
national election campaigns.
Regarding narrative in non-fiction products, this research predicts that reality is hard to
understand, and people always face difficulties in constructing meaning from daily life
events. In the media various kinds of narrative are structured, organised and arranged to
allow audiences to take minimal time and effort to understand them. Audiences expect
the structure of news to remain consistent with what they have experienced in the past,
which is the ground where myth is rooted and reproduced through literature and
cultures.
The review of the literature on Australian news reporting of IRAS boats shows
consistency in the negative representation of the IRAS as villains. However, what is
missing is the comparison between media coverage of the IRAS boat arrivals at
different periods to find similarities and differences. While scholars examined these
narratives at the specific times when the IRAS boats arrived in Australia, there is a lack
of analysis of the boats coming in the time of the federal elections. This thesis compares
media views during the 1997, 2001 and 2013 federal elections to examine whether
similar news templates recurred in events related to IRAS boats.
In the literature reviewed, The SMH and The Daily Telegraph were the newspapers
most studied, analysed and criticised as conservative. The SMH resembles The Daily
Telegraph in most analyses. By contrast, local newspapers, which seemed to be more
aware of being accused of discrimination against the IRAS, reported in a way that
suggests assimilation. In general, the researchers cited here have studied claims that the
media mostly used officials’ and politicians' quotes and sources, while ignoring the
voices of the IRAS. This thesis goes further in asking if the politician, as the main
character of IRAS news stories who always finds a stricter solution or policy toward the
60
IRAS, has been characterised the hero, particularly the seeker-hero, who in the end will
be rewarded with a victory in a federal election.
This study uses a systematic print media content analysis to discern dominant
narrations, categories and patterns of news orientation towards unauthorised boats and
IRAS arrivals to Australian shores amid the federal election campaigns of 1977, 2001
and 2013. As discussed in Chapter 3, the Methodology chapter, the content analysis
measures similarities in the topics, the sequence of news stories, the characteristics of
the actors and objects, and the sources of the stories.
61
Chapter Three: Methodology
3.1. Introduction
This chapter describes the epistemological perspectives that underpin the present
research and outlines the methodology used, including a detailed discussion of the
primary method – media content analysis.
In Chapter Two, the theoretical framework of news narrative was discussed and the
literature reviewed. In line with structural analysis theory, Chapter Two examined
Proppian models of classification and Levi-Strauss’s theory of binary oppositions.
These theories are seen as essential domains for studying the unchanged news narrative
about the IRAS boat arrivals to Australia. While an existing body of literature has
investigated the representation of IRAS boats by the Australian media generally, there is
little that deals with the 1977, 2001 and 2013 federal election campaigns, examples
being Callaghan and Schnell (2001) and Colebatch (2015) for the 1997 period; Schultz
(2005) and Sørenes (2010) for the 2001 period; and Dimitrov (2014) and Lippi, McKay
and McKenzie (2017) for the 2013 period.
Building on these previous attempts to analyse news narratives about IRAS during these
three federal election campaigns, this research goes further, questioning whether the
news narrative on the IRAS was unchanged over these examined time periods, and to
what extent the elements of the news narrative about IRAS boats might have changed or
remained consistent.
I employ media content analysis in this study, focusing on mainstream print media that
are not only ‘traditional’ and ‘classic’ in their professional contexts, but also set the
agenda of the industry in the global and transnational arenas (McCombs 2018). Three
crucial Australian daily newspapers will be analysed to find emerging themes
concerning IRAS boat arrivals during the proposed timeframes.
Section 3.2 elaborates on the methodological tensions that have arisen between the
fields of narrative and journalism studies, then contextualises this research project
within these debates and methodological practices. This section also outlines the media
content analysis methodology that has been drawn on throughout this research. Section
3.3, the research sample section, describes the sample population from which the data
62
were drawn and the sampling strategy used. Section 3.4, the research design section,
outlines the steps taken from data collection to data analysis. This section also discusses
the pilot study undertaken in the first year of this research project. Each variation in the
coding sheet is elaborated on in Section 3.5, the variables explanation section. Section
3.6 outlines the potential limitations inherent in media content analysis generally and
the limitations of this study in particular. The final section summarises the elements that
are presented in this chapter.
3.2. Contextualising the news narrative research project
Media theorists hold significant ontological concerns about what constitutes the study
of non-fiction narratives such as news narratives, Facebook and Twitter (Bird &
Dardenne 1988; Herman, Manfred & Marie-Laure 2010). They have persuasively
argued that the label of the narrative limits the ‘what’ of their studies. Many theorists
who study non-fiction narratives prefer to characterise themselves as cultural or
linguistic scholars because they are interested in much more than media and journalism
practice. Although it is considered to be a simpler kind of narrative, news narrative
study should situate itself in media studies, given that the term ‘narrative’ explains only
part of the whole context in which it is immersed. As I attempt to find a journalistic
research approach to investigate news narrative, I am locating my research in journalism
studies, and I therefore use concepts from narrative theory to create a framework for
analysing systematic features in news story data.
A language-based narrative research
Concerning the narrative research method, narrative analysts provide two approaches to
understanding the various narratives in contemporary social sciences. First, in character
investigations narrative analysis is an approach that mostly deals with verbal data such
as witness stories via case studies, conversational stories through interviews, and shared
memory from participants in focus studies (Emden 1998; Priest, Roberts & Woods
2002). Neuendorf (2016) claims this technique is not interested in the text, but in
characters as the carriers of the stories.
Second, Wells (2011) tells us that the analysis of various language-based narratives may
include discourse-analytic concepts such as Foucauldian Discourse Analysis (FAD),
63
which is one of the widely applied approaches to discourse analysis. FAD, which
focuses on how power works through dominant discourse to show how some voices
may be heard and others silenced, is similar to the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)
(Wells 2011, p. 90).
As proposed by Fairclough (2013), within the CDA approach the ‘text’ is the first
dimension. Text is analysed for the choice of lexical items, grammar, coherence and
structure that construe strong language. In news media, Pan and Kosicki (1993)
suggested the framing analysis be presented as a constructivist approach to examine
news discourse, with the primary focus on conceptualising news texts into empirical
dimensions through syntactical, script, thematic, and rhetorical structures, so that
evidence of the news media's framing of issues may be gathered. The constructivist
approach is significant for the present study.
Discursive practice is the second dimension of CDA. It can reveal the relationship
between text and society. Van Dijk (1988) defined CDA as an investigation into the
social practice of discourse, considered in historical and social contexts. The social
practices are governed by norms and values that influence the language, therefore CDA
can observe pieces of evidence of the prevailing prejudice produced by the power
structures and the media toward marginalised and vulnerable groups. In the particular
context of journalism as a profession, Deuze (2005) points out that “ideology can be
seen as a system of beliefs characteristic of a particular group, including – but not
limited to – the general process of the production of meanings and ideas (within that
group)”. Potter and Wetherell (2001) provide a general definition of discourse analysis
as a group of approaches to talk and text that emphasise its broad meaning or the
cultural discourse upon which it draws; within linguistics, discourse analysis focuses on
how sentences combined to form discourse; within post-structuralism, it focuses on how
discourse constitutes objects and subjects.
However, one issue of the discursive discourse analysis is the inter-subjective meaning
of language, as raised by Fierke et al. (see Herrera & Braumoeller 2004). Herrera and
Braumoeller (2004) contend these authors believe language is constitutive of reality,
that ontology is connected to epistemology, and the way people understand the world
can determine what that world is. From this base of knowledge, Hopf (2004) provides a
64
different perspective by arguing that “epistemology and ontology trump methodology”.
So, instead of solving the question of what reality is and what is knowable via better
methods, Hopf suggests researchers acknowledge the limits of their certainty about
what is knowable and what the reality is. However, the limitation here is that the
interaction of the researchers is cornered in a specific situational context and
surrounding social and historical contexts within a framework of social and cultural
conventions. For Gabrielatos and Baker (2008), discourse analysis is the study of how
language is used in text and contexts. Methodology concerned with the use of language,
mostly the English language, therefore results in the arbitrary selection of texts whose
representativeness is doubtful when a small number of texts cannot reveal significant
patterns or insights into their frequency or distribution.
Taking into account the abovementioned disadvantages of discursive discourse analysis,
the present study mainly deals with the ‘text’ dimension of CDA, using a constructivist
approach to examine the frames and actors of news narratives about boat arrivals. The
next section will explain the quantitative and qualitative media content analyses that are
the main methods used in the present study
Methodological reflection on media content analysis: a constructivist approach to
analysing news narratives
When using media research approaches to investigate problems in news narratives, it
seems that language, or ‘text’, is the more common path. Wells (2011) quotes Mishler,
to propose that there is a wide range of media methods for analysing the text in news
narratives, such as dealing with a narrative’s content (what a narrative says – its
“semantics”), structure (how the narrative is put together to convey meaning – its
“syntax”), and interactional context (its “pragmatics”) (Wells 2011, p. 8). Narratives
might be analysed systematically and produce significant findings through media
content analysis.
Thus far, the methodologies proposed for analysing media content have focused on
interpretive content analysis. If the quantitative content analysis answers the ‘how' of
media professionals, the qualitative content analysis investigates in the ‘why' question
of the media practice. However, questions remain as to whether a qualitative content
analysis is different from discourse analysis, and whether they are comparable. To
65
answer these questions, analysts have employed in-depth ontological, epistemological
and methodological discussions on the definitions of language and text in the specific
context of content analysis and discourse analysis. This part of the Methodology chapter
reviews the reflection on qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. In line with
the research questions of this project, the present study focuses mainly on narrative
discourse analysis.
Since the early 1930s, content analysis has been applied as a research technique for “the
objective, systematic and quantitative description of the manifest content of
communication” (Berelson 1952, p. 18). Used mostly by students of journalism, the aim
of this technique is to analyse the content of newspapers in a way that enables similar
results to be established across a group of text coders. According to Berelson, the
primary concern of content analysis is to study the characteristics of communication
content, focusing on both the substance and the form of the content, that is, the trends
and changes, development, comparisons, propaganda technique and style of the content.
For Cullum-Swan and Manning (1994), content analysis is a quantitative-oriented
technique used to characterise and compare documents; it is most popular in mass
communication research, but one problem of content analysis is its inability to capture
the context of the written text, or an ongoing narrative (plot).
This quantitative method, in which text is broken down into quantifiable units, was
challenged when adapted for further development: language would lose its meaning and
context through radical reduction, reducing the whole document into broken words
(Cullum-Swan & Manning 1994; Kracauer 1952). However, Krippendorff (2012)
argues: “Content analysis is a systematic reading of texts and symbolic matter not
necessarily from an author or user perspective” (p. 3). Indeed, the methodology is
separated from the epistemology, and Krippendorff also insists that content analysis is
spontaneously a quantitative classification of a given body of content. Similarly,
Neuendorf (2016) considers content analysis to be a summarising quantitative analysis
that relies on the scientific method and is not limited to types of variables measured or
context of messages.
Although analysts have affirmed that content analysis as a quantitative method by
nature, the interest in using this method in qualitative analysis has emerged and
66
developed. A newer form of content analysis, qualitative content analysis, also known
as ethnographic content analysis, collects both numeric and narrative data for the study
of documents such as television news and movies (Altheide 1987). However, Berelson
(1952) suggested analysts should be aware of the pre-quantitative applications of
content analysis that just add the qualitative dimension to the quantitative analysis. The
first application refers to the selection of quotations from the content used in
humanising the report of frequencies by various categories; the second refers to the
careful reading of the content to formulate appropriate categories for subsequent
quantification. According to Berelson, there is no strict dichotomy between qualitative
and quantitative analysis: because quantitative analysis assigns relative frequencies to
different qualities (or categories), qualitative analysis usually contains quantitative
statements in rough form. This notion is similar to Bryman’s (2012) claim that
qualitative content analysis facilitates contextual meaning in the text through the
development of emergent themes derived from quantitative textual data, and repetition
of coding produces the significance of particular themes.
In this study, the content analysis uses a set of procedures to make valid inferences from
a text, aiming to draw inferences about the text and obtain documentary evidence about
a message. It is used to determine the presence of certain words or concepts within the
text and to describe attitudinal and behavioural responses to communication.
Particularly significant to this study, content analysis provides valuable historical
insights over time through analyses of texts, insight into language use, and non-
obstructive design. The source of data used in the content analysis is language-based
content, in comparison to other contents from time to time. Weber (1998) affirmed the
use of content analysis in both quantitative and qualitative techniques, but also stressed
its crucial concern is accuracy and precision when reporting on objective findings.
Media content analysis, a complement to narrative discourse analysis
Herrera and Braumoeller (2004) state that most analysts agree that discourse and
content analysis differ in important ways. This section will review to what extent they
differ and whether they are comparable.
As Wells (2011) proposes, narrative discourse analysis takes stories as its primary
source of data and examines the content, structure, performance or context of such
67
narratives considered as a whole. One of the most complex structural applications of
this technique is Propp’s (1968) analysis of Russian fairy tales, which established
character roles such as hero, helper, villain, and dispatcher and identified the linear
sequence of elements as well as the functions in the narratives. Furthermore, Riessman
(2008) states that if content analysis is useful when the interest is in the type and
number of independent themes observed in a text, discourse analysis would useful when
the interest is in how and why a story was constructed, what it accomplished and how
the audiences affected what may be told.
Laffey and Weldes (2004) argue that content analysis and discourse analysis are
oriented toward different research goals. For example, discourse analysis is
fundamentally concerned with power relations and the position of the meaning of the
language (as discussed in the previous section about the cultural dimension of narrative
analysis). Content analysis is situated outside the realm of these concerns. These authors
define discourse as the structures and practices that are used to construct the meaning of
reality. They emphasise that discourses do not merely reflect thoughts or realities, but
rather structure and constitute them (Riessman 2008). Similarly, Crawford (2004) tells
us that to understand discourse is to understand the fundamental logic of the social and
political forces that structural, institutional power has used to construct the meaning of a
language.
Neuendorf (2016) argues that qualitative analysis of texts is more appropriately
described and categorised as rhetorical analysis, narrative analysis, discourse analysis,
structuralist or semiotic analysis, interpretative analysis or critical analysis. However,
the author stated that "with only minor adjustment, many are appropriate for use in the
content analysis as well” (p.12). This notion is somewhat similar to that of Lowe
(2004), who states that content analysis should be part of quantitative analysis, but
presumably the reconstructing of content analysis in a probabilistic framework can
define a discourse (Neuendorf 2004).
Hardy, Harley and Phillips (2004) suggest there could be a mixture of two methods.
Some forms of qualitative content analysis, when the simple counting has developed to
more complex interpretation, including the consideration of the usage of words in
particular context, are compatible with discourse analysis. These authors outline seven
68
possibilities for using content analysis within a discourse analysis approach: the
constructed meaning of text occurs in particular context; the categories emerge from the
data; the coding schemes involve counting occurrences of meanings in text; the location
of the meaning of the text is in relation to a social context; the results are
understandable and plausible to others; the results are valid, with patterns in the
meaning of text constitutive of reality; and there is flexibility of consuming the meaning
and identifying the patterns.
Lowe (2004) supports the possibility of the mixture of discourse analysis and content
analysis. The author stated that discourse analysis method is “probabilistic content
analysis model” (p.16) and suggested that a contemporary reconstruction of this
technique can be effectively implemented with a list of categories and word lists.
Thinking of content analysis categories is similar to the linguist's thinking of parts of
speech (Hardy et al., p. 21). However, Lowe (2004) stresses that any assumption allows
the analysts to leverage the existing statistical methods means the content analysis
methodology is positioned outside epistemology. Therefore, content analysis is not
interested in how the meaning of text or language is constructed, but it can assume a
static conception of reality, and identify any change in the appropriate representation of
a consistent event from one state to another. Hardy et al. (2004) state that content
analysis assumes a consistency of meaning that allows counting and coding. It looks for
consistency and stability rather than change and flux that discourse analysis sees (Lowe
2004). This idea is suitable to the primary purpose of this research project, which
analyses the trend of reporting the IRAS boat arrivals through an extended period and
examines any consistent elements of that trend.
Macnamara (2005) has gone further to summarise the essential text elements commonly
studied in a qualitative content analysis:
• Adjectives used in descriptions (positive and negative) which give strong
indications of a speaker’s and writer’s attitude
• Metaphors and similes used
• Whether verbs are an active or passive voice
• The viewpoint of the narrator
• Tonal qualities such as aggressiveness, sarcasm, flippancy, emotional language
69
• Binaries established in texts and how these are positioned and used
• Visual imagery in the text
• Context factors such as the position and credibility of spokespersons or sources
quoted which affects meaning taken from the text.
In Macnamara’s (2005) definition, some essential text elements commonly studied in a
qualitative content analysis are originated from narrative theories such as the viewpoint
of the narrator; the opposition binaries established in texts; and the context factors or
sources quoted that affect the meaning taken from the text. To sum up, qualitative
media content analysis mostly deals with the ‘text’ dimension of the CDA and ignores
the ‘cultural’ dimension, which is the discursive discourse analysis. This allows media
content analysis to be considered as an alternative constructivist approach, thus
complementing narrative discourse analysis.
Coming to this project’s research method: a media content analysis for examining the
‘boat’ narrative
As discussed above, content analysis is a well-established method for discovering
overall patterns of observable content within a text over an extended period. Using the
‘textual’ analysis or story-based dimension (see Chapter 2, the Literature Review), this
research on news narratives about the IRAS boat arrivals is concerned with both the
syntagmatic approach and the paradigmatic approaches, acknowledging the structuralist
theories of Propp (1968) and Levi-Strauss (1963). The quantitative and qualitative
components of this research will now be briefly described.
First, a quantitative content analysis of news can shed light on the position of a
particular issue within the news agenda; the orientation of articles towards the issue; and
on the way key spokespeople or ‘news actors’ are selected by journalists for quotation
or citation, thereby revealing whose voices are privileged within particular debates and
whose are silent or sidelined. In this research, the content analysis of news narrative on
the IRAS boat arrivals is concerned about the consistent positioning of issues relating to
the IRAS, as situated in the news narrative. The positions of these specific issues
70
depend mostly on the voices of the ‘news actors’, in other words, the sources and their
quotes within the news.
The "news actor" whose voice is dominant in the news acts as the "main actor" of the
topic in editorial items (Macnamara 2005, p. 17). The present study analyses whether
Australian newspapers’ reports of IRAS boat arrivals consistently and dominantly
reflect government policy and political debate. The quantitative analysis will show
whether government sources were privileged over the IRAS’s sources in the media
coverage of boat arrivals over the past four decades. As Deuze (2005) comments, the
core aspect of professional knowledge is sourcing – knowing who include or exclude as
news actors in the media. The results of this study show that few categories of news
actor played an essential part in the news narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals, and
that the reportage of the IRAS boat arrivals repeatedly lacked a wide range of different
voices on the issue, as shown in Chapters One and Two.
Second, the qualitative approach of this study concerns the central messages of the story
and the functions of the main actors. The methodological concepts used in narrative
theories combine both syntagmatic and paradigmatic approaches. If the syntagmatic
approach tends to be both empirical and inductive, the paradigmatic approach is
speculative and deductive.
The syntagmatic narrative approach, following Propp’s analysis of Russian folktale
formulas, mostly deals with the structure of a text that, according to Dundes (1997), is
to be isolated from social and cultural context (Deuze 2005). The advantage of this
approach is to reach the most objective, independent and concrete evidence available.
This research on news narratives about the IRAS boat arrivals concerns the syntagmatic
analysis of news stories using concepts borrowed from Propp’s and Levi-Strauss’
theoretical frames. As discussed in Chapter 2 (the Literature Review) one of the
conclusions of Proppian studies is that narrative has an identical sequence of functions
that include contradictions and resolutions. In a news narrative, the point of view of the
story appears in the lead, the first paragraph. As media scholars have observed in their
studies, one of the techniques commonly used for this kind of narrative is called
"personalisation" of the “soft” and “hard” issues (Huisman, Murphet & Dunn 2006, p.
233). In line with this perspective, the present study compares the first four paragraphs
71
of news stories in the samples to see if there is any consistent form of the ‘boat’
narrative and to find the message in the news about the IRAS boat arrivals.
Initially, the analytical categories employed were designed to allow the separation of
news stories in main meta-categories such as negative, positive and neutral. Within
these meta-categories, articles were also categorised into the main theme of the story
such as problems of the IRAS boat arrivals, welcoming or sympathy to the people on
boats, and political/legal debates. The results of this content analysis included
identifying which of the themes emerging from the body of Australian newspapers were
considered the most newsworthy, whether a theme gained or lost dominance over time,
and which topics were associated with which categories of negative, positive or neutral
reportage. Fulton (2005) and Tuchman (1976) describe Berelson’s (1952) the use of
thematic analysis within content analysis. Thematic coding involves a three-step coding
method, starting with every article initially read carefully to identify implied and
explicit themes. The second step involves content analysis of each major theme, which
in the third step is arranged by newspaper and time (See Appendix G for Thematic
Analysis and Results).
The paradigmatic approach argues that a story unfolds paradigmatically concerning
oppositions, as illustrated in the works of Levi-Strauss. Chapter Two (the Literature
Review) explains the identical functions of characters in Propp’s formulation of fairy
tales and Levi-Strauss’s conceptually oppositional terms of characters such as Us &
Them, Good & Evil, Hero & Villain, and Helper & Victim. In this research project, the
primary pair of binary oppositions is identified through the analysis of the main actors,
actions, and objects of the news stories. The subsequent follow-up ‘duality’ character is
also observed if it appears.
The details of these news content analysis processes will be discussed jointly in the
research design section. Meanwhile, the next section discusses the samples used in this
research and the reasons for selecting specific samples and research processes.
72
3.3. Research sample
In this section, the strategies of sample selection are described. The present study
presents a content analysis of a solid three-period sample of 724 articles about IRAS
boat arrivals published in three newspapers during the federal election campaigns in
1977, 2001 and 2012. Included are one national daily newspaper, The Australian, and
two Sydney metropolitan daily newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald (The SMH)
and The Daily Telegraph (The DT).
The present study focuses heavily on the print media, which are almost always
‘traditional’ in their professional contexts but set the agenda of the industry in the global
and transnational arena, although in a multimedia news environment (Berelson 1952).
Schultz (2005) stated that newspapers are vital actors in the agenda-setting process,
especially in political and election agendas. Furthermore, the power of the press extends
beyond its content and influences other platforms, broadening its reach to an even larger
audience such as social media platforms (Van Dalen & Van Aelst 2014).
To be included in the samples, the three newspapers fulfilled the following conditions:
First, they were distributed in the metropolitan city of Sydney, had high circulation, and
might be able to shape public opinion. According to Roy Morgan Research (2018), The
Australian had the highest circulation nationally with 96,602 at the end of 2016,
although this had declined by 5.4% from 102,068 at the end of 2015. However, the
newspaper’s digital subscriptions increased 11.8%, from 75,018 at the end of 2015 to
83,833 at the end of 2016. The DT and The SMH were the dominant daily newspapers in
New South Wales in June 2017, with circulations of 221,641 and 88,634 respectively
(see Table 3.1).
73
Table 3.1 Australian Newspaper Readership
Source: http://www.roymorgan.com/industries/media/readership/newspaper-readership
Second, these three newspapers are published by two different newspaper groups, which
results in different philosophies, styles and voices raised. At the time of this research
The SMH was owned by Fairfax Media while Rupert Murdoch’s News Limited owned
both The Australian and The DT. The SMH, as the oldest newspaper in Australia, first
published in 1831, is considered one of the most prestigious newspapers in Australia
(Manne 2011). Over two decades ago, Goodall and Jakubowicz (1994) commented that
The Australian was positioned as the voice of the conservative and technocratic elite.
Meanwhile, The SMH is considered to be more liberal, although it leans toward the
politically conservative side.
Third, the newspapers include both local (The SMH and The DT) and national (The
Australian) perspectives. The News Limited papers, in particular, could set the agenda
for other media because the company owns Australian television, radio and other media
outlets. According to Manne (2011):
Because of the dominant position it has assumed in its Canberra coverage, The
Australian influences the way the much more widely read News Limited
tabloids, like The Daily Telegraph … report national politics and frequently set
agenda of commercial radio and television and the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation (ABC), even the upmarket breakfast programme on radio National.
74
For Manne (2011), the power of the News Limited print media extends beyond their
content and may affect the content of radio or television media outlets, thereby
influencing an even larger audience. Manne calls this an "unhealthy influence" and
quotes Baldwin as saying it had, "power without responsibility” (p. 7). Shultz (2005)
considers that there is the symbiotic relationship when the print media has the power to
influence news television and radio. According to Bye (2006), the Sydney readers of
The DT were encouraged to presume themselves as the pioneers in Australian television
history. The author stated that The DT’s lively tabloid format promoted strongly for
television content, which either entertains or delivers issues of community and national
identity.
Last, the three newspapers were selected because their publications for the years 2001
through to 2013 are available electronically through the University of Technology
Sydney library database, while microfilm copies of the year 1977 are available through
the of New South Wales State Library. The electronic form facilitated a systematic
keyword-based search strategy to identify articles related to the IRAS boat arrivals.
Electronic databases (Factiva and Newsbank) were searched for news and feature
articles in The Australian, The SMH and The DT that contained the terms ‘refugees’,
‘asylum seekers’ and ‘boat people’. The microfilms covering the three-week election
campaign in 1977 were read carefully to collect precise samples of published articles
pertaining to the IRAS boat arrival issue. This was a time-consuming but important part
of the research.
Time frame
The three newspapers were content analysed to find dominant and identical narratives,
categories and patterns of orientation towards the unauthorised boat and IRAS arrivals
to Australia during three weeks of each of the 1977, 2001 and 2013 federal election
campaigns These three time periods were selected because of their significance in
Australia’s history of immigration.
The year 1977 was chosen because it was a crucial moment in Australia's negotiation of
the increase in the number of Indo-Chinese boat people. The year marked the new era of
Asian migration in Australia with the first Vietnamese boat people arriving in Darwin
amid the election campaign (Smit 2010, p. 82). Meanwhile, as the Australian population
75
reached 14 million that year, the government began to establish relations with Vietnam
– the first contact of the two nations after the Vietnam War. The year 1977 also saw the
last sea journey of the Australis as it brought 650 British migrants to Australia
(Plowman 2006, p. 138). In addition, the multicultural Special Broadcasting Service
(SBS) was set up in Sydney and Melbourne in response to the encouragement of
‘multiculturalism’ in the Galbally report on migrant services (Waxman 1998).
The year 2001 was chosen because the IRAS issue has been credited for the
conservative Coalition Government's electoral win that year (Bye 2006). On 11
September 2001, the US World Trade Center attacks were identified as “one of those
moments in which history splits, and we define the world as ‘before’ and ‘after’” (Frank
& Malreddy 2018, p. 92). This event in New York affected the Australian federal
election and Australians’ attitudes to IRAS boat arrivals, especially when dealing with
the ‘Tampa’ and the ‘Children Overboard’ incidents. In its response to the news of
children supposedly being thrown overboard in the northern waters of Australia, The
SMH compared this incident to the Vietnamese tragedy and how the Vietnamese boat
arrivals affected the 1977 election. News media then presented two photographs taken
by the Navy of ‘a mother with a child in the water’ and ‘the father, mother and child in
the water’. One day later, Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson was quoted by the
news media confirming the evidence and saying that boat people had “from time to
time” thrown their children into the water to attract help from the Navy. The Australian
on 8 November 2001 quoted former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser as saying that in
the 1970s there had been the same concern among Australians over boat people from
South-East Asia, but all the government's efforts had been directed to easing public
fears rather than raising them.
Last, the federal election campaign of 2013 was the most recent period that data could
be collected for. In 2013, the event of 10 Iranian men holding a hunger strike at the
Christmas Island Detention Centre was raised in the debates between the Labor and
Coalition parties before the federal election of that year. Whitlam et al. (2013)
commented that the situation that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd faced in mid-2013 was
not significantly different from the situation that faced PM John Howard in the early
2000s. Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott emphasised the party’s strong view on asylum
76
seekers during these debates and promised he would deny permanent residency to
30,000 asylum seekers if he won the election.
Notably, the present study found a distinctive pattern during these three timeframes: the
appearance of IRAS boats during each federal election campaign influenced the debates
of the candidates. During each campaign, a particular boat event was significant:
• the “Song Be 12” incident in the middle of the 1977 campaign
• the “children overboard” incident at a time of the 2001 campaign
• the cry for help from a sinking smuggling boat with 106 people on board during
the 2013 campaign.
These three timeframes were therefore selected for this investigation into how the news
narratives reported on similar news events on similar occasions. This study considers
whether journalists changed their storytelling about the IRAS boat arrivals or whether it
was a continuation of historical reporting.
The 1977 federal election campaign started on 21 November 1977 and ended on 10
December 1977, a three-week period. The 2001 federal election campaign lasted five
weeks from 5 October 2001 to 10 November 2001, and the 2013 federal election
campaign ran for five weeks from 4 August 2013 to 7 September 2013. For consistency
of data selection, I took only three-week sample periods in the 2001 and 2013
campaigns because the 1977 federal election campaign lasted only three weeks.
Boat people and refugees surged onto the national agenda during these selected election
campaigns, as politicians debated over solutions for what was defined as a growing
problem for Australia. Research has identified elections as critical contributors to public
understandings because elections represent a period of increased and in-depth media
reporting around a range of issues (Burstein 2003). Through the lens of these federal
election campaigns, it is also possible to look at IRAS-related events that happened in
the years before and following the elections, thereby offering future voters a way of
observing such events with increased attention. Under the pressure of an election and
increased voter readership, the media will tend to show stronger views on this issue.
77
Sensitivity to IRAS boat arrivals has been on the media agenda in Australia since the
1970s (Betts 2001). The arrivals of unauthorised boats in Australian waters during
Australian election campaigns have provided strong emotional cues to the nation and
elicited historical memories around immigration. Research has shown that when
emotions are triggered by certain conditions they can facilitate opinion change and
motivate information seeking and political action (Marcus, Neuman & MacKuen 2000).
Refugees and boat people may be considered an emotional issue for which the
Australian people expected immediate and effective attention during the three time
periods studied. It is suggested that to win votes candidates from both major parties in
the election campaigns relied on the voters’ emotions on the boat arrival issue and gave
reassurances that something would be done about the problem.
In campaigns dominated by this emotive issue of refugees and boat people, much of the
literature reviewed in Chapter Two demonstrates that many of the politicians’
statements can be labelled ‘rhetorical’. Politicians’ rhetorical statements do not provide
any real solutions, but they allow voters to feel as if the politicians are acting to solve a
problem. As suggested in Chapter Two, there was no evidence of a prominent ‘solution’
theme found in the media coverage of the IRAS issue. Possible solutions are mainly to
be found in the policies of the government, which has the power and authority to solve
issues concerning the community. Therefore, in this research, each election timeframe
was chosen with the motivation to find a solution theme for the IRAS boat arrival issue
in the year of that election.
Exclusion of samples
The content analysis of the text in the research samples excluded cartoons, readers’
commentaries, op/ed pieces, exhibitions, television program schedules, weather
bulletins, book reviews, entertainment announcements and advertisements. A total of
724 articles containing keywords relating to refugees, boat people and asylum seekers
were analysed. From among these 724 articles, a further 115 articles were excluded
from the content analysis because they did not fulfil the study requirements of
discussing the IRAS boat arrival issue in the headline or in their first four paragraphs.
78
As already mentioned, the main subject of an article is usually mentioned in the first
few paragraphs and in the headline of the news story.
Also excluded were those articles that contained the keywords only once, or where the
meaning of keywords did not align with the definition of refugees, boat people or
asylum seekers, as represented in this thesis. Duplicated articles, which appeared more
than once in a different search category or appeared both on the front page and the
inside pages of the newspapers, were also excluded. For duplicates, the latest and more
extended version was selected.
In the end, the final sample contained 609 items that were eligible for content analysis.
Numbers of articles generated by each year will be shown in Chapter 4, the Quantitative
Results chapter (see Appendix A for the list of sample articles).
3.4. Research design
The research design consisted of two separate methodological strands: one involved a
quantitative content analysis, using computer software to investigate wide-scale
linguistic patterns and trends in the data, while the other was a qualitative content
analysis to carry out a close interpretation of the underlying themes of the materials.
In the quantitative process, the text was coded into established categories to support the
generation of ideas, which is the first-level coding process. This first process contained
two steps, manual coding and software coding. The steps in this process will now be
described in some detail.
First, all the microfilms of the selected articles covered the IRAS issue during the 1977
federal election campaign were typed into Microsoft Word files. The Microsoft Word
file of each article contained all the text from the microfilm version, except the images
and visual information. Second, all the selected articles from the 2001 and 2013
campaigns were generated from the databases provided by the library of the University
of Technology Sydney. The SMH samples were searched from the Sydney Morning
Herald Archive database and the Factiva database, while other articles from The DT and
The Australian were generated from the Factiva database only. The Factiva database
provided access to full-text coverage of major Australian and international newspapers
and journals, without the images and visual information.
79
Third, all the samples were skim-read to decide which articles were eligible for analysis
and which should be excluded, according to the requirements provided in the previous
section. When the exact number of articles was chosen, a process of first-level coding
began through manual line-by-line analysis. The coder read through the samples and
filled in particular analytic categories in the coding sheet (see Appendix B for an
example of the codebook).
This first-level coding began with a line-by-line analysis of the explanatory variables,
such as publication, date, sequence number, section, page number, type of article, the
source of the article and whether the story was of national or international context.
These variables of subject matter were based on what the article was mainly about and
were designated as the ‘first content’. Second- and third-level manual coding that
included additional variables for analysing the primary and secondary content allowed
more detailed indexing to be undertaken. Variables coded in the second process
comprised the source analysis, the occasion for the report, the main theme of the story,
the main actor, object and action, and the attitude of the main actor.
Each research sample was read carefully to fill out the common core topic categories,
the main actor and object and the action and attitude of the main actor toward the object.
First, the overall subject matter was surveyed through examination of the headline and
the first two paragraphs of the article. Then this main topic was summarised in a simple
clause. After surveying the main topic, the data was used to create the common core
topic categories, which contained all the topics surveyed in the sample.
This method helped to find underlying narratives in the news stories. The main topic of
the article was given the highest coverage in the article. So, following the inverted
pyramid formula, the criteria for choosing the main topic of an article relied on the
headline, the position of the subject matter in the article, and the covering scale given.
After initial coding of the main topic, I compared topics by days and by the three
newspapers to notice the flow of narration, categorised them into similar areas and
extracted the topics into related sections. The samples were read another time to find the
relationship between the common core topics. This time the reading was not followed
by days but by categories and sections to check whether the decision had been carefully
80
and reasonably made. The last reading extracted significant examples to give the topics
substantial evidence for discussion.
The whole coding process was conducted manually, which required my reading through
the samples several times before engaging with computerisation. In the computerised
data analysis, SPSS software was used to calculate the repetition of variables and for
following the sets of questions generated in the codebook. The data originated from the
manual coding process was applied to SPSS software. The results generated from the
SPSS calculation were then illustrated in tables, graphs and charts, using Microsoft
Excel and Google Charts.
In the process of qualitative analysis, concepts were further explored and indexed using
NVivo software that contained the master codes or core nodes and their subsequent
concept formation comprising sub-categories or branch nodes for a whole project. All
texts from the dataset were copied and pasted into NVivo software to find the ‘word
frequencies’, ‘key-words-in-context’, and the word count of anti-IRAS and pro-IRAS
from the quotes and paraphrasing of the main actors.
The ‘word frequencies’ method is used to quickly determine facts of the text such as the
the vocabulary in use and the general topics of the detailed narrative (Burstein 2003).
Besides, the ‘word frequencies’ analysis shows the greatest concerns, changes and
differences in emphasis in a text. However, Weber (1989) suggests other methods are
needed to be conducted in order to confirm the validity of word frequency data
(Anderson 2012). The ‘word frequencies’ result was tested a second and third time in
two more professional websites, namely wordcounter.com and wordcounter.net. During
this stage, I excluded small words such as ‘the’ and ‘it’ to get the exact frequency list.
For more effective results the frequency list used only the roots of words and groups
variations together. In the last step of this method, the frequency list was set to present
the 50 most frequent words appearing in all texts.
Regarding the context of the words related to IRAS boat arrivals, the ‘key-word-in-
context’ method was used. This method has been found relevant to the study of how
words appear in the text and how they are used (Weber 1989). The keywords searched
include ‘immigrant’ or ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’ or ‘boat people’. I considered three
types of the context in which these terms appeared: Type 1 included political context;
81
Type 2 approached the issues from the IRAS's perspectives; and Type 3 presented a
neutral context that related to both politics and the IRAS.
Finally, to study the main actor’s action and attitude through their quotes and
paraphrasing, sentences containing the word ‘said’ or ‘says’ were picked up. These
words were chosen because they ranked very high in the list of ‘word frequencies’ in
the three newspapers (as will be shown in Chapter 4, the quantitative results chapter).
‘Word count’ was then used rather than column inches to determine the volume, and the
attitudes of the main actor assessed in comparison to other sources. All the results from
NVivo analysis were then illustrated in tables. This allowed me to compare and contrast
these results with the SPSS results, and make possible claims and arguments in the
discussion.
In order to test the method and examine whether the hypothesis was consistent with the
literature, I conducted a pilot study. The next section presents a brief description of this
initial project.
Pilot study
I conducted a pilot study in the first year of this research project. This was a content
analysis of the 2012 introduction of the Pacific Solution Policy 2.0 with regard to the
IRAS boat arrivals, as reported in the two prominent Sydney newspapers (The SMH and
The DT) and the leading national newspaper (The Australian). This content analysis of
74 articles demonstrated how this offshore processing policy was themed, and it
analysed most of the concerns relating to the IRAS boat arrivals. Quantitative results
showed that these Australian newspapers focused on the political theme relating to the
policy and paid no attention to the IRAS migration theme. Results also suggested the
dominance of government and political sources as the main actors of the news narrative
and the absence of the IRAS and other Australian voices in the reports. Details of the
results can be summarised as follows.
The Pacific Solution Policy 2.0 was announced on 14 August 2012. On this day, there
was the highest number of articles reporting the rebirth of the policy (12/74 articles).
Only The SMH had published news about the Pacific Solution 2.0 on the previous day.
Meanwhile, The Australian gained the most significant percentage of articles published
82
on page one (31%), followed by The SMH (16%) and The DT (15%). Regarding the
section in which most sample articles appeared, The DT labelled this issue the “Pacific
Solution”, The SMH referred to it as the “Asylum Solution”, and The Australian named
it the “Asylum Crisis”.
Results of the word frequency analysis
Among the 50 most frequent words used in 74 articles, “Nauru” was the most repeated
word (349 times, 0.69%), followed by “government” (311 times, 0.61%). The words
“asylum seekers” appeared 299 times, which is notable as the word “refugees” featured
only 181 times. There was no appearance of “humanitarian”, “UNHCR” or “advocate”,
which were related to the refugee’s perspectives in the list of 50 most frequent words.
The word “said” appeared very frequently in three newspapers, ranking 8th in The DT,
2nd in The Australian and 5th in The SMH, showing the reliance of journalists on sources
and quotes of sources.
A comparison of the three newspapers showed that The Australian and The DT used
similar words with similar frequencies. For example, the top 10 words showed
significant similarities; among these were “Nauru”, “asylum seeker”, “govern”,
“Gillard”, “island” and “said”. Meanwhile, The SMH list showed differences compared
to the other two newspapers. For instance, “refugee” ranked 6th in this newspaper’s list
but ranked 16th and 19th respectively in The Australian and The DT lists. Similarly,
“Malaysia” (which referred to the Labor Opposition’s alternative IRAS solution) ranked
11th in The SMH list while it was in 27th of The DT list and dropped to 47th in The
Australian list. In contrast, “Labor”, which was ranked 7th and 13th in The Australian
and The DT respectively, fell to 49th in The SMH list.
Notably, some of the 50 significant words related to the Pacific Solution Policy
appeared in The SMH but not in The DT and The Australian, and vice versa. For
example, “recommendation” ranked 33rd in The SMH list but did not appear in the other
two newspapers' lists. "Green" appeared 21st in The DT and The Australian lists but
was not among The SMH list. “Support” ranked 22nd in The Australian list, but it did not
appear in The SMH and The DT.
Results of key-word-in-context analysis
83
The key word “Pacific Solution” appeared 117 times in all three newspapers. Results
showed that Type 1 (political context) was the dominant context, which accounted for
50% appearance in The DT, 42.3% in The Australian and 39.4% in The SMH. Type 2
(refugee and immigration context) made up 25%, 30.5% and 31.5% respectively, while
Type 3 (non-identical context) were 25%, 27.1% and 28.9% respectively.
Usage of sources
Quotes from politicians and government sources dominated these news stories. For
example, quotes from Government sources, Immigration officials and politicians
accounted for 37% of all sources, followed by the Prime Minister with 12% and the
expert panel with 11%. By contrast, quotes from Australian residents made up only 1%
of all sources, which was the smallest percentage. The IRAS’s voices shared 3% of all
sources quoted, while the voices from Nauru, PNG (Papua New Guinea) and
international politicians were quite high, accounting for 16% of all sources. Results
showed a strong correlation among the three newspapers in using the sources. The
Australian covered the broadest range of sources, while The DT ignored quite a
significant number, including refugees’, advisors’ and international voices. The Prime
Minister earned the most quoted statement, especially: “They’re over it. I’m over it.
We’re all over it”, which was directly quoted three times in The DT on 14 August and
The Australian on 14 and 15 August 2012.
Word count of anti- and pro- Pacific Solution policy of Government quotes and
paraphrasing
The results of the pilot study showed that all three newspapers relied heavily on sources
from Government, which made up over 50% of all quotes and paraphrasing containing
the word “said” (see Table 3.2).
Table 3.2 Volume of Government quotes and paraphrasing in pilot study
84
The Government quotes included those of politicians, the Prime Minister, Immigration
officials and expert panels, but excluded quotes of former or retired politicians. The
results illustrate that the principal actors in this story were Government politicians and
officials. Notably, in The DT, Government sources had nearly twice the number of
quotes than all other sources, which meant that the Pacific Solution was primarily a
political story. Most Government quotes and paraphrasing were extracted from articles,
which reported debates among politicians in Parliament House regarding the Pacific
Solution policy.
Table 3.3 presents the attitudes of Government sources regarding the Pacific Solution
policy. While The SMH appears to have lacked anti-policy quotes and paraphrasing, it
gave a voice to other politicians who advised the Prime Minister to consider the
Malaysia plan or the people-swap strategy. Meanwhile, The DT and The Australian
gave twice as many quotes and paraphrasing to the pro-policy sources as they did to
their opponents. The supporting politicians argued that the Pacific Solution was
necessary to stop future asylum seekers attempting to come on boats.
85
Table 3.3 Attitudes of Government quotes and paraphrasing in pilot study
Conversely, anti-policy quotes showed that this policy would be expensive, it would not
work, and there would be an increasing number of people coming, regardless of the
strict policy. The Green Party's voice, which emphasised the inhumanity of this policy,
disappeared in The SMH and was very weak in other newspapers. The message that
these newspapers sent to the public was that the Pacific Solution was a convincing
strategy.
Analysis of the tones of sample articles found that journalists had dramatised details in
order to link the Pacific Solution 2.0 to its previous namesake. Romano (2007)
illustrates two points of view about the performance of journalists concerning
conservative and over-indulgent views of the refugee issue. While conservative
journalists criticised PM Julia Gillard’s delay in accepting the offshore processing
policy, over-indulgent journalists described the incident on the MV Parsifal as tragedic
as the MV Tampa. This led to a dramatic situation in Parliament House, where a fight
occurred between Ms Gillard and Mr Abbott, which resulted in a victory to Mr Abbott
and the surrender of Ms Gillard. The dramatic atmosphere increased when an asylum
seeker died because of falling at sea. It was in that period that the Pacific Solution was
reborn as Pacific Solution 2.0. Journalists stressed the relationship of the Tampa and
Parsifal incidents in order to recall the feelings expressed by readers when the Pacific
Solution 1.0 commenced.
3.5. Variables explanation
Results from the pilot study described in the previous section correlated with those of
studies reviewed in the literature and with the background to Australia’s history of
86
immigration. This research motivated me to continue with the present study and use
essential elements of narrative theories examined in the news content analysis method
to answer the primary research question: Has the news narrative on IRAS boat arrivals
remained unchanged over 40 years of reporting. Alongside this are the two research
sub-questions:
Sub-question 1: What were the prominent narratives in Australian newspaper reports on
IRAS boat arrivals in Australia during the chosen time frames?
• 1a. Did the news narrative of the 2013 boat arrivals echo the news narrative of
the boat arrivals in 2001 and 1977 within the chosen time frames?
• 1b. Regarding the volume and the frequency of the news flows, are there
intensive news waves, triggered by key events and key actors during the chosen
time frames?
Sub-question 2: What was the main theme of the news narrative about IRAS boat
arrivals during the three time periods?
• 2a. What was the share of affirmative, critical or balanced statements in news
orientations toward the IRAS boat arrivals?
• 2b. Who has the largest share in the number of affirmative or critical messages,
the media or government sources?
• 2c. Were government actors privileged over the IRAS ones in the news
narratives on boat arrivals?
A content-coding strategy tailored to the sample was developed for analysing the
narrative dataset. This coding process, which aims to make sense of related news stories
through the two levels of observable content, will now be explained.
Publication information
Categorising the articles by publication, date, page number and size of the article was
the first step. The second step was to code the section, sequence number, type of article
and sources.
87
The section is the location of the article within the newspaper. The general news section
is the ‘main’ section of the newspaper. The other sections are specific sections within
the newspaper that have a distinct heading at the top of the page or an accurately
labelled heading for a set of stories such as national, world, election campaign, and
editorial.
The sequence number is the number given to stories as they sequentially appear in each
daily issue of the paper. For example, the first article coded for the October 1st issue of
a newspaper would be given the sequence number 1. The second article in the same
issue is a 2, and so forth. For each new day or a new paper, the sequence restarts at 1.
Types of articles are labelled as local news, national news, international news, feature
article, editorials, interviews and columns. A news article covers an event that has
occurred within the past 48 hours. Although it may contain background or historical
material, the basis of the article is the news event.
The source of the article is the primary source that appears in the newspaper. Usually,
the source is inicated by the by-line at the start of the article. There are six categories for
this variation in the present study: the staff writer or newspaper's source; un-attributable
source; government or political source; mixed local or wire service; other news service;
and other specific media agency source.
The direct quotes variable assesses whether the direct quotes appears in the article. This
variable was used to examine the reliance of journalists on the main actor, and how they
reproduced and amplified the opinions of the vital source into the news narrative on
IRAS boat arrivals.
Main actors and objects
News actors are referred to as the ‘Who’ element in the journalist's classic list of
questions to ask when telling a story: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?
The question to ask is: in the news narrative whose views are reproduced, whose are
expanded and whose are passive? News actors are people whose opinions and actions
are reported or quoted within the media text. The range of types of news actors may
88
have to be expanded as coding progresses (see Appendix C for the list of news actors in
the present study).
This is how the main actor in the article is discovered from the range of types of news
actors. The main actor is the figure who is given the highest coverage in a news story.
The main actor is judged through the ordering of the presentation and the visibility of
actors in the headline. The coder can also select the main actor of the story by finding
out who is cited more clearly in the headline. After choosing the main actor, the next
step is to evaluate the action of the main actor such as whether the actor is taking a
critical, balanced or affirmative action toward the object.
From the perspective of an article as a story, the main actor should act toward an object.
The variable of the main object is used to assess who is the object of the action
described in the article. If the article has a direct object, then the object is coded (see
Appendix C for types of objects in the present study).
Orientation of the articles
In this study, the orientation of the articles variable was assessed by examining the
relationship between positive, negative and neutral statements about the IRAS boat
arrivals in the headline and the first two paragraphs. This variable was also used to
examine the occasions for report and the election campaign visibility in the news story,
and to make sense of the thematic analysis of the next variable.
The occasion for report variable measures the stimulus of the action or events of the
article, that is, the occasion that created the article. For example, in the 1977 dataset, if a
committee issued a report that was critical of PM Malcolm Fraser's refugee policy, then
it is a political setting. The coding of ‘No identifiable setting’ would apply to a news
story that did not have a clear indication of an occasion, whether or not it was initiated
by the political setting, by the election campaign, or by the media.
The campaign visibility variable examined whether the campaign was explicitly
mentioned in the article. For instance, an article about a campaign event, a discussion of
a candidate's standings in the election, or a party’s campaign strategy would qualify as
campaign stories. In contrast, a biography of a politician’s refugee ancestor, for
89
example, or Mr Rudd's actions as current PM (signing bills, meeting with Immigration
Minister, etc.) would not be regarded as campaign stories, unless these events were
explicitly linked to the campaign.
The tone of the reporter would also be taken into account. This variable would assess
whether comments by the reporter reinforced (or reflected positively on) the main
actor’s actions or deflated the message of the main actor (negative comments), or were
descriptive comments or straight comments with no evaluation.
3.6. Media content analysis: methodological limitations and options
This study contains certain limiting conditions. Some of these are related to the
common critiques of news content analysis methodology in general, and others are
inherent in this study's research design.
Methodological limitations
Krippendorff (2012) lists some disadvantages of content analysis method: if the method
only consists of word counts, it disregards the context of the text, is reductive, does not
explain the ‘why’ of the content, and is merely descriptive, not explanatory. Neuendorf
(2016) suggests media content analysts might obsess about the number, not the insight
of the phenomenon. For example, in the results of the present study, a balance in the
number of quotes from politicians and IRAS may have been reached, but one cannot say
a newspaper adopted objective and multi-perspective reportage about the IRAS boat
arrival issue.
There are other limitations of this methodology, such as scholars mainly relying on the
language of the news story and overlooking the context of the story or the meaning of
the images related to the story. Moreover, as Klocker and Dunn (2003) point out, the
social context of the language is separate from the text: empirical results of the content
analysis are too easily divorced from a sense of history, social interaction or
significance when taken out of social context. Social context has become more
significant in the digital age with the emergence of multimedia platforms where readers
can leave comments and ther social media responses. The interpretive analysis in this
study was unable to answer questions about professional media practice such as What
90
made the reporters react to different IRAS news and events? and How were the media
decisions processed in a particular newsroom?
Klocker and Dunn (2003) admit that content analysis had been criticised because of “a
tendency for results to be analysed in isolation from the very processes through which
media images were constructed” (p. 74). Hartley (1995) once pointed out that
journalism is a “textual system” that needed an “interdisciplinary investigation” (p. 20).
To add social context to journalism study, Lamble (2004) cites Startt and Sloan who
claim that main ‘real-world’ evidence in journalistic research could be sourced from
published personal records, published official documents, secondary written sources,
statistical sources, oral sources, pictorial sources and physical remains. The credibility
of source material is the main concern in journalistic research. Journalists are also
concerned with facts, and as with historical research, journalistic research should
interpret the ‘real world’ (Breen 1998).
Missing data
Missing data is a critical issue when the researcher is the only coder conducting the
content analysis. In this project, possible missing data may come from the 1977 data set.
The 1977 data was mostly selected from the microfilms provided by the New South
Wales State Library. Reading of this data took two months and it is possible I missed
some data. However, I have not had a second chance to access the microfilm for
revision.
I may also have missed data in the placement of samples data set that I collected from
the database provided by the library of the University of Technology Sydney. The form
of the article generated from the computerised database makes it impossible to assess
whether the article spread into two pages or stayed on one page. Some of the articles
appear on the front page and the inside page. For such articles, I coded it as the first
page it appears on, which may affect the quantitative results, especially when analysing
the placement of the article.
Recognising these limitations, I have taken two measures. First, two methods of coding
are involved in this project: manual coding and digital SPSS coding. The standard
samples will back up if anything happens in SPSS coding. For example, with a typing
91
mistake, the chart result may be unexpectedly wrong. Using the data shown in the chart,
the I would come back to the SPSS file of variables and data to find where the missing
data were placed. The number of samples was noted and implemented in the data-
coding sheet. This happened three times during the SPSS analysis.
Second, an underlying condition for conducting a content analysis with minimum
limitations is having clear and sound research question and hypotheses. The website
Error Statistics Philosophy claims that 90 per cent of the hypotheses considered by
scientists are false. However, the hypotheses and research questions are relevant to
design of the research and draw the path for the project. In the present study, there were
some delays due to my revisiting the research questions and testing the hypotheses.
Other limitations of the present study
One of the critical limitations of this study is the issue of subjectivity and potential bias
regarding my participation in a doctoral program, as both an international PhD student
and as a Vietnamese radio content producer for the Special Broadcasting Services in
Australia. This project about the IRAS boat arrivals has reminded me of interviews I
have had with Vietnamese boat people about their experiences and their lives in
Australia. Their stories may have affected my judgment and my arguments in this
matter.
The relative paucity of analyses of Australian newspaper coverage of the IRAS boat
arrivals suggests a need for more research about the journalistic reporting of the IRAS
issues considered here. It has been noted that multi-platform digital media and broadcast
journalism have been taking the lead in the information age (McCombs 2018), while
traditional print journalism is facing a decrease in its impact on the public. Internet and
broadcast journalism have become the main sources of information. Prospective studies
could therefore benefit from integrating broadcasting data into the research on future
IRAS boat arrivals. Besides, as discussed in the previous section, ‘real-world’ data
could also be taken into account in qualitative studies to investigate the social context of
the issue and the experiences of the journalists as well as the IRAS community.
92
3.7. Concluding remarks
This chapter provides a detailed description of the data selection and sampling for the
news content analysis. Concepts of narrative analysis and content analysis are put
forward, focusing on how the content analysis was used to guide the research outcomes.
The limitations of the methodology are also discussed by demonstrating how the present
study overlooks the social context of the real-world journalism practice.
The newspaper industry works alongside power groups who give opinions, spread
ideas, and lead public opinion (Van Dalen & Van Aelst 2014). Choosing three dominant
Australian newspapers for this research was thought an effective way of reaching the
higher stages of public opinion and investigating the news narratives about IRAS boat
arrivals. Print news content analysis, as a constructivist approach, has been chosen in
order to find consistent patterns and elements appeared in the IRAS news stories, and to
examine whether the news narratives on boat arrivals remained unchanged through the
three time periods.
In this research, news content analysis has been chosen as a particularly reliable means
of analysing quantitative and qualitative data such that the reliability of coding
decisions can be confirmed by periodically revisiting previously coded data to check
their stability over time (Roberts, Priest & Traynor 2006).
The research also asks to what extent the news narratives of IRAS boat arrivals during
Australian federal election campaigns have drawn on substantial myths initially
established in the 1970s and whether these narratives should be continuously examined
for the affect they have on the public’s perceptions of this particular form of
immigration and of the boat people who are traditionally considered to be ‘illegal
immigrants’. Lest there be future media-hypes triggered by events similar to those
occurring in the three time periods of this study, it is crucial for researchers to study
both the content and volume of related news, as well as the actors and sources that are
dominant. The next chapter presents and critically analyses the quantitative results of
the study.
93
Chapter Four: Quantitative Content Analysis Results
4.1. Introduction
This chapter presents the first level of content analysis, which is a description of the
quantitative results. The results were assessed based on the hypothesis set out in
Chapter 1. I supposed that the news narrative on IRAS boat arrivals remained
unchanged by describing reality through indicative characters and by repeating the news
templates. The research covers three federal election campaigns in 1977, 2001 and
2013, during the periods of the three weeks leading up to the polling day of each
election. The first election campaign studied covered the periods 22 November 1977 to
9 December 1977. The second campaign, from 23 October 2001 to 9 November 2001,
and the third campaign 20 August 2013 to 6 September 2013.
In this chapter the overall characteristics of the The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), The
Australian and The Daily Telegraph (DT) coverage of the IRAS boat arrivals are
examined to quantitatively answer the question about whether the reporting of 2013
IRAS stories echoes the reports of IRAS in 2001 and 1977. The volume of the news is
essential, as are the placement, section and type of the sample articles. As well, the
articles’ sources, main actors, quotes and the occasions of the report are examined to
answer the research sub-question about whether IRAS boat arrivals were electoral
issues that official sources repeatedly privileged over IRAS sources.
4.2. General descriptive result
Volume of coverage
As outlined in the Chapter 3, methodology chapter, articles were selected using a
manual coding process combined with SPSS software that calculates the relevant
samples in the three newspapers. A total of 724 articles containing keywords relating to
refugees, boat people and asylum seekers were analysed. Excluded were:
• cartoons
• letters to the editor
• op/ed pieces
• exhibitions
94
• television program schedules
• weather reports
• book reviews
• duplicate articles (i.e. articles that were generated more than once in different
search categories; for duplicates, the latest version was selected).
• articles with the keywords appearing only once and where the meaning of
keywords does not align with the definition of refugees, boat people or asylum
seekers, as represented in this thesis.
After exclusion, a total of 609 news items were selected and analysed.
For the 1977 federal election, 89 articles on the IRAS policy and physical arrivals were
analysed. This selection of documents was 14.6% of all the articles analysed. In 2001,
356 samples accounted for 58.5% of all articles, which is more than double the number
in 2013 (Figure 4.1). Of 164 samples in the 2013 timeframe, The Australian accounted
for 54.9% of all articles, The SMH 28% and The DT 17.1%. Although The Australian
accounted for over 60% of all samples in August 2013, its volume of coverage dropped
to well under half its previous volume in September 2013 (Figure 4.2). In the three
timeframes, the 21 days selected were divided into two-month periods, and for each
month the coverage lasted for one and a half weeks, except the year 2013.
95
Figure 4.1 Volume of coverage by year
As shown in Figure 4.2, in 2001 all three newspapers produced the highest number of
each overall volume, and the numbers of each newspaper’s articles were almost evenly
distributed in two months of coverage. In 1977, The SMH presented the highest
percentage of coverage of the IRAS boat arrivals, with 44.9%, while The DT had the
smallest number of articles, accounting for 16.9% of all samples. This was also The
DT’s smallest percentage over the three time periods cited.
Overall, The Australian showed more interest in IRAS boat arrivals during the election
campaigns than the other two newspapers, producing the highest number of samples
during 1977, 2001 and 2013 with 281 articles. The SMH was second, producing 221
articles, and The DT 107 articles, which was about one third the volume of The
Australian and half of The SMH coverage. Considered ‘quality’ and ‘politically
oriented’, The Australian and The SMH overwhelmingly dominated the discussion of
the IRAS boat arrivals. Meanwhile, The DT, being a ‘popular’ newspaper, produced less
boat coverage during the election campaigns.
96
Figure 4.2 Number of articles each newspaper published each month of examination
The trends shown in Figure 4.2 demonstrate that the three newspapers increased or
maintained a high number of IRAS-related articles as the polling day of each respective
election drew nearer, except The Australian in September 2013, as reported above. The
Australian’s overall trend of reporting about IRAS boat arrivals in 2013 was similar to
The DT’s in 1977. Both of these newspapers reduced the volume of IRAS news articles
in the second month during the last days of the campaign. Chapter Three, the
methodology chapter, explains the importance of the ‘boat’ issue as ‘news value’ during
the election times.
Describing the coverage by day, Figure 4.3 shows that during each of the three
timeframes, the news of boat arrivals recurred coincidently and significantly during the
three federal election campaigns. The peaks of press coverage can be divided into three
stages. The first peak was the boat arrivals or boat tragedies in the early days of the
election campaign. The second was when the boat incident forced candidates to include
the issue in policy and strategy debates. The third peak occurred during the last week of
the campaign when the leading party would take a strong stance on IRAS policy.
97
Figure 4.3 Comparison of the total number of articles per day of the three newspapers and
the highest number of articles from a newspaper
Figure 4.3 shows that in 1977, there were three peaks of the number of all articles
covering the IRAS topic, on 22 November, 29 November and 5 December. However,
The DT surprisingly ignored the IRAS issue when racing to the polling day (only four
articles in December 1977). The other newspapers still followed up the IRAS news
stories, with articles appearing every weekday in December and the volumes of
coverage similar in both The SMH and The Australian.
The intensive 1977 election news waves (media-hypes) were triggered by these critical
events of the boat people. On Tuesday 22 November 1977, the news narrative told
stories of six small Vietnamese boats that sailed undetected into Darwin Harbour,
surprising officials from the Australian Navy and quarantine authorities. The three
newspapers reported that these six vessels carried 2I8 people – the most significant
single group of IRAS ever to have reached Australia by boat. The editorial in The
Australian said, “So far 23 boat-loads, 655 people, have cast themselves upon our
mercy. Others will follow. Some, probably, are already on the way.” The SMH labelled
this event as “the second fleet” of Vietnamese boats; the first ‘fleet’ being the Kien
Giang, a fishing boat numbered KG 4435 that had arrived off Bathurst Island, north of
Darwin, on the evening of 26 April 1976. This boat was also called the Freedom, being
the first of several Vietnamese boats to arrive in Australia in 1976. After this arrival the
98
federal government announced measures to try to reduce the flow of IRAS on the
northern coast of Australia.
On Tuesday 29 November 1977, the Navy patrol boat HMAS Ardent was sent to
intercept the Vietnamese boat, Song Be 12. On Thursday 24 November, this boat had
been in the Indonesian port of Surabaya, where officials had confiscated all weapons.
On Monday 28 November, it was spotted by an Australian Navy tracker aircraft about
350 km northeast of Darwin. The Song Be 12 was considered the single largest boatload
of Vietnamese refugees to reach Australia, with 181 people on board.
On Monday 5 December 1977, a Navy source in Darwin was quoted as watching for a
Vietnamese refugee oil-barge considered extremely unseaworthy. The 400-tonne Hong
Giang HT217 was carrying 75 refugees, most of whom were ill with influenza and
diarrhoea. The arrival of this boat forced the Australian Government to harden their
stance, with this comment from the Federal Minister for Transport, Mr Nixon,
appearing in the three newspapers: "If they leave the camps without going through
Australian immigration checks, then their boats will be sent back to where they came
from."
In 2001, there were three peaks in the number of articles covering the IRAS, on 24th
October, 1st November and 9th November. However, the volume of IRAS reportage
increased significantly in the days closer to the polling day that year, while in 1977 the
volume of IRAS coverage reduced in the three days before the polling day.
On Wednesday 24 October 2001, IRAS news escalated due to a vessel known as the
SIEV-X, with more than 400 people on board sinking in Australian waters during the
second week of the election campaign. The narrative told 350 people drowning
dramatically. This incident followed the Tampa crisis of August 2001 and left
Australian authorities with a hotly debated political policy announced by the Howard
government that was known as The Pacific Solution. The Australian press reported on
the measures that could be taken to prevent people smuggling, including tightening of
relevant laws, enhancing the relationship with Indonesia, and what the policy would end
up costing Australia.
99
On Thursday 1 November 2001, news focused on asylum seekers as an election issue,
stating this was the worst occasion. The three newspapers linked the issue with "border
protection", explaining that the terrorist attacks in the USA on 11 September 2001 had
turned the asylum seeker issue into a defence issue. Newspapers quoted the Treasurer
Peter Costello, who ranked Australia as the third most likely terrorist target after the
USA and Britain. In particular, the words of PM John Howard were quoted and re-
quoted many times: “Australia will decide who comes to this country and the
circumstances in which they come.” After Howard reinforced the Pacific Solution
policy as the primary Coalition immigration policy in this campaign, the media started
to narrate on this policy with intensity.
On Thursday 8 and Friday 9 November 2001, leaked information about the children
overboard incident became the burning issue of the election. Results show a gradual
reduction in the positive news narrative towards PM Howard's standoff throughout the
two days before polling day. The press criticism of the Australian authorities escalated.
Although the Howard Coalition Government won the election, its leadership lost
credibility amongst the public. According to Shultz (2005), the boat incidents at sea had
become the central issue, and a winning one, for the Howard Government in the 2001
election.
The results of this study show three peaks in the number of articles covering the IRAS
topic on 21 August, 23 August and 5 September 2013. Samples from the period 20 to 30
August show the topic accounted for almost two-thirds of all articles because of the
imbalance in representation between two months. For the days 2 to 6 September, The
Australian reduced the volume of IRAS coverage significantly. However, the number of
articles reported by The SMH and The DT increased during September, as the polling
day got closer. Both of these newspapers paid increasing attention to the IRAS topic,
while The Australian’s coverage sharply dropped.
On Wednesday 21 August 2013, there were news reports of five boat people missing
when an asylum boat capsised off Christmas Island. The Australian Maritime Safety
Authority (AMSA) received a request for help and rescued 106 people from the water.
The first group of IRAS was sent to offshore processing camps on Manus Island and
Nauru, including 12 children aged between five and 15 years old. The SMH quickly
100
requested a ‘boat’ debate issue in the election campaign. However, its coverage of IRAS
boat arrivals dropped significantly in September, when the issue was still tied closely to
the election debate, but in fact, fewer boat arrival news and events were recorded during
this period.
The news narrative then began to focus on the deadlock caused by the political parties’
IRAS policies. The Rudd Government’s PNG deal was put on hold until after the
federal election. Opposition leader Abbott’s plan to buy back the asylum seekers’ boats
faced strong reaction from Indonesian authorities. Meanwhile, a child asylum seeker
who was among the group of IRAS about to be sent to Nauru was reported to be
seriously ill after being found hanging at the Christmas Island detention centre. On the
same day, the Federal Police force arrested five alleged people smugglers, claiming they
had brought some of the thousands of IRAS who had come to Australia on 130 boats
since 2009.
The last peak appeared on Thursday 5 September 2013, two days before polling day,
when the IRAS issue was revisited. The Australian tried to tie the issue with the election
campaign by claiming: “Two big international issues have emerged during this election
campaign. One, of course, is the wave of asylum seekers, the other is the perennial
‘patriotic’ concern about the foreign investment, and, to a degree, about foreign labour.”
News sources reported that support for closing Australia to boat people and sending
them to the Pacific was almost as strong in 2013 as it had been in the last months of
2001. Meanwhile, it was becoming clear that the media believed a victory for Mr
Abbott was near when the Opposition announced that the first trip of its new Foreign
Minister, Julie Bishop, would be to Indonesia and PNG to discuss the stopping of
people smuggling and the moving of asylum seekers to Manus Island in PNG
The sequence in the number of the articles per issue
Figure 4.3 shows the increased number of articles reported per issue over the three time
periods. Of all the issues of the three newspapers, the frequency of articles on IRAS
boat arrivals was primarily one article per issue (19.5%).
The year 2001 contained the greatest number of articles on IRAS boat arrivals, in
particular, The Australian, which had 19 articles on the IRAS on 8 November 2001 and
101
a further 20 articles on the IRAS on 9 November 2001. This year also had the highest
number of issues with more than 10 articles per issue, accounting for 11.9% of all
samples.
Overall, the most extensive coverage was in The Australian, which covered the IRAS
topic in 281 articles and averaged 6.7 articles per issue. In contrast, The SMH reported
on IRAS boat arrivals in 221 articles during the three time periods, an average of 5.3
articles per issue. The DT covered the IRAS topic in 107 articles during the same
period, with an average of 2.5 articles per issue.
The results show intensive press coverage of the IRAS and illustrate the importance of
analysing how the ‘boat’ issue was narrated and constructed during the election
campaigns because of its ‘news value’. By reproducing the IRAS daily during the
periods studied, the press played a vital role in informing the ideas and opinions of
voters through the dissemination of ‘boat’ information. Beyond news delivery, the press
influenced public sentiments on the IRAS policy by either reinforcing or challenging
dominant views. Hence, the press potentially framed the ‘boat’ story in a certain way,
setting the agenda for the campaign and directing an interpretation of the IRAS
problem.
Size of coverage
Table 4.1 presents the 609 samples studied. In total, the articles surveyed consisted of
356,593 words. The year 2001 had the most prominent coverage with 221,550 words,
more than double the number in 2013 (94,422 words) and more than five times the
number in 1977 (40,621 words).
102
Table 4.1 Size of articles in words during the three time periods
The average size of an article was 585 words, suggesting a report, feature article or
column rather than a news article. A popular news format is generally within 200 to 300
words. This observation shows that the words written in articles about the IRAS boat
arrivals were numerous and detailed. Except for the essential elements of news, for
example, addressing factual questions such as ‘Who’, ‘When’, ‘What’ and ‘Where’, the
three newspapers were also interested in developing the ‘How’ and ‘Why’ issues, albeit
cautiously. These aspects would comprise up to nearly 600 words for an average article.
The large average size of articles also suggests the newspapers used many quotes and
more extended direct quotes in the body of the texts.
The larger size of an IRAS article might also indicate that it represented a broader range
of viewpoints. Benson (2013) claims the most multi-perspectival newspapers tend to
have audiences with higher cultural capital and multi-genre news coverage. This claim
will be investigated further in a later section of this chapter and Chapter Five, the
qualitative analysis chapter.
The numbers of words in an article about IRAS boat arrivals ranged from 27 words (in
1977) to 4,764 words (in 2001). In 1977, the most extensive article had 3,499 words,
while in 2013 the maximum number of words never exceeded 2,000. This tendency
reflects the digital age of journalism, which has led to a shortening of the news format
and reports (Richardson & Stanyer 2011). Size does matter in the digital age of
journalistic press because the print content could subsequently be integrated into the
newspaper website, which facilitates widespread embedded stories and linked data. This
means essential features and columns are typically contained within 2,000 words.
103
Would this tendency to containment conflict with the multi-perspectivity that Benson
has observed? Table 4.1 suggests that the words of an article increased steadily through
the three time periods, while the maximum length of an article. For example, the
average words per IRAS article were between 410 and 510 words in 1977, and this
increased to between 541 and 627 words in 2013. Meanwhile, the maximum length of
an article decreased from 3,499 words in 1977 to 1,938 words in 2013. Figure 4.4
shows the pattern of the size of the corpus, which is considered to be significantly
similar to the overall trend of the sequence of articles.
Figure 4.4 Comparison of the sum and the average words per article per issue of the three
newspapers studied
The data in Figure 4.4 show that when the number of articles was higher, the size of
articles was also larger and the average numbers of words in the articles were elevated,
that is, the number of articles was in direct proportion to the number of words.
However, Figure 4.4 illustrates one exception for September 2013: the number of
articles was smaller than those published in August 2013, but the average size of articles
was 100 words longer.
In September 2013, the largest size of IRAS reportage appeared on 24 August, in the
early stage of the election campaign. In 2001, the most significant size of coverage
appeared on 9 November, on the eve of polling day, with a total of 32,412 words
reported by the three newspapers. In 1977, the size of IRAS articles was much smaller
104
than in 2001 and 2013. However, the medium size of each article covered every day
was as big as those in 2001 and 2013. This finding suggests the IRAS articles in 1977
were written with more words than the articles in 2001 and 2013. There was a surge in
the size of coverage when the polling day was getting closer, reaching a peak on 5
December, with 6,980 words for an article.
Among the three newspapers, the size of coverage of The SMH was highest in 1977,
with a total of 19,030 words spread through 836 sentences. However, this newspaper
tended to write shorter sentences than The Australian, which had the highest words per
sentence of 28.7 words in 1977. Overall, The DT reported less on the IRAS issue during
the three federal election campaigns, with a total of 4,206 words in 1977, 28,998 words
in 2001, and 10,832 words in 2013. The SMH wrote the shortest sentences in general,
with the average words per sentences reported in 1977, 2001 and 2013 being
approximately 27, 25.5 and 25 respectively.
Placement within the newspaper
The first typical measurement for how outstanding an article may be is whether or not it
is placed on the front page of the newspaper. The feature article of the day that
exclusively appears on page 1 is considered to represent the philosophy of the press and
is chosen by the editors to have the highest newsworthiness on the current agenda.
Many media critics agree that strong trend news stories are more likely to be chosen for
the front page if they are part of a recent ongoing story (Tanikawa, 2017). News themes,
in other words, like individuals, have a history.
The stories examined in this study appeared mostly on the front pages of the three
newspapers and were set as having higher priority over other news with regard to page
location (see Figure 4.5). Front-page articles got the highest number during November
2001 and August 2013, with 13 articles and 12 articles respectively, all published in The
Australian. The SMH published the most significant number of front-page articles in
October 2001 (nine articles) and during the 1977 (seven articles). In the 2013 election
period, The SMH and The DT did not have any IRAS stories published on their front
pages, with neither focusing on the IRAS debate issue during that year’s federal election
campaign, in contrast to The Australian.
105
Figure 4.5 Number of articles published on page 1 of the three newspapers
The results suggest that the prominence of front-page coverage generally reflects the
quantity of total coverage, as may be seen in Figures 4.2 and 4.3. During the 2001
campaign, for example, the IRAS boat coverage was quantitatively high, which was
reflected in the level to which it made the front page. Similarly, the news waves
happening in November 1977 and August 2013 were also reflected in prominent front-
page appearances.
Another measurement of an article’s importance is its placement inside a newspaper
under labelled names and section headings (Figure 4.6). In general, the three
newspapers printed news stories about the IRAS boat arrivals printed under the National
News heading. Noticeably, The DT labels National News as Local News. Meanwhile,
The Australian reported National News under the heading The Nation, and The SMH
named this section National. National News mostly appears on pages 2 to 6 of the
newspapers; research shows that after reading the first seven pages of the newspaper,
readers’ interest decreases, except for the last page (Hansen & Garcia, cited in
Holmqvist & Wartenberg 2005).
106
Figure 4.6 Section of articles in the three time periods
Over the the three time periods examined, the category Election/Campaign Heading
contains the highest number of samples, a total of 92 articles in The Australian and 73
articles in The SMH. In contrast, The DT kept most IRAS articles in the leading
National News Heading, with 55 articles. The IRAS articles appearing in the
Election/Campaign heading were categorised and grouped under different labels by the
three newspapers.
In 1977, most of the IRAS articles in The Australian were grouped into the ‘Election
77’ section. However, in 2001, this newspaper showed several changes in the labelling
of such articles: there was an ‘Election 2001’ heading, but the category changed from
‘Tragedy at Sea’ 17 days before polling day to ‘Boatpeople Crisis’ in the 10 days
before. In 2013, IRAS articles in The Australian were initially categorised in
‘Immigration – Election 2013’ section, but they were relabelled as ‘Asylum Seeker –
Election 2013’ in the last week of the election campaign.
In 2001, The DT categorised its ‘boat’ articles under the section named ‘Election 2001:
The Issue’. However, a week before polling day, this newspaper changed the name of
the IRAS category to ‘War on Terror’ under the Election heading. Three days before the
election, the section was further changed to ‘The Count Down’. Similarly, in 2001, The
SMH initially labelled IRAS stories under the Election Campaign heading as ‘War on
Terrorism’, then renamed it to ‘The Choice Election 2001’. In the week before election
107
day, The SMH grouped its IRAS articles as ‘Border Protection and Anti-Terrorism’,
under the Election heading. Altering ‘boat’ story labels within the election period
appeared less frequently in 2013. For example, in 2013, The SMH generally placed the
IRAS articles under the Election Campaign heading label ‘Australia Decides – Stop the
Boats’.
Figure 4.6 shows that the least number of IRAS articles fell into the International News
heading, illustrating that this section is not much related to the IRAS narrative.
Similarly, General News heading received the second smallest number of all articles.
This heading is considered to be for ‘short news’, mostly appearing in the edges or
corners of a newspaper page to give the readers broad information that is not in any
other specified section.
However, the three newspapers share similarities in producing Editorial articles relating
to the IRAS boat arrivals. Editorial articles made up the third biggest sections in all
three newspapers, showing their coherence in presenting their editorial stance towards
the IRAS issue.
Types of articles
Overall, as shown in Figure 4.7, there were 318 news articles (52.2% of the samples)
included in the local, national and world news categories, making it this group the most
prominent type of story reporting on the IRAS boat arrivals in the time periods studied.
108
Figure 4.7 Types of articles in three time periods
The spread of other genres for each newspaper over the time periods shows that there
was a predominance of feature articles in The SMH and The Australian. In the time
periods studied, The SMH produced 49 feature articles and The Australian 77 feature
articles. In the 2013 timeframe particularly, The Australian distinguished itself by
having more feature articles (29) than the other papers, going into more depth in the
IRAS stories during the election period. Meanwhile, The SMH and The DT only printed
seven and 10 feature articles respectively.
Results regarding opinionative content such as editorials and columns show that The
Australian and The SMH had a considerably more significant amount of these types of
articles when compared to The DT, with 60 and 64 editorials and columns respectively.
The SMH showed consistency in printing editorial material during the years examined,
with four in 1977, eight in 2001 and five in 2013. Meanwhile, The Australian produced
only two editorials in 1977 and then increased that to 17 in 2001 and 10 in 2013. For the
editorials only, The Australian had the most opinionative material with 29 editorials.
The consistency over time in the extent to which newspapers have editorialised the
‘boat’ issue, suggests equivalence in the prominence of the newspapers as political
actors in this debate. The intensity of editorialised IRAS coverage in The SMH and The
Australian suggests that not only is the ‘boat’ issue was politicised but also that the
109
newspapers were ambitious. They attempted to steer the public debate and thought they
were able to define, explain and evaluate the situational context (Van Dijk 1995).
4.3. Orientation analysis of news narrative
Articles were coded for their orientation toward the IRAS boat arrivals to examine
whether the narrative was portraying the IRAS as positive, negative or neutral in each of
the years sampled. This result supported the contextual analysis of the attitudes in the
main actors’ quotes and paraphrasing.
Chapter Three, the methodology chapter, describes how articles were coded as
‘positive’ if statements about IRAS boat arrivals in the headline and the first four
paragraphs were positive, outnumbered negative statements, and accompanied by
neutral statements. Articles were coded as ‘negative’ if the statements in the headline
and the first four paragraphs were opposed to the IRAS boat arrivals, outnumbered
positive statements, and surrounded by neutral statements. Lastly, articles were coded
‘neutral’ if the statements in the headline and the first four paragraphs were neutral and
the positive and negative statements were equally balanced.
Figure 4.8 illustrates how the narrative was predominantly negative to the IRAS boat
arrivals. In the three timeframes, the number of negative articles overwhelmed both
neutral and positive articles. This finding is consistent with previous studies that IRAS
news is often regarded as bad news (Berry, Garcia-Blanco & Moore 2016; Cooper et al.
2017; Joseph 2011; Lippi, McKay & McKenzie 2017; Matthews & Brown 2012;
Viviani 1980).
110
Figure 4.8: Numbers of positive, negative and neutral articles about the IRAS boats
Overall, negative articles accounted for 390 out of 609 articles (64% of all samples)
during three time periods. Neutral articles came second with 132 samples (21.6%),
while there were 87 positive articles (14.2%).
During the three timeframes, the percentage of negative articles increased steadily, from
48.3% in 1977 to 64.9% in 2001 and 70.7% in 2013. The gap between negative articles
and positive articles was highest during the 2013 coverage, in which the three
newspapers produced a total of 116 negative articles, which was over 10 times more
than the 11 positive articles. Meanwhile, the positive articles dropped significantly from
21.3% in 1977 to 16% in 2001 and 6.7% in 2013. The number of neutral articles
fluctuated through the timeframes with 30.3% in 1977, 19.1% in 2001, and 22.6% in
2013.
Of the three newspapers, The Australian had a negative inclination in 65.8% of all
stories published (185/281 articles). The gap between positive samples (28) and
negative samples (185) was 6.6 times, which makes it the most negative paper in the
study. The DT, by comparison, had 58.8% negative, 14.9% positive and 26.1% neutral
content, with 63, 16 and 28 articles respectively, a gap of 3.9 times. The SMH had
64.2% negative, 19.5% positive and 16.2% neutral content with 36, 43 and 142 articles
respectively, a gap of 3.3 times. The SMH therefore demonstrated more balance in its
111
coverage than the other two newspapers. It is worth noting, however, that the volume of
The SMH IRAS coverage dropped significantly in 2013.
Table 4.2 presents the number of negative, positive and neutral articles across the types
of articles. Editorials had the most significant percentage of negative samples, and
accounted for 75.4% of all editorial samples (40/53 articles), followed by news columns
with 71.7% (61/85 articles). The coverage by the opinion-driven editorial content in the
three newspapers also shared similar inclinations.
112
Table 4.2: Comparison of the orientation between hard-news and editorials
In The Australian, editorials are considered as the editors’ own opinions. In 2001 The
Australian printed 12 negative editorials, four times more than the three positive
editorials. The 2013 timeframe experienced even more unbalance with nine negative
editorials compared to no favourable editorials. Notably, The Australian had a higher
113
percentage of negative opinion editorial content (79.3%) compared to the percentage of
negative pieces overall (65.8%).
Similarly, The SMH published only one positive editorial in the year 2001 and one in
the year 2013. Meanwhile, the negative orientation from the opinion content of this
newspaper was much higher, with seven negative editorials in 2001 and four in 2013.
However, The SMH had a slightly higher percentage of negative opinion editorial
content (70.5%) compared to the percentage of negative pieces overall (64.2%).
When examining the orientation of national news content only, 59.9% of the material
was negative. The proportions of negative national news in the three newspapers were
comparable, with 62.3% in The Australian, 61.7% in The SMH, and 52.6% in The DT.
By contrast, feature articles are more balanced in reporting the IRAS boat arrivals than
other types of articles such as editorials and national news. Negative samples of the
feature articles made up 57.5% of all samples of this type. The three newspapers shared
similar percentages of negative feature articles: 55.1% in The SMH, 58.4% in The
Australian, and 59.2% in The DT.
Feature articles are considered to be more balanced because they generally provide a
broader range of voices and background context. Even so, news stories, while being
limited in size and time of reporting, only provide one or two angles, creating an
unbalanced view for readers.
Editorials and columns contain the highest negative orientation, plus the escalation of
this commentary analysis over the timeframes, suggests the restriction in access to news
sources, especially the IRAS sources. Due to the lack of facts and comments from
various actors, the news narrative had to expand its internal staff evaluation of the
issues, trying to explain and comment on the issues rather than presenting the facts. For
example, after a press conference on 8 November 2001, The Australian and The SMH
published just one news item and more than five opinion pieces each.
The results show that as the percentage of negative sentiment rose, positive coverage
dropped. The negative orientation was driven by polling results reflecting voter outrage
114
about not having the freedom to choose to talk freely about the sensitive IRAS topic
without creating an assumption that they were discriminating against this group.
When the proportion of neutral articles increased, more doubt and controversy about the
IRAS boat issue resulted. Neutral articles were assessed according to whether the
proportion of negative sentiments and positive sentiments were balanced, and by the
appearance of different actors. The debates and disagreement between different sources
portrayed the IRAS boat arrivals not merely as bad news but as a source of contention,
suspicion and uncertainty.
Notably, the percentage of neutral articles dropped between 1977 and 2013. It may be
that while there was a reduction in the number of feature stories during this time, news
stories and commentary analysis content increased.
4.4. Word frequencies
Counting the frequency of word choice is a significant aspect of the content analysis in
both the interpretative and evaluative dimensions of the news narrative about IRAS boat
arrivals.
Appendix E demonstrates the constancy of words used in the narrative relating to the
IRAS boat arrivals in the years studied. There are some recurrences of word choice
among the three newspapers during the three time periods. The 50 most frequent words
used in the news narrative also reflect each newspaper’s orientation during the years
examined. Overall, the pattern of frequent words in The Australian list is similar to that
of The DT, while The SMH showed more independent word choice and consistency
over the three timeframes.
Recurring patterns in word choices of the three newspapers
Regarding the recurrences in word choice, the words “said” or “say” always appear in
the top 10 of the newspapers word frequency lists over the three time periods. This
shows that these newspapers extensively use direct and paraphrased quotes in the news
narrative about the IRAS.
115
The word “number” also occurs frequently in the three newspapers lists. This suggests
that the three newspapers were interested in the number of boats coming and the
number of refugees on board. Additionally, the word “govern” (or “government”)
appears frequently in the lists in regard to the role of government in dealing with the
boat issue, whether the narrative is about its responsibility for the events that occurred at
sea or pressure to find a solution to this issue.
As expected, politically related words appeared frequently in the words lists for 1977,
2001 and 2013. Political words, including “official”, “minister” and “prime”, increased
over time. However, the name sof the Prime Minister and the Minister of Immigration
only appeared in the list from 2001, when the frequency lists start to show names of
candidates in the election campaign such as Prime Minister “Howard” (top three), Labor
leader “Beazley”, and Immigration Minister “Ruddock”.
Other campaign-oriented words such as “Labor”, “Coalition”, “party”, “Liberal”,
“Howard”, and “policy” appeared increasingly in the 2001 words list of the three
newspapers. In particular, the words “election”, “campaign” and “voter” were highly
mentioned in the 2001 IRAS narrative.
In 2013, campaign-oriented words such as “Rudd”, “Tony”, “Abbott”, “Labor”,
“campaign”, “party”, “Coalition”, “election”, “minister”, “Liberal”, “voter”,
“Morrison”, “Kevin” and “opposition” continued to spread in the three newspapers. The
most-used word in the three newspapers was “Labor”. Remarkably, in 2013 the word
“Abbott” appeared highest in the list for The SMH, highlighting its over-reporting on
Coalition candidate for prime minister, Tony Abbott.
Of the three newspapers, The Australian retained the largest list of political and
election-oriented words, accounting for over 50% in the word frequency list. In 1977
this newspaper mentioned numerous words related to the that year’s election, such as
“election”, “Whitlam”, “Fraser”, “Labor”, and “federal”. In 2001 and 2013, certain
words appeared mostly in The Australian list, such as “solution”, “island”, “Manus”,
and “PNG”, showing this newspaper was concerned about reporting on the Pacific
Solution, which involved sending the IRAS to detention centres on Manus Island and
Nauru. In 2013, The Australian was the only newspaper that used the word “Green”
116
commonly in its frequency list, showing this newspaper was interested in politically
presenting the Green Party.
The pattern of word choice of The DT is similar to The Australian during the three
timeframes studied, illustrating the similar philosophies of the two newspapers.
Notably, the frequency list of The DT includes “court”, “police” and “smuggler”, which
are not in The SMH and The Australian lists.
The different patterns in word choices over years
The word “refugee” appeared among the highest in the 1977 lists of the three
newspapers, but was lower in the 2001 and 2013 lists. “Asylum” and “seeker” featured
in the list of 2001, and continued to rank highly on the 2013 list. Interestingly, by 2013
“refugee” had disappeared from the lists of all three newspapers.
In the 1977 lists, “Vietnamese” (or “Vietnam”) ranked highly in the common word
choice of all three newspapers studies, proving that these newspapers concentrated on
the Vietnamese boat people and the context of Vietnam during the 1970s. However, in
the 2001 and 2013 lists, the particular nationalities of the IRAS on the boats were not
mentioned.
The word “children” only started to appear in the top list of the three newspapers in
2001, suggesting the narrative was either concerned about the fates of IRAS children or
it used the dramatic stories of the children on boats to sell the IRAS stories. For
example, in 2001, the “children overboard” incident might have affected the high
appearance of this word.
Frequent negative words
Each newspaper created its own word choices relating to negative orientation in the
narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals. The words “issue” and “detention” are high in
The SMH frequency lists of 2001 and 2013. This newspaper considered the IRAS boat
arrivals to be an election issue during these campaigns, with the detention centres
announced by the government a solution to the problem. In 2001, one of the negative
terms that appeared many times in The SMH was “war”. This suggests that Australia
117
was preparing for the war against asylum seekers, as this newspaper actually labelled
the IRAS stories under the title “War on Asylum”.
The negative term “problem” is high on The Australian list of 1977, when it reported
that the boat arrivals would bring more difficulties to Australia. One of the most
negative words in The DT top word list of 1977 is “pirate”. This was in connection with
the arrival of the Kien Giang during the 1977 election campaign. On board this boat
were refugees from South Vietnam and three Vietnamese soldiers who had worked for
North Vietnam. “Pirate” was used to describe these particular refugees, but it appeared
more frequently in The DT than in the other two newspapers. In contrast, there is no
negative term in The SMH 1977 list, but this newspaper has no positive terms in that list
either.
In 1977 The Australian chose various political words such as “policy”, “political”,
“Mackellar", "federal” and “minister”. This pattern was similar to The DT word choice
but these words appearec less frequently than in The DT top list. However, these words
were not in The SMH 1977 list, except for the “minister”, which appeared lower in the
list for this newspaper. In contrast, The SMH, in general, concentrated on the refugees’
perspective with words such as “child”, “children”, “family”, “women”, “camp” and
“island”. These words did not appear in The DT and The Australian lists.
Noticeably, along with condensed use of the word “said” and “say”, The DT top list in
1977 also used the word used for direct quotation, “I”. The high appearance of
politically related words shows that this newspaper frequently quoted politician’s voices
and government’s statements.
To sum up, recurring patterns in word choice throughout the three time periods show a
consistent lexical approach and attitude in news narrative towards the IRAS issue. First,
the word “said” always appears in the top 10 of the three newspapers word frequency
lists over the three time periods, demonstrating an overuse of quotation and
paraphrasing in IRAS news and events. Second, the persistent high frequency of
political words such as “official”, “minister” and “prime” over time indicates that the
Australian prime minister, ministers and officials continuously act on IRAS issues and
become the main focus of the media. In other words, news narrative is more interested
in the political aspect of the IRAS boat arrivals than immigration as a social issue.
118
Third, regarding the word frequency relating to the IRAS, the word “refugees” appeared
frequently in the 1977 list and dropped steadily in the 2001 and 2013 lists. The word
"refugee" was replaced by the word "asylum seeker" in 2001 and 2013. The shift from
“refugees” to “asylum seekers” is indicative of a deepening of concern over the arrival
of certain kinds of immigrants. The worthiness of receiving the newcomer relied on
whether or not the asylum seekers are innocent and genuine refugees. The detailed news
narrative about the forced emigration of “refugees” after World War II and the Vietnam
War constructed them as inherently deserving of refuge. Meanwhile, the lack of detailed
narration on the Afghanistan and Syrian Wars, for example, helped to sustain the
assumption that many Middle Eastern asylum seekers in 2001 and 2013 were not in
legitimately in need of Australian assistance.
Interestingly, in the 1977 lists, the word "Vietnamese" (or "Vietnam") was profoundly
used in all three newspapers, proving that these newspapers concentrated on the
Vietnamese boat people and the context of Vietnam during the 1970s. However, in the
2001 and 2013 lists, the nationality of the IRAS on boats did not show in the word
frequency list. This indicates that the nationality of the IRAS during 2001 and 2013
timeframes was either confused by the media or that the context of Middle Eastern
conflicts was more complicated and ideologically constructed. Either way, readers were
distanced from the IRAS and, as a result, their compassion for these people lessened.
4.5. Origins of the articles, the main actor and direct quotations
As shown in Chapter Two, news narrative is a type of text in which the language
elements are distinct from other texts. Under the structuralist perspective, news
narrative is characterised by the functions of news actors and the sequences of those
functions. This section draws on the analysis of narrative grammar by Franzosi (2010),
who stated that the sequence of actor – action – actor structures are invariant, must be
coherent, and have a point proving a justification. The structure called the Subject –
Action – Object provides a sort of “story grammar”, which Franzosi claims to be
essential and equivalent to the 5-W plus H structure of journalism: who, what, when,
where, why, and how. This “story grammar” belongs to quantitative narrative analysis,
a “more rigorous research tool than content analysis, the traditional social science
quantitative approach to texts” (Franzosi 2010, p. 60).
119
Under the similar structure of Subject – Action – Object that Franzosi categorised into
the theory of narrative analysis, this section provides an insight into the analysis of the
origins of the news content, the main actor of the story, and the direct quotations.
Chapter Three, the methodology chapter, presented the essential elements of the study’s
quantitative and qualitative content analysis. The quantitative analysis in this section
will provide a necessary grounding for the qualitative analysis of the main actors in
Chapter Five.
Origins of the articles
Table 4.3 illustrates where the reporters get their information for writing stories.
‘Sources’ refers to both writers of stories and, where relevant, statements and releases
by the participated organisation.
The 1977 dataset shows that the three newspapers relied highly on government
documents and statements (48.3% of all sources), followed by the newspapers’ own
sources (31.5%). Noticeably, during this timeframe, The Australian used more sources
from its own connections than government authorities, with 17 and 13 respectively.
Meanwhile, The SMH sought information from the highest range of sources.
120
Table 4.3: Origins of the IRAS articles
The newspapers’ exclusive sources were found to be more active in the 1977 coverage,
when the press sent their reporters overseas to follow Australian immigration officials
processing refugees directly from refugee camps located in Southeast Asian countries,
which led to a relatively large number of grass-roots sources and background contexts
of the refugee stories. For example, The Australian sent John Everingham to Bangkok,
while The SMH had correspondent Michael Richardson in Malaysia and Singapore, as
well as Hamish McDonald in Jakarta.
The newspapers’ dependence on government sources recurred in 2013, which shows the
government sources nearly doubled the newspapers’ own sources. In 2013 government
sources comprised 53.7% of all sources, making it the biggest proportion of all sources
from the three newspapers. Meanwhile, the second biggest source came from the staff
of the newspapers and their exclusive networks (31.7%).
Articles published in The Australian in 2013 were different form those written in 1977:
Its use of government sources more than doubled the number of staff writers’ sources
121
and the paper’s own connections. By contrast, reports in The SMH were balanced
between government and newspaper sources, with 18 and 20 respectively.
The 2001 timeframe was different from the other two time periods. In 2001, the three
newspapers took their information mostly from their staff members’ own sources or
their exclusive networks. Sources from this category comprised 42.5%. Sources from
the government fell to 105 from over 355, making up 29.6% of all sources. Exclusive
interviews and features appeared significantly in The SMH and The Australian. Whether
the main actor in those exclusive articles had a political background or an IRAS
background, the newspapers attempt to reach their connections and talk to them made
the coverage during this time more diverse in terms of voices and content.
However, in the 2006 State of the News Print Media in Australia report, the Australian
Press Council included reports from Fairfax and News Limited on their moves towards
24-hour newsrooms. These reports show that the newly accelerated trends of these news
organisations had relied more on the resources of the Australian Associated Press
(AAP) for copy, and less on the publishers resources (Council 2006). This trend was
adopted in The SMH, The DT and The Australian’s newsrooms, possibly because these
newspapers could then avoid the Australian Press Council’s investigation of any
allegation of inaccuracy in materials. As a result, the press’s dependence of external
sources became stronger in the 2013 dataset.
Of the three newspapers, The DT relied most heavily on government sources, which
accounted for 45.3% of all its sources. In the three time periods, The DT also showed a
consistent dependence on government sources: 80% in 1977, 45.3% in 2001, and 57.1%
in 2013.
Main actors in the IRAS news narrative
Chapter Three discussed the assessment of the main actors in the news narrative. Main
actors are the people whose views and actions are reported, expressed or quoted
dramatically in news articles. For this analysis, the main actors have been categorised
(See Appendix H – Analysis of Main Actor Quotes and Attitudes). Each article was
coded according to what type of actor was mentioned most in the narrative. Although an
article may quote or cite more than one actor, the main actor gains prominence by either
122
being mentioned closest to the top of the article or given the most prominent amount of
space in the articles. Table 4.4 groups those main actors in three main categories:
Australian authorities and politicians, the IRAS, and others.
Articles coded as “No actor” mostly fall into editorial analysis or column articles; the
voices of the authors were excluded in this analysis. The authors in these types of
articles were either the editorial staff of the newspapers, the correspondents or the
contributors. However, if the editorial or column mentioned explicitly one particular
actor or a couple of actors, the analysis still coded the main actor, who was given a
prominent voice.
Overall, Australian Government authorities and politicians dominated, with 55% of all
articles mentioning Australian authorities’ or politicians’ views and action more than
any other type of news actor. By contrast, the IRAS commanded 7.5% of all the main
actors mentioned, making it the smallest proportion of the dataset. The other main
actors (those not in the IRAS or Australian politicians category) accounted for 36.8% of
all articles.
Appendix H demonstrates the six most-mentioned actors in the Australian authorities
and political group: Federal Government politicians in 72 articles; PM John Howard in
48; military forces in 28; other MPs in 27; immigration officials in 26; and Mr Kim
Beazley in 24.
The four most-mentioned actors in the "Other" group were: international figures in 56
articles; community residents in 29; specific voter blocs in 28; and regional figures in
28. For the international and regional figures, the analysis does not count whether those
main actors were from political, IRAS or the other background. What these actors had
in common is that they were not Australian, whereas the actors in the authorities and
politicians group were more likely to be. The specific voter blocs comprised people who
potentially affect a candidate's policies and other targeted groups such as women,
younger voters, older voters, and students.
123
Table 4.4 Appearance of Australian politicians and authorities in comparison with the IRAS and other main actors
124
In regard to the three most dominate actors in the whole corpus, PM John Howard (48
articles), international figures (56) and Federal Government (72), the three-year findings
show a consistency in presenting the voice of International Figures and Federal
Government, except for PM Howard who dominated only in the year 2001 dataset as a
Liberal candidate in the 2001 federal election campaign. However, while The SMH and
The Australian represented PM Howard as the main actor in an analogous manner, The
DT distinguished itself from the other papers in its use of this source, which appeared as
the main actor in only six articles.
International figures are much mentioned in the 1977 and 2001 dataset, and appeared as
the main actors in 11 and 36 articles respectively. However, the number fell to six
articles in 2013. The choice of international figures as the main actor fell sharply in
2013 when the three newspapers decided not to report the background situation of the
IRAS in their home countries, such as Vietnam in 1977 and Afghanistan in 2001.
International figures in 2001 also saw the domination of Indonesian voices regarding
the Pacific Solution policy and the cooperation of Indonesia and Australia in dealing
with the people smugglers, making the international figure the prominent main actor
during this period.
Noticeably, Federal Government sources remained the most prominent main actor in
1977, 2001 and 2013, appearing in 23, 25 and 24 articles respectively. Further, the three
newspapers also referred to these sources in a consistent manner through the three
timeframes. There was a small difference in 2013 when The Australian was more
focused on reporting the issue than other two newspapers, leading to the over-
referencing of Federal Government sources in its 14 articles, which is triple that of The
DT and double that of The SMH’s.
In other categories, the use of sources varied somewhat between the three papers, but as
is shown in Appendix H, there were some common factors. Regarding the main actors
as candidates in the federal election campaigns, the years 1977 and 2013 showed a
balance in representing two main candidates for prime minister, such as PM Fraser and
Mr Whitlam (5/4) in 1977, and PM Rudd and Mr Abbott (13/12) in 2013. However, in
2001, media usage of the voice of PM Howard was mentioned twice as much as that of
the opposition candidate, Mr Beazley (48/24).
125
In addition to having more comprehensive coverage than the other papers concerning
the number of units, The Australian also distinguished itself in its use of other sources.
Overall, this newspaper had a more extensive array of sources, totalling more than the
other two newspapers. For example, The Australian represented political experts as its
main actor in six articles over three time periods, while The SMH ignored this type of
source and The DT only used them as the main actor in one article.
In contrast, The SMH found businesspeople and professionals as its main actors in six
articles, while The Australian had them in only one, and The DT in two. The Australian
referred to Pacific regional figures in 18 articles, while The SMH mentioned them in
four, and The DT in six
Media actors were also mentioned more in The Australian than other two newspapers,
with five articles but only one article in both The DT and The SMH. However, apart
from those exceptional cases, The SMH and The Australian showed remarkable
concordance in representing the main actors in all samples. Table 4.5 highlights the
most significant similarities between these two newspapers in their representation of the
main actors.
Table 4.5 Similarity in selecting types of sources as the main actor in The SMH and The
Australian
126
Refer to the Appendix H, ‘Analysis of main actor quotes and attitudes’, the Federal
Government was the most common source used in 1977 and 2013, while it was the third
most common source in 2001, sharing the same proportion of the representation of the
IRAS during this particular period. The IRAS was the second most common source in
1977, the third in 2001, and the second again in 2013.
When assessing the Federal Government source, excluded were other Australian
political and authorised sources already mentioned in the ranking. Therefore, when
grouping all types of sources in three main categories (as shown in Table 4.4), the
findings show the domination of Australian political and authorised sources over the
IRAS voices.
Noticeably, journalists represented the voice of immigration officials significantly in
their articles in 1977, but not in 2001 and 2013. By contrast, the most-mentioned actors
in 2001 shifted to PM Howard (48) and international figures (39). Meanwhile,
journalists in the year 2013 still focused on the representation of PM Kevin Rudd (13)
but paid more attention to the Pacific regional figure (14).
Overall, the three newspapers shared similarities in prominently representing Australian
politicians and authorities as the main actors. The total number of articles having
Australian politicians and authorities as main actors was 7.3 times as many as the
articles that had the IRAS as the main actors, and 1.5 times as many as the articles that
have all other sources combined (as shown in Table 4.4). The Australian drew the most
attention to the voices of Australian politicians and authorities, giving them the
dominant actor in 55.9% of all their articles, followed by The DT with 55.1% and The
SMH with 53.8%. By contrast, the IRAS voices were under-represented in the three
newspapers across all three years of examination, being the most marginalised in the
press. The IRAS voices as the main actors accounted for only 11.2% of all articles
published in The DT, 8.1% in The SMH, and 5.7% in The Australian.
Direct quotes
Direct speech provides great privilege for the actor, who can define the issue in a
manner that is highly trusted and that advances their arguments over other actors. Table
127
4.6 elaborates on the comparison between the appearance of direct quotes and the
paraphrased quotes. In general, direct quotes dominated over the paraphrased quotations
and accounted for 75% of all samples.
Table 4.6 Direct quotes in comparison with paraphrased quotation
In 1977, direct quotations appeared prominently in the three newspapers, consisting of
63% of all articles. In 2001 it was 77.5%. The proportion remained prominent in the
2013 dataset at 76.2%. There are three possible explanations for these statistics.
First, the overuse of direct quotes is a function of the controversial nature of stories
related to IRAS news and events as well as to the sensitivity of this topic, making the
reporter choose direct quotes to precisely define the matter rather than paraphrasing the
voices of the actors. Second, the considerable proportion of direct quotes suggests the
dependence of news media on external sources to tell controversial stories. Third, if
paraphrased quotations are used to present facts, direct quotes are more effective when
recording the source's opinions, emotions and promises. The news narrative related to
IRAS boat arrivals shows an imbalance between direct quotes and paraphrasing,
resulting in a shortage of facts but strong amount of opinions. This finding suggests the
128
news narrative becomes dramatised stories rather than objective news stories, creating a
dramatic impact for readers.
The examination of direct quotes is the first step towards evaluating the media’s usage
of the main actor in the articles about IRAS boat arrivals. The above section has
explored the domination of Australian politicians and authorities mentioned in these
stories. Nonetheless, the volume of their voice was significant with direct quotes
account for 75% of all quotations in the dataset; the voice of this group was even
stronger and more influential in defining IRAS matters.
Usage of the main actors’ direct quotes and paraphrasing
Table 4.7 shows the distribution of a total of 91,894 words quoted by the main actors,
divided into three categories. A quote was coded as direct and paraphrasing if it started
with quotation marks and the words "said", "says", "saying", “tell” and “told” were
included. A quote was excluded in cases where the source was not identified. For
example:
• It is passive voice, where the subject is not identified: which is said, it is said
that they have been said to, it must be said.
• It is a common phrase appeared in opinionative content: we have said, we can
tell, we would say, some may say, who is going to say, if what (someone/
something) say is true.
• It is a name of a person or an organisation: Mr X said.
129
Table 4.7 Volume of Australian Government politicians and authorities quotes and paraphrasing (by words) compared to other actors
130
Quotation analysis revealed 399 results in 1977, excluding seven results. The year 2001
contributed the most significant number of quotes, with 1,753 results, after excluding 66
results. Direct and paraphrasing quotes comprised 808 results in 2013, after excluding
28. Overall, compared to 1977, the total amount of quotes and paraphrasing on the
IRAS matter increased more than four times in 2001 but dropped to twice the amount in
2013. All three newspapers relied heavily on the views and opinions of Australian
politicians and authorities, whose words made up 55.7% of all words counted in quotes
and paraphrasing. By contrast, during the three time periods studied, the IRAS voice
was frequently the smallest presence in comparison with politicians and other sources.
A total number of words said by this group accounted for 5.2% of all quotes and
paraphrasing.
For much of the campaign period in 1977, the quotations of the IRAS in comparison to
politicians and the “Other” group was almost non-existent, for example, in The DT, it
was only 17 words. However, politicians were over-quoted with 1,110 words, 65 times
the volume of IRAS words and 4.4 times the voices of other actors combined. By
contrast, The SMH quoted IRAS voice in higher volume than other two newspapers,
with 488 words. However, this IRAS appearance is still marginal in comparison to other
categories, being one fifth of the politicians’ volume (2751) and one quarter of the other
actors combined.
However, when comparing the voice of IRAS from 1977 to 2001 and 2013, the volume
given to this group in 1977 is higher than the other two time periods. The IRAS quotes
and paraphrasing comprised 6.6% in 1977, decreased slightly to 6.3% in 2001, and
dropped significantly to 2.5% in the 2013 campaign.
The year 2013 experienced the smallest proportion of the IRAS voice contributions in
the news narrative. Notably, The SMH only quoted this group with 30 words in its 2013
dataset, comprising 0.5% of all quotes and paraphrasing given by this press. Meanwhile,
in the 2013 dataset the voice of Australian politicians and authorities comprised 66.3%
in The SMH, which is similar to The Australian with 60.1% and The DT with 51.9%.
While the IRAS source was still the least quoted in the three newspapers in the year
2001, the "Other" sources received a disproportionate level of quoted volume during
this period. The volume of quotations from sources in the "Other" category was highly
131
prominent in all news stories of 2001, contrary to expectations of an overwhelming and
strong politician’s voice in the federal election campaign. Words given to the “Other”
sources comprised 43% of all quotes and paraphrasing in three newspapers, slightly less
than the proportion of Australian politicians and authorities with 50.7%. In The
Australian particularly, for news stories related to IRAS boat arrivals it was the “Other”
group who had been routinely sourced more than Australian politicians and authorities
(46.3% and 45.7%, respectively). This finding indicates that the IRAS news narrative in
2001 was problematised in a way that offered opportunities to different interest groups,
organisations, and regional and international sources to challenge the competence and
credibility of Australian government and politicians. The surge of the volume of the
“Other” quotations in 2001 also reveals the increased media coverage of background
stories about news and events of the countries where the IRAS originated.
The press usage of quotes confirms the Australian politicians and authorities were
privileged in coverage. This is consistent with IRAS boat arrivals being claimed largely
as a political issue by various studies (Every 2006; McNevin 2011; Wright 2014).
Political reporting tends to be dominated by politician news actors. The prominent input
of Government politicians and authorities during the election campaigns reflects the fact
that much of the boat arrival debate centred on the drawn-out process of government
deciding whether or not to make the IRAS policy stronger than the opposition party’s
under the pressure of voters. The increase in the use of government sources as main
actors also reflects increased efforts to influence media portrayal of the boat arrival as a
matter for the government.
While IRAS actors received an often substantial minority proportion of news presence,
their opportunities for news access were more limited, especially when newspapers
applied the strict code of practice from the Press Association about publishing images of
the boat people and their identities (O'Brien 2012). Further, the IRAS voices declined
significantly in 2013, suggesting that the news narrative debate around boat arrivals had
begun to engage less directly with the boat people and more with policy. The result also
reflects the three newspapers’ neglect of IRAS personal opinions and their experience
on the sea journey.
The effect of this may have been to put the IRAS coming by boats in a vulnerable
position, considered as the outsiders. This accords with prior research into immigrants,
132
asylum seekers and refugees, which asserts that the IRAS are linked to negative acts,
the making of threats, and causing problems (Berry, Garcia-Blanco & Moore 2016;
Bleiker et al. 2013; Lippi, McKay & McKenzie 2017). So, in the news narrative about
boat arrivals, the IRAS had become the speechless object of the stories, placed in the
same position with the boats and other unnamed lifeless objects that appeared in the
IRAS narration.
4.6. Occasions of reports
The hypothesis of this study is that the narration of boat people was closely tied to the
narration of election campaigns during the three time periods, and that the intensive
election news waves (media-hypes) were triggered by key events involving boat people.
It is therefore important to know in analysing the news coverage the ‘boat’ issue in the
federal election campaigns how much of the coverage of the issue may be specifically
related to discussion of policy and electoral fortunes. Reports were surveyed to check
whether the IRAS boat stories were produced within the political settings, campaign-
initiated categories or other occasions.
Table 4.8 shows the level of campaign visibility in the IRAS coverage. An article about
a campaign event, a discussion of the candidate's standings in the election, or campaign
strategy would qualify as campaign visibility. The data here suggest the amount of
campaign visibility in the IRAS stories increased in 2001 and dominated in 2013. This
is due to a large rise in the extent to which the IRAS boat arrivals had grown as an
exclusively electoral issue in the 2001 and 2013 campaigns. Of 609 IRAS news
samples, 380 were about campaign visibility. This means that 62.4% of all IRAS
coverage was connected in some way to the election.
133
Table 4.8 Campaign visibilities
However, not all the articles with the campaign visibility resulted in exclusively
campaign stories. As shown in Figure 4.9, most of the occasions of reporting fall into
political settings, accounting for 41% of all samples. The political stories tell political-
related matters such as the legislative actions, government/bureaucratic actions, party
meetings, interest group meetings, international events, and other political actions.
134
Figure 4.9 Occasions of reporting
By contrast, only 7% were exclusively campaign-initiated stories, making it the smallest
percentage in the occasion of reports. The campaign-related stories included press
conferences, direct candidate statements to press, press releases from campaigns,
campaign events, campaign rally, and other campaign actions. Media-initiated stories
were counted when they were interviews, columnists’ evaluations, editorial news
analyses, media-sponsored public opinion polls, or other media actions. In this analysis,
media-initiated stories make up 34% of all articles (see the Coding Sheet for more
details).
This result indicates a similar trend to a UK study by Smith (2014), who examined the
press immigration coverage during the UK election campaigns and found that the
immigration coverage featured no reference to the election; immigration had
increasingly become an issue that was barely ever able to transcend its association with
the election:
Immigration may have been covered to some degree as an issue of electoral
import in earlier campaigns, but it is the increased consistency and depth to
which it has become articulated in these terms which distinguishes recent
campaigns from their earlier counterparts. (Smith 2014)
135
In Australia, the issue of IRAS boat arrivals coincidently fell into the ordinary news
cycle of the election campaign, as seen in 1977, when the Vietnamese boat arrivals
presented triggered the debate. Since then ‘boat’ stories have installed themselves in the
public debates, becoming about national defence in 2001 and sovereign borders in 2013.
Figure 4.9 demonstrates that in 1977 political setting stories overloaded the coverage in
1977, which resulted in 25 political stories about the IRAS boat arrivals, more than
three times as many as the seven articles initiated by the press. In political settings
stories, the majority of samples were created by government/bureaucratic action. In
2001, the media analysis and commentary content about the IRAS increased to 43
articles and shared a similar proportion with political stories (49 articles). However,
political news stories and media opinionative content shifted in 2013. Media setting
stories resulted in 27 articles, well over the political initiated stories (18 articles).
Indeed, in 2013 there were fewer IRAS boat arrivals but the IRAS issue remained
popular in the media agenda during the federal election campaign.
Findings shown in Figure 4.9 suggest the IRAS news stories in general were created in
political settings, either as a Government action, a party meeting or a legislative action.
The political setting also made the highest percentage of occasions for The SMH and
The Australian news reports. Overall, The SMH had the highest campaign-initiated
reports. Meanwhile, The Australian was highly oriented with media-initiated reports,
suggesting this newspaper focused more on media criticism and analysis than news
articles.
The results from the occasions for reports also show a consistent pattern in the three
timeframes, when political settings gained the highest proportions and the stories about
boat arrivals were primarily set up for political actions and discussion. The results
suggest the messages the media were trying to get across mainly came from political
sources.
4.7. Conclusion and remarks
This quantitative analysis has centred on issues regarding the depth of coverage and the
presence of sources in the IRAS news stories during three-weeks of the federal election
campaigns of 1977, 2001 and 2013.
136
This study has questioned whether the IRAS news narratives remained unchanged over
time and to what extent they drew on a substantial IRAS myth that was initially
established in the 1970s. The evidence shows that unauthorised boat arrivals were
consistently central to the mediation of the three campaigns. The peaks in coverage
during each timeframe reflected either the arrival of the boatload of IRAS during the
election or the tensions in the IRAS policy debates. The consistency of the intensive
coverage of the IRAS issue in the last days of the campaigns demonstrates the editorial
perception that IRAS had become a routine and predictable facet of campaign reporting.
This finding supports Betts’s (2001) claim that sensitivity to IRAS boat arrivals has
been on the media agenda since the 1970s.
When assessing the descriptive elements in the news articles, the results show consistent
components such as word frequencies, main actor, direct quotes and the occasion of the
article. In the ‘word frequencies’, findings show the words ‘said’ or ‘say’ always
appeared in the top 10 of the newspapers word frequency lists over the three periods.
This finding demonstrates that the three newspapers relied heavily on actors’ quotes and
paraphrasing. When a news narrative depends mostly on quotes from the main actor, the
news message belongs to that main actor as the one who gained the greatest coverage.
When news storytelling was in the hands of the main actor, not in actual information,
events or facts, the IRAS myth was significantly developed, starting with the 1977
coverage and then reproduced in the 2001 and 2013 coverages. One example of this is
the word ‘problem’. The term ‘problem’ appeared more frequently on The Australian
list, when it reported that the boat arrivals would bring difficulties to Australia over
time.
The number of articles having Australian politicians and authorities as main actors
occurred 7.3 more times than articles that had the IRAS as the main actors. The IRAS
voices, being the most marginalised in the press, were under-represented in the three
newspapers across the three timeframes studied.
Similarly, findings from the analysis of ‘direct quote’ show the consistency in the three
newspapers during the three timeframes. In 1977, direct quotations appeared
prominently in the three newspapers, consisting of 63% of all articles. In 2001 it was
77.5%. The proportion remained prominent in the 2013 dataset at 76.2%.
137
The results from the occasions for reports also show a consistent pattern in the three
timeframes, with political settings gaining the highest proportion (41%) and the stories
about boat arrivals being primarily a part of political actions and discussions. The
results suggest that the messages the media were trying to get across mainly came from
political actors.
The volume of coverage suggests The SMH paid considerable attention to boat stories
in 1977 and 2001, but during the 2013 election campaign it tended to slightly disregard
the IRAS matter. Notwithstanding this lack of coverage by The SMH, analysis of the
types of articles suggests editorials and columns dominated the 2013 coverage. This
result indicates that The SMH primarily reported dry facts and events, publishing news
articles rather than media opinion content. The ‘Occasion of Reporting’ findings also
suggest The SMH published more political setting stories than media setting stories. It
is also worth noting that in 2013 there was a lack of news and events related to boat
arrivals because the Government tried to block media access to detention centres and
the IRAS. These circumstances may explain why The SMH dropped its volume of
coverage in the 2013 timeframe, especially in the days before polling day.
Despite the greater government intervention in reporting the IRAS boat arrivals, The
Australian presented the highest number of sources in 2001 and 2013. This newspaper
also distinguished itself from the other two newspapers by publishing a higher density
of negative articles toward IRAS boat arrival policies and events. The news narrative in
all three newspapers presented a “collection of debates” from the candidates, linking the
IRAS boat arrivals to the campaign agenda.
The qualitative analysis in the next chapter will focus on interpreting the thematic
analysis in order to reveal the central message of the story.
138
Chapter Five: Thematic Analysis of the ‘Boat’ News Narrative
5.1. Introduction
Chapter Four plotted quantitative factors of the IRAS boat stories across the output of
three mainstream national and Sydney newspapers during the election campaigns of
1977, 2001 and 2013, including volumes and frequencies of all articles, word
frequencies, source analysis, campaign visibility, and occasions of news reports. The
recurrent patterns in these quantitative findings invite analysis into how they manifest
qualitatively.
Following the syntagmatic analysis, as discussed in the Methodology Chapter (Chapter
Three), the present chapter uses an inductive category development technique (Mayring
2014) to compare the first four paragraphs of the news stories. This allows investigation
of the themes, or the messages, of the ‘boat’ narrative. As confirmed by Schwarz
(Schwarz 2006), the newsworthiness of a story is deemed reliable not only by the extent
to which it published but also by the recurrence of the themes and topics emphasised in
it. In this analysis, the common characteristics of each categorised theme are
highlighted to compare how the 'boat' topic has been repeatedly ranked news factors
over the timeframes and how the Australian media chose to emphasise such themes in
the three election periods.
5.2. General findings
As shown in Table 5.1, the themes generally reappeared in four categories over the
three election periods. The quantity may be different, but the themes were similar
regarding focusing on the IRAS as Threat or problem, Sympathy, Policy debates about
the boat people, and Other themes. The first three categories confirmed previous
findings in the Literature Review (Chapter Two), while the Other themes contained
articles covered in the IRAS news but not belonging to those three categories. Notably,
there are additional categories in 2001 and 2013. In 2001, with unexpected sea incidents
related to the IRAS boats, the theme of Tragedy at sea became significant. In 2013, the
Legislation of the IRAS policies was strongly focused on in the three newspapers.
139
Table 5.1 Categorised themes by year
The year 1977 experienced the most balanced news themes, with the top three evenly
accounting for 37.1%, 31.5 % and 22.5% of all samples. The balance of news themes’
proportions reduced in the next two timeframes. In 2001, the proportion of Policy,
Threat and Sympathy were 50%, 17.7% and 9.6% respectively, and in 2013, the
proportions were 54.3%, 20.1% and 8.5% respectively (Table 5.1).
Predominantly, the news narrative was built on the policy debates towards the IRAS
boat arrivals. Articles on policy remained the highest and accounted for 37.1% of all
samples in 1977, 50% in 2001 and 54.3% in 2013. The Policy theme increased steadily
over time and, in total, comprised 49.3% of all samples.
This finding confirms the ‘boat’ narrative has always been a political story and a
traditional practice in journalists’ coverage of Australian elections. By reporting the
‘boat’ story from a political point of view, the journalists actively secured it as news
value in the election policy debate. When it comes to formal procedures (such as federal
election campaign), journalistic traditional academic disciplines become stronger than
ever. Hence, the critical ‘boat people’ framing and naming decisions became part of the
grand narrative that shaped the traditional journalistic practice on the boat news stories.
Similar tactics applied to the second highest theme of the ‘boat’ coverage, which is the
Threat of the IRAS. The literature shows that the new migrants have been historically
portrayed as bringing more problems than benefits to the nation (See Chapter Two). By
contrast, the Other themes attained the smallest percentage, except for the year 2001
when the Other themes were stronger than the Sympathy themes.
140
Examining the common core topics in the Other theme (Appendix E), results show there
were more stories in the category representing the international and national context of
the boat people. For example, stories in 1977 revealed the conflicts in Indochina,
especially the Vietnamese post-war contention and the Cambodian–Vietnamese war.
The 2001 sample was dominated by national stories such as the difficulties young
refugees faced when doing Year 12 exams and the struggles of previous immigrant
communities. In 2013, the Other themes only appeared in eight articles, presenting
views about the Syrian civil war, conflicts in West Bank and the overall situation in the
Middle East.
Among the three newspapers, The SMH and The Australian shared significant
similarities in their news themes, such as the proportion of policy (53.4% in both
newspapers), legislation (3.6% in both newspapers) and the Other focus (10.9% in The
SMH and 11% in The Australian) (see Table 5.2).
Table 5.2 Categorised themes of the news narratives by newspaper in the three periods
By contrast, The DT distinguished itself by focusing on dramatic and tragic events of
the boat people. The percentages of Threat (32.7%) and Tragedy (7.5%) themes were
higher in The DT than in the other two newspapers, while it paid the least attention to
the legislation aspect of the issue. However, policy focus still accounted for 39.3%, the
highest percentage of all samples of this newspaper.
Table 5.2 affirms the two politically oriented newspapers, The SMH and The Australian,
produced the storylines that reinforced the logic of ‘formal’ election coverage and
therefore built a grand narrative of a one-nation-identity. The quantitative results also
141
support this argument by showing significantly similar media patterns found during the
three election campaigns in The SMH and The Australian (see Table 4.6).
The panels below give an overview of the sequence of functions, showing consistent
patterns suggesting the narrow range of story forms from which the repetitive content
flows. The formula of an IRAS story can be shown in three standard news stories about
boat arrivals representing the theme of Threat. When the boat, Song Be 12 arrived
during the 1977 election campaign, a typical news article appeared in The SMH on 29
November. This is dissected in the first panel.
A similar story appeared in The Australian on 23 October 2001, about the SIEV IV with
220 asylum seekers on board. Also associated with the ‘Children Overboard' affair, this
later became a factor in the Howard Government’s election. This is dissected in the
second panel.
Headline: The rising tide of refugees
By-line: Michael Richardson reports on the Vietnamese boat people and the problems they present for
Malcolm Fraser
Second sub-headline: Defence policy lack criticised
Identification of “threat”: AT first glance, Tengah Island is an unlikely eye for a fast-brewing political
storm in Australia over Indo-Chinese refugees.
However, it is not difficult to see why it is at the centre of the storm when you hire a boat in Mersing
— a small fishing port near the southeast tip of Peninsular Malaysia — and then loss and pitch for eight
miles through waters whipped by monsoon winds beating in from the South China Sea.
Dominant and longest quotation presents the solution debate among politicians:
The State president of the RSL, Sir Colin Hines, said yesterday he was appalled that none of the political
parties was including defence as an election issue.
“Australia does not have the ability to defend itself against even a moderate threat,” he said.
“This situation is apparently acceptable to all our political parties in spite of the deteriorating strategic
environments in Asia, Africa and Western Europe.
"Our defence forces and our coastal surveillance are so inadequate that we cannot even detect flotillas
of Vietnamese refugees landing on Australian soil.”
Sir Colin said the Prime Minister's statements on security and foreign policy in his election speech was
"only cosmetic in nature."
142
A typical article in The DT on 21 August 2013 represents a similar pattern in reporting a
‘boat in emergency’ during the 2013 election campaign. This is dissected in the third
panel.
Headline: Boatpeople taken to PNG as another new load founders - Election 2001 Identification of “threat”: AS all but three of the 223 boat people on Christmas Island were flown to Papua New Guinea yesterday,
defence force personnel were busy transferring another boatload of about 220 on to a naval vessel moored
off the island. The engine on the most recent boat arrival had broken down -- immigration officials refused to rule out
sabotage -- and the pumps stopped working, causing the boat to take on water. Defence personnel then transferred about 220 on board -- it is understood a one-month-old baby was
among them -- to a nearby naval vessel. They were trying to repair the damage last night, and a spokesman
for Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said people would be returned to the vessel if it could be fixed. Dominant and longest quotation present the “solution” debate among politicians: Mr Ruddock refused to say yesterday where the latest boatload would be processed. ``We've got a range of options we're looking at, and we'll make announcements when it's appropriate
to, but at the moment, it remains off Christmas Island,'' Mr Ruddock said in Sydney. ``They certainly won't be coming to Australia.'' PNG is understood to be an option, but other possibilities are also being explored. The tiny Pacific island of Nauru is at capacity and the islands of Kiribati and Palau -- being
considered as options further down the track -- do not have the infrastructure.
Headline: PNG’s no solution as disaster strikes Identification of “threat”: FIVE asylum seekers are feared drowned in yet another boat tragedy, with
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s PNG Solution now under siege. Only a frantic rescue by navy crews prevented more deaths, with 106 people saved. Survivors told authorities they believed up to five people went down with the boat, which sank 120
nautical miles north of Christmas Island yesterday afternoon. As the tragedy was unfolding on the ocean, lawyers in Australia revealed they would go to the High Court
to challenge the legality of the prime minister’s policy to send all asylum seekers to PNG’s Manus Island. Dominant and longest quotation represents the “solution” debate among politicians: The tragedy occurred on the same day it emerged $236 million has been set aside to resettle asylum
seekers in PNG over the next four years, with the Coalition estimating that would pay for 6000 refugees to be
settled permanently. "Labor has predicted success for every one of their failures in the past, for East Timor, for Malaysia and
now they are making the same claims over PNG, but the boats continue to arrive, with the largest ever boat
arriving this week," Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said. “They need to say what they have advised the PNG government — if they are planning to resettle 6000
people,” Mr Morrison said.
143
In these three articles, the background scene of the story is an island: Malaysia’s Tengah
Island, Australia’s Christmas Island, and PNG’s Manus Island, respectively. With each
backdrop, the boat problem started to affect Australian politicians’ approaches to the
federal election. The headlines showed the threat to Australia as more boats came to
shore. The first paragraphs present how difficult the situation is. The first quotation
from the politicians relates to whether the politician supports the government or opposes
it.
The relative narrowness of the themes and stories in the qualitative analyses is not
uncommon. For Hall (1985), the storylines of news are rather simple and basic, with
readers seeing nothing but the obvious; this is the ‘limited repertoire’ of the media.
However, journalism practice thinks more highly of reporting, the process involving
certain choices. From among the people they approach, journalists choose some to
interview, then from the information provided, they choose certain quotes and
descriptions. Latta (2009) commented that this process is not an organic coincidence,
rather it indicates an agreement on the telos of the events covered or the assembly of the
information gathered: “The constant default to the foundational myths allowed news
media to write the same story over and over, with different details and names, as
vehicles for what should be distinctly different stories” (p.74). Indeed, this process is
distinctive of a grand narrative – an ordered storyline with a certain formula.
In these cases, the press took on the role of building a one-nation identity and becoming
the collective of the nation’s memory, within the grand narrative about the boat people.
The next section presents recurring themes during the three timeframes regarding
Policy, Threat and Sympathy categories.
5.3. Themes
5.3.1. The ‘Policy’
As shown in Appendix G, the Policy themes combine the highest number of common
core topics of all samples. In 1977, the two most popular messages were ‘Australian
politicians debating on a regional solution in solving the boat problem’ (seven articles)
and ‘the election campaign built towards the IRAS boats’ (six articles). The first themes
combine articles stressing the Fraser Government working with international and
regional nations to process the Vietnamese refugees and reduce the number of boat
144
people sailing to Australia. The second themes focusing on the boat people would
become the issue in the 1977 federal election debates. These themes are represented in
this chapter as ‘the right man wins’ and ‘the election issue’. In 2001, the themes of
‘election issue’ took dominance with 32 articles, followed by the ‘the right man wins’
theme, which in 2001 concerned the regional Pacific Solution, with 30 articles. In 2013,
the ‘right man wins’ themes dominated with 24 articles when news focused on
comparing the regional negotiations of two parties, the Labor government's PNG policy
and the Coalition's turn-back-the-boat policy. The themes of ‘election issue’ ranked
second with 18 articles, mostly in The Australian, which repeatedly connnected the
IRAS boats to the election campaign.
An election issue
In the 1977 election, the Liberal Party led by Malcolm Fraser was in government, while
Mr Gough Whitlam was the opposition Labor candidate. The Australian connected the
boat arrivals with election debates earliest when on 22 November it wrote: "The two
men were discussing immigration on an ABC election series called The Policy Makers.
As they spoke, news came of the arrival at Darwin of another six boats carrying 218
Vietnamese refugees.” The DT on 28 November claimed the refugee boat had become
the election issue: “The question of refugees surging up on our doorstep and demanding
entry has become a significant election issue.” On the same day, Mr Whitlam
completely refused to elaborate on earlier statements in which he said a future Labor
government would not deport refugees who reached Australia in small boats. The
change of mind of the Labor leader led to the press questioning Labor’s future policy on
boat people.
In 2001, the incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by PM John
Howard, fought for its third term in power, while Mr Kim Beazley represented the
opposition Labor Party. At the beginning of the 2001 election campaign, on 13 October,
The SMH wrote: "Events such as the Tampa refugee saga will play a pivotal role in how
The Team will position and promote the party and Howard." Mr Howard's firm position
on Tampa was an advantage in his party's campaign, which would portray Mr Beazley
as a weak leader. On 24 October, the tragic drowning of 350 IRAS occurred in the last
three weeks of the election campaign. As in 1977, The Australian was the earliest to
write that the IRAS boat issue had became the biggset battlefront in the election, with
145
Mr Howard defining the issue as about ‘border protection’, defence and domestic
security. This newspaper quickly announced that two thirds of the ‘hot’ election issues
related to boat people (The Australian, 24 October 2001). On 5 November, The SMH
quoted surveyed polls confirming that IRAS boat arrivals was an election issue. This
newspaper also predicted the Liberal Party would win votes by putting the IRAS boat
issue on the frontline. However, near the end of the campaign, when poll results showed
IRAS boat issue was unpopular among the voters, the three newspapers still quoted both
candidates insisting that this issue would be an election decider (The SMH, 7 November
2001).
In 2013, the news focused on the Coalition opposition, led by Mr Tony Abbott, who
firmly claimed the IRAS boat arrivals as an election issue. On 13 August, The
Australian reported that the latest Newspoll survey showed the issue of asylum seekers
increased in importance to voters by four points to 52%, overtaking unemployment,
interest rates, industrial relations, and climate change. On 22 August, The DT confirmed
that deterring boat arrivals would be Mr Abbott’s core promise in the campaign. The
SMH of 23 August confirmed Mr Abbott would stop boat people from getting on the
boats. On 26 August, The Australian reported that Mr Abbott was focused on the 3,000
boat people that came after the PNG plan was initiated and that he promised to stop the
boats. The DT followed this with a similar article on the 3 September.
Meanwhile, all three newspapers on 6 September 2013 resembled each other when they
criticised the Labor government’s ‘soft’ PNG plan and announced that the voters
ignored PM Rudd’s campaigning on other issues. Labor's Immigration Minister, Mr
Tony Burke, was pushed to get involved in the asylum seeker debate by using the PNG
plan as the primary strategy of the Labor Party. The Australian on the same day
commented that five days from the election, Mr Burke sought to limit the impact that
the asylum seeker issue would have on Labor’s flagging electoral fortunes.
The right man wins
In 1977, news initially showed the Labor Party having a tougher stance than the
Coalition government of Malcolm Fraser (The Australian Sample 063). Mr Whitlam
reportedly called for the refugees to be sent back to their home countries and confirmed
Australia did not have an open-door policy. Similarly, the government had been blamed
146
by the media as acting too slowly regarding boat arrivals (The DT Sample 081). The
news narrative in the first half of the campaign showed that the Federal Government
warned that the Vietnamese boat people would bring health problems to Australia,
creating a ‘government in exile’, and it promised to provide strong measures to reduce
the flow of boat arrivals. However, the government then realised that supporting the
Vietnamese refugees could bring them a victory in the election. The narrative in the
second half of the campaign was changed when the three newspapers on 1 December
1977 reported Mr Fraser’s insistance on not sending the refugees back home, and on 5
December he promised to increase refugee funding and support, set up new cities and
create television and radio services for immigrants. Before this, on 28 November, Mr
Whitlam utterly refused to elaborate on earlier statements in which he said a future
Labor government would deport refugees who reached Australia in small boats. The
Australian reported on 8 December that Mr Whitlam had changed his mind and would
accept more refugees.
The news narrative in 1977 showed less motivation in choosing which candidate to
follow in the election, but it does show that the IRAS solutions of the two main parties
were unclear and had no vision. The SMH said in 1977 that both candidates used boats
for political purposes and showed no sympathy to refugees; they did not accept refugees
were coming this way but had no particular policy about it (Sample 013 and 039). The
Australian on 8 December claimed that both candidates politicised the refugee issue and
made voters feel pessimistic about Vietnamese immigration. This claim was echoed in
2001 when The DT on 24 October said party leaders were using the refugee tragedy for
a political game.
A similar story happened in the 2001 and 2013 election campaigns. However, in 2001
and 2013 each newspaper promoted a particular prime ministerial candidate as their
“right man”.
In 2001, The Australian and The DT supported the Coalition government, saying Labor
was weak and divided on a boat solution plan (Sample 396), and Mr Beazley’s mistaken
fury step in the IRAS issue brought Labour to move in after the election (Sample 420).
On 9 November 2001 these two newspapers promoted Mr Howard’s Pacific Solution,
saying the prime minister was “the right man for this chaos” (Sample 443). Notably,
147
The DT on 8 November supported Mr Howard unconditionally over the Tampa
incident, saying he was not a racist (Sample 436).
By contrast, The SMH showed potential support to the Labor party by blaming Mr
Howard for manipulating the war on terror and other refugee topics. However, this
newspaper did admit that Labor had changed in the last few days of the campaign and
wanted more votes by accepting the government's refugee policy unconditionally (The
SMH, 29 October 2001). Highlighting Mr Beazley's bipartisan attitude, The SMH
claimed he had lost Labor's values for a multi-national Australia (Sample 158 on 1
November 2001). However, it still supported Labor strongly by writing on 6 November
that Labor's IRAS policy was more efficient than the government’s.
The change in Labor’s IRAS policy at the end of the campaign was also represented in
The Australian and The DT. In particular, The Australian said Labor admitted that
fighting against terrorism and border protection were mostly common political ground
and agreed with Mr Howard’s using the Navy to turn back the IRAS boats (Sample 304
and 345). It also blamed Mr Beazley, who relied on the same asylum policy to win the
election but could not compete with the government's solution. The two candidates were
shoulder to shoulder on turning back the boat people. The SMH, who quoted Mr
Menadue, a former head of the Immigration Department, who condemned the "me-
tooism" of Labor and the Coalition: “[It] leaves me bitterly disappointed that our proud
record is being besmirched by the political opportunism on refugees” (The SMH, 8
November 2001). One day before the polling day, when the facts of the ‘Children
Overboard’ incident were revealed and Mr Howard was losing his reputation, The
Australian assessed that Mr Beazley deserved to lose the election because he kept silent
when he should not have.
The 2013 federal election echoed the narrative of 2001, although the roles of the
political parties were now reversed. The Australian and The DT kept their support for
the Coalition parties and blamed the Rudd Labor Government for an ineffective IRAS
solution. In August, the second week of the 2013 election campaign started with the
arrival of the 40th boat to Australian waters, which resulted in five boat people
drowning. The number was not as high as the 2001 boat tragedy, but it had put pressure
on the Labor Government to show some action and a solution to compete with
Opposition leader Mr Abbott's already-presented boat turn-back plan. On 6 September
148
2013, The Australian echoed The DT of 2001 by saying that Mr Abbott was the right
candidate who could win trust from Australia and it was confident he would win the
election. At the end of the 2013 campaign, also echoing the narratives of 1977 and
2001, The Australian reported that the Labor Government had changed its solution and
was imitating the Coalition's policy to win the election.
The Australian presented Labor’s PNG plan, by which IRAS asylum seekers would be
sent to the re-opened Manus Island facility for processing. However, on 30 August 2013
The Australian said Labor had lost control of Australia’s northern border: “Forty-four
boats carrying 3573 asylum-seekers made it into Australian waters in the 33 days before
Mr Rudd announced the policy, compared with the arrival of 2883 asylum seekers on 40
boats in the 33 days since.” The newspaper attacked PM Rudd, saying that his decision
“to relax asylum seeker laws in 2008 led to a surge of 50,000 boat people and about
1000 deaths at sea”.
By contrast, The SMH on 2September 2013 showed its support for the Labor
Government by commenting that fewer boats arrived in the past six months, confirming
the number of IRAS asylum seekers arriving on a boat had come down from 4236 to
1585 after Labor announced its PNG solution. The SMH also claimed strongly that
under the Labor plan, IRAS asylum seekers would be sent to PNG for processing and
resettlement, with the PM Rudd vowing that none of them would be settled in Australia.
However, this newspaper then admitted that Mr Rudd could lose public support because
of this asylum seeker policy (Sample 471).
Previous studies regarding the 2013 federal election show a change in the Labor
Government’s campaign strategy (Dimitrov 2014; Jufri 2016; Lippi, McKay &
McKenzie 2017; McKay, Hall & Lippi 2017). The government’s initial concentration
on the carbon tax issue was unable to find its system of frames. As Dimitrov (2014)
commented, the Labor government was mostly operated within the Coalition’s “master
narrative” (Dimitrov 2014, p. 2).
Other recurring themes relating to ‘Policy’
The narrative on IRAS boat arrivals in 1977, 2001 and 2013 showed three additional
common themes related to the Policy category.
149
The powerful voters
Another reproduced theme was the unchanged survey poll expectation that the election
winner would be the party that followed the public’s attitude. In 1977, public surveys
showed widespread support for the Vietnamese refugees. The SMH quoted the Council
of Population’s confirmation of a decline in fertility rates, announcing that Australia
was in need of a new labour force (Sample 031). As a result, the Fraser Government
changed its plan and supported the Vietnamese migrant boat people in order to win the
support of the public.
In 2001, survey polls continuously confirmed IRAS boat arrivals were one of the
public’s primary concerns and Australian voters were mostly against the boat people
(Sample 100 and 421). The SMH on 31 October showed poll results saying rural voters
were more concerned about the asylum issue than metropolitan voters (Sample 155).
Before this, on 30 October, The SMH proved the voter's power by saying listeners liked
radio station 2GB because it supported Mr Howard against the IRAS (Sample 144) and
two-thirds of the Australian population supported the government's stand on border
integrity (Sample 148). Similarly, The Australian on 29 October confirmed the
government’s position on IRAS reflected the electors’ interest (Sample 280). Its
narrative continued to show that such a majority of radio talkback callers supported Mr
Howard’s tough stance on asylum seekers (Sample 312 on 1 November), voters
resoundingly endorsed the government themes of turning back boats and deployment of
troops in Afghanistan (Sample 295 on 31 October), and voters rated the Mr Howard
much higher than MrBeazley for economic management and security handling (Sample
333 on 7 November).
In 2013, the voters’ power was even more evident when the number of boat arrivals
reduced but the Coalition followed public will to insist on promoting the stop-the-boat
election issue. The Australian on 29 August quoted a poll result saying IRAS boat
arrivals were still one of the voters’ primary concerns (Sample 545), while The DT on 5
September declared an early victory for Mr Abbott because of his strong IRAS policy
(Sample 589). Meanwhile, The SMH on 3 September claimed the Green Party was
relying on its refugee plan to push votes, showing the unstoppable attention of the
voters to this issue.
150
Spending on border security and giving power to army and navy forces
On 8 November 1977, The SMH reported that the Fraser Government ran patrol boats
and aircraft to search for IRAS boats near Darwin. The Australian reported that the
government would spend more on patrol boats and boost coastal surveillance of boat
arrivals (Sample 45 and 51). The DT also focused on the government’s increased patrols
to control the maritime border (Sample 80).
A similar situation appeared in 2001 when the Howard Government announced
spending of AUD 175 million on guarding the sea border and stopping the IRAS boat
arrivals (The SMH on 24 October). The SMH tried to restrict the government’s policy by
blaming it for taking education funding to focus on border protection spending (Sample
146). Meanwhile, The Australian on 24 October reported that Mr Howard had launched
a strong border protection policy that used Navy forces for boat patrol (sample 240).
The theme in 2013 echoed those of 1977 and 2001, with the leader of the Coalition, Mr
Abbott, announcing he would provide more power to the police force to act against
asylum seekers in detention centres (The Australian on 2 September). This move was
confirmed after The Australian reported that police were not able to arrest the IRAS
protestors inside detention centres because they had limited power. On 6 September,
The Australian confirmed Mr Abbott would spend AUD one billion to reduce boat
people arrivals to 600 per year (Sample 578).
Increasing the quota of immigration and humanitarian refugees to reduce boat arrivals
The SMH on 28 June 1977 commented that Australia’s policy was to only accept 2,900
refugees from Indo-China, which led to an increase in the “uninvited and unknown”
boat arrivals. On 1 December it reported that the Immigration Department had expanded
refugee intakes to reduce boat arrivals. The Australian also focused on the Fraser
Government's move to increase the refugee intake and associated services to reduce
boat arrivals (Sample 79). A similar story repeated in 2001, when PM Howard, while
concerned with refugees as a security issue, still promised to increase total immigration
intake to avoid the sea tragedies (The Australian on 30 October). Similarly, on 20
August 2013 The Australian reported on the Green Party's policy, which aimed to stop
deaths at sea by increasing the refugee intake to 30,000 per year.
151
5.3.2. The ‘Threat’
Appendix G shows the Threat themes that emerged, with the three highest threats of all
time being the Foreign Relations threat, the Number threat and the Security threat.
Messages addressing the Foreign Relations threat comprised 76 articles, accounting for
61.3% of the Threat samples. The Security threat appeared in 26 messages (21%), and
the Number threat in 19 articles (15.3%).
In 1977, the Foreign Relations and Number threats increased, appearing in eight and six
articles respectively. In 2001, the Foreign Relations threat appeared in 16 articles and
the Election threat in 14 articles, making these two categories the most popular in the
year studied. In 2013, the Security threat attracted the highest focus with 12 articles,
followed by Foreign Relations threat with 11 articles. So, during the three time periods,
Foreign Relations' threat recurred as the top message in the Threat themes, consisting of
well over half of all samples in this category.
The Foreign Relations threat focused on how Australian negotiations on the ‘boat
people’ affected its international relations, particularly with neighbouring countries. For
example, in 1977, with the arrival of the Song Be 12 during the election campaign, the
media narrative focused on the relationship with the Vietnamese Communist
government and other neighbouring countries in the Pacific Ocean region that were
involved in the Vietnamese boat peoples’ processing and settlement, such as Thailand,
Singapore and Malaysia. In 2001, the Tampa incident triggered a Foreign Relations
threat between Australia and the Norwegian Government. Then, the Howard
Government’s Pacific Solution policy resulted in Foreign Relations threats with
Indonesia and PNG. In 2013, the Rudd Government's PNG Plan created conflicts in
relation with the PNG Government, and the Coalition's turn-back-the-boats policy put
Australia in a Foreign Relations threat with Indonesia.
Narrative of foreign relation crisis
On 29 November 1977, the Song Be 12 arrived at Darwin Harbour carrying 183
Vietnamese refugees, including three Vietnamese soldiers, who claimed to have been
kidnapped by the armed refugees. The Australian on 1 December reported that
diplomatic ties with Vietnam were under threat: “The Song Be issue has developed into
a major embarrassment and threatens to blow up into an international scandal with
152
Australia being accused of harbouring criminals.” The three newspapers quoted the
Vietnamese Charge d'Affairs, Mr Phan Ke Dinh, who said his government considered
those people on board the Song Be 12 to be “pirates”, thus forcing the Australian
Government to return the boats and all the supposed criminals on board to Vietnam. On
2 December, The SMH opened its report by stating, “While the talks of the Song Be
were going on, another boat the Kien Giang entered Darwin Harbour raising another
conflict to the relationship with the Vietnamese Embassy.”
The findings in this category show that the Fraser Government was reluctant and slow
in the processing of the Vietnamese refugees arriving by boat. The Minister for
Immigration, Mr MacKellar, perfunctorily received the Vietnamese refugees, so that
America and Canada would not complain about the relatively small number of refugees
accepted by Australia. In the meantime, public opinion somewhat affected the decisions
of Australian politicians, particularly when concerning ideology and the Left–Right
perspectives of the Cold War. For example, the 1977 themes reflected the sympathies of
Fraser Government, which had been against the rise of the Left during the Vietnam
War. On 28 November The DT wrote: “The fashionable – as usual impetuous –view is
that Australia had a part in Vietnam's destiny and so, is responsible for the refugees'
fate.” Moreover, a worker’s union protest against the anti-communist South Vietnamese
boat people also explained how ideology and belief affected the political agenda and the
news narrative in 1977.
In 2001, Foreign Relations threats emerged after the Howard Government introduced
the Pacific Solution to its IRAS boat problem, known under the term ‘offshore
processing’. In this new policy, the IRAS coming to Australia on boats would be
transferred to detention centres located in Nauru and PNG’s Manus Island. The building
of Australian processing facilities was agreed on the premise that Nauru and PNG were
vulnerable and dependent upon Australia.
The Australian of 7 November 2001 claimed asylum seekers were pushing Australia to
regional Foreign Relations threats (Sample 342). It expected a victory for PM Howard
but predicted that Australia would be isolated because of regional failings when dealing
with the boat arrivals (Sample 343). On the same day, The SMH attacked PM Howard
by saying he was ignoring foreign policy when dealing with the refugee crisis (sample
182).
153
The Liberal Government's Pacific Solution policy pushed PM Howard into a political
standoff with Indonesia. The SMH on 23 October 2001 reported that Mr Howard
clashed with Indonesia in an APEC meeting about the regional refugee processing plan.
This newspaper blamed the PM for warning Indonesia because it was not helping
Australia deal with the IRAS asylum seekers, but he promised to build the detention
centre in Indonesia (Sample 151 on 31/10). Explaining the foreign relations crisis with
Indonesia, The SMH reported on a large anti-Muslim attitude in Australia (Sample 173
on 6 November). The SMH also attacked the Foreign Minister, confirming that Australia
did not need a constructive relationship with Indonesia at any price (Sample 198). The
article was not positive for the Liberal Government, especially during the 2001 election
campaign.
By contrast, in The Australian’s coverage of the foreign relations crisis with Indonesia,
its perspective followed PM Howard, putting him in a more positive, active and
stronger position. It said on 23 October that the PM blamed Indonesia for the flow of
boat people to Australia, and that Mr Howard had used Australian talkback radio to tell
Indonesia to take back the boat people on the Norwegian vessel the Tampa in August
2001. On 24 October, The Australian reported that Mr Howard had called for bilateral
negotiations to send a clear message to the IRAS to not risk their lives getting to
Australia (Sample 245). When Indonesia refused Australia's IRAS plan, on 2 November
the newspaper quoted the PM’s claim that the Indonesian president ignored him at the
regional conference (Sample 315). Similarly, The DT on 4 November published an
article reporting that Indonesia and Fiji warned they would not cooperate with
Australia’s interception of IRAS boats (Sample 414).
In 2013, the press blamed the two main political parties’ dealings with Indonesia and
PNG, but each newspaper had its own attitude. The Australian and The DT produced
most articles (eight samples) to criticise the Rudd Government’s PNG Plan, while The
SMH produced most articles on Coalition leader’s failure in negotiations with Indonesia
(three samples).
The Australian on 21 August 2001 said the Rudd Government failed with both its PNG
plan and the regional summit (Sample 502). Expecting the negotiations between the
Rudd Government and PNG would fail, this newspaper on 23 August quoted the PNG
government complaining about refugee numbers in excess of the capacity of Manus
154
Island, and its postponing of any negotiation until after the 2001 election (Sample 517).
On the same day, The DT quoted the PNG Immigration authority, noting similar
struggles of the PNG plan (Sample 591).
On 28 August, these two newspapers increased pressure on the government when they
reported that Manus Islanders criticised Australia for its disorganised planning and for
making the deal with PNG unequal (Sample 539). One day later, both The Australian
and The DT reported angry protests by Manus Islanders about the deal with Australia
(Sample 595 and 544), yet The SMH kept silent about this event. The Australian also
quoted a Torres Strait Islander mayor who had called on the Rudd Government to axe
the PNG plan because of its ineffectiveness and threat to international relations (Sample
520 on 23/8). Then, at the end of the campaign, with an expectation of the victory for
the Coalition, The Australian expressed hope that the newly elected Foreign Minister,
Ms Julie Bishop, would visit countries in the region to recover relations with them
(Sample 569 on 5/9).
In the meantime, The SMH focused on blaming the Coalition's turn-back-the-boat plan,
which might lead Australia into a relationship crisis with Indonesia. On 2 September
2001, it reported on Mr Abbott’s lack of foreign relations experience when dealing with
Indonesia (Sample 470). When the boat buy-back plan was still a promise, The SMH on
5 September reported that an Australian businessman had opened a stop-the-boat
company in Indonesia, creating confusion for the Indonesian government as the deal
was still on paper (Sample 481).
In summary, the three newspapers focused on the ‘threat’ upon Australian foreign
relations, concerning the solution for the ‘refugee problem’. The media representation
of the Foreign Relations threat framed the IRAS boat arrivals as a regional issue, giving
the impression of a Pacific-wide consensus on a Pacific-wide problem. Kumar Rajaram
(2003) commented: “The border legislation of 2001 included the institutionalisation of
the extra-judicial ‘executive’ power of the sovereign and allowed the usage of foreign
spaces” (p. 299). Indeed, the dominance of the Foreign Relations threat in the news
narrative during the election times suggested the importance of ‘geopolitical reasoning’
and the constructed representation of states and territories to explain the boat arrivals
and justify foreign policy actions of the Australian government. In the Pacific Solution
and PNG Solution, the press represented negotiations between the Australian
155
government and the Pacific countries. This news narrative proved Dodds, Kuus and
Sharp statement that critical geopolitics’ territorial assumptions such as the antithesis
East and West, Security and Danger and Freedom and Oppression had been used for
long in political and media narrative. Such assumptions need to untie in order to
transform the relation of spatiality and power to a more opened manner (2013).
Journalists, as fact presenters, should break the chain of associations between nation and
the issue, or try to link a nation with a problem.
Topics of ‘security’ threat, from ‘not genuine refugees’ to ‘terrorists in refugee clothes’
and the business of ‘people smugglers’
If Number threat was always the critical issue for immigration, whether by boat or other
transportation, Security threats were often linked to people coming to Australia on
boats, whether they arrived in 1977, 2001 or 2013. In 1977, the Security threats that the
three newspapers focused on in the earlier stage of the election was the ‘Viet
government in exile’. The theme of ‘Viet government in exile’ first appeared on 23
November 1977 with six articles in The SMH and The Australian. The press’s quest was
to investigate the status of these Vietnamese IRAS and to find out whether the people
claiming refugee status were, in fact, refugees. However, the ways the two newspapers
reported on ‘Viet government in exile’ were slightly different. On 28 November 1977
The SMH stressed it more as a warning: “Mr MacKellar warned that countries overseas
saw Australia as a country of almost unlimited potential growth and a potential haven
for large numbers of refugees.”
Meanwhile, The Australian presented the Immigration Minister’s comment in response
to the waterside workers’ protest in Darwin, quoting the Waterside Workers Federation
(WWF) president Curly Nixon: “These were not refugees. They had pressed trousers,
gold, and in one case, three servants. We have got blokes married to Asians who cannot
get their own families here, and these mugs arrive in the boat with riches” (Sample 50).
The article then questioned the legislative status of those coming by boats, by quoting
Mr MacKellar that the WWF did not believe that these people were refugees, two-and-
a-half years after the Vietnam war ended. Similarly, The DT on the 28 November
claimed: “It has been alleged that some of these people are not genuine refugees at all –
that among them are profit-motivated opportunists and other illegal immigrants seeking
to gain entry to this country by the back door.”
156
In stage two of the 1977 election, the Vietnamese refugees were considered “pirates”
and “furious war losers” after the Song Be 12 arrived, with three Vietnamese hostage
soldiers on board. The legislative status of these refugees was again questioned, with the
three newspapers asking if they had stolen the government-owned boat and kidnapped
the Vietnamese soldiers. Reporting on the Song Be 12 spread the security threat by
stating, “Australian authorities have been warned that there may still be weapons on
board which were missed by the searches.”
Stage three of the 1977 campaign started with the arrival of the boat Kien Giang, which
triggered newspaper predictions of unsecured entry into Australia. Stage three began on
5 December when The DT first asked about the business of the people smugglers who
were the crew of a Vietnamese government freighter that had brought a new group of
IRAS refugees to Australia. The DT claimed the refugees had paid USD64,000 for the
journey in strips of gold leaf. This newspaper also confirmed that the crew demanded a
USD1000 payment for each of the 42 men, 15 women and seven children aboard the
Kien Giang. Concerns about the business of people smuggling were repeated in 2001
and 2013 when the press revealed a tight black-market network and how candidates in
the federal elections promised to control the activity of people smugglers.
As in 1977, the narrative in 2001 also told stories about the IRAS hijacking boats and
terrorists coming to Australia in refugee clothes. The DT followed the hijacked boat
story more deeply, quoting Immigration Minister Ruddock: “The sea incident showed
the lengths asylum seekers would go to.” The related DT articles took up the whole
story of the vessel taken over by the less experienced asylum seekers: “It may well be
that the vessel was hijacked.” In the end, the three newspapers quoted an Australian
police officer, who alleged that the captain and crew were telling a lie (Sample 403, 407
and 410) and the boat was not hijacked. The Australian reported on this captured boat
from a different perspective, stating the Indonesian departure port had warned Australia
that the hijacked boat had finished its repairs and would sail soon. In another article,
describing the boat in more detail, The Australian claimed the captain received
USD14,000 to transport rich IRAS to Australia (Sample 288 and 314).
The Security threat also stressed the image of terrorists coming on boats in refugee
clothes. The Australian and The SMH of 8 November 2001 both quoted PM Howard as
linking the boat people and terrorism, saying terrorists were using the boats as a path to
157
get to Australia (Sample 200 and 344). Meanwhile, The DT focused suspicion on the
reportedly aggressive action of the boat people. On 9 November it said boat people set
fire to their boats when intercepted by Navy Coast Guard (Sample 438). The newspaper
quoted a secret intelligence report excerpt read by Mr Howard: “Asylum seekers
wearing life jackets jumped into the sea and children were thrown in with them. Such
tactics have previously been used elsewhere, for example by people smugglers and Iraqi
asylum seekers on boats intercepted by the Italian Navy.”
The topics concerning ‘people smugglers’ were repeated across the three newspapers.
On 25 October 2001, The DT told a tragic story of PM Howard condemning a people
smuggler for pushing a family into the sea. The newspaper used the narration of the
IRAS to accuse the smugglers (Sample 392). The Australian on 24 October also quoted
a claim that people smugglers were the source of the IRAS boat problem and urged
Australia to act on this issue (Sample 235). This newspaper continuously claimed that
people smugglers were responsible for the deaths of the IRAS at sea (Sample 248).
Similarly, The SMH reported that Indonesian police had prosecuted a people smuggler
for letting a boat sink, and on 7 November the three newspapers reported on Indonesian
authorities arresting a suspected people smuggler who killed 353 victims at sea. The
Australian also reported that the Australian Federal Police had arrested a critical figure
in a people-smuggling operation but then claimed that they had arrested the wrong
person.
Security threat themes attracted the highest coverage in 2013, with the narrative
addressing criminal acts and dangerous incidents relating to the IRAS. Not only cast as
pirates or boat hijack operators, the IRAS were portrayed as causing protests in
detention centres along with suicides, hunger strikes, self-harming and escaping. The
Australian on 20 August reported the escape of five IRAS from a detention centre,
creating a security risk for the surrounding community (Sample 494). This newspaper
continued to explore this theme by narrating the dangerous transfer of a hunger striker
IRAS from Christmas Island to PNG (Sample 521 on 23 August). The protests of the
IRAS peaked when a 16-year-old asylum seeker tried to hang himself in Christmas
Island (Sample 540 on 28 August).
Meanwhile, The DT focused on the security threat the IRAS might bring to the rest of
the community. On 20 August it quoted that the NSW Premier pressured police to
158
tackle gun crime and gangs created by the newcomers (Sample 583). Moreover, this
newspaper blamed the Immigration Department for granting a visa to a sexual criminal
asylum seeker (Sample 596 on 2 September). Another sexual assault case also caught
the attention of The DT, which stressed that an alleged perpetrator was an asylum seeker
(Sample 599 on 3 September). In the last two IRAS-related articles of the 2013
timeframe, The DT ignored the IRAS in the election debate but focused on another
criminal case, in which an asylum seeker was allegedly stabbed to death by his
flatmates. An accompanying article focused on the investigation of the police to find out
the status of the killer, who The DT claimed was another asylum seeker (Sample 608
and 609).
Notably, in 2013, the Security threat came back with the topic of the people smugglers.
On 3 September, The DT said the IRAS were still risking dangerous sea voyages,
regardless of smuggler dishonesty (Sample 598). The Australian blamed the Labor
Government, saying that the people smugglers were the threats to the party's PNG plan,
not the plan itself. During the last few days of the 2013 election campaign, the arrest of
people smugglers was spread across the three newspapers. Their narratives focused on
how the Australian Federal Police arrested five people involved in the biggest people
smuggling operation while they were in a detention centre (Sample 466 The SMH;
Sample 543 and 549 The Australian).
5.3.3. The ‘Sympathy’
In the Sympathy category, ‘sympathised facts and witness’ dominated, comprising 19
out of 68 articles (27.9%). ‘Sympathised facts and witness' presented the reality of the
situation and advantaged the refugees and boat people. However, in most cases, it was
the witnesses, not the refugees, who were represented in the interviews with the
newspapers (Appendix G).
In 1977, ‘Sympathised facts and witness' appeared in six articles addressing how the
Vietnamese refugees fled the conflicts after the war there. ‘Sympathised ideology and
belief', was also the main point of view in 1977, with six articles indicating support for
the new trend of Vietnamese immigration and the promotion of Australian
multiculturalism. In 2001, ‘Sympathised facts and witness’ appeared in 10 articles,
ranking the highest in this category. It told of sthe tragedies or successful stories
159
through the experiences of the newly arrived IRAS and the settled refugees. Meanwhile,
‘Sympathised projects' and ‘Sympathised ideology and belief' came second with seven
articles each. In 2013, ‘Sympathised ideology and belief' dominated with four articles,
followed by ‘Sympathised facts and witness', ‘Sympathised policy' and ‘Sympathised
projects', which all had three articles each.
Narrative of sympathised facts and witness
On 23 November 1977, The SMH published a rare sort of interview article asking
residents in the Northern Territory about their first contact with boat people (Sample 4).
The article represented the friendly faces of boat people in close up as welcoming to
Australian readers: “Soon there were about 15 men, mainly young, running, up the
beach towards us. We heard a few “hellos”, and saw many big smiles.” That day The
SMH also informed readers about the conditions of Vietnamese IRAS. Their
immigration had begun in 1954 when more than one million Vietnamese fled “from
North Vietnam to the south after the communist army defeated the French. The second
stage began in 1975 with the collapse of South Vietnam; in that year tens of thousands
who feared for their lives got away, 130,000 to the United States”.
The sympathised facts also dealt with negative claims that boat arrivals contained non-
genuine refugees, pirates or reckless political war losers. Before the 1977 federal
election, The SMH of 17 March described some 2,500 Indo-Chinese refugees, including
980 who were already in Australia when the war ended, such as Colombo Plan students.
This number compared very poorly with the 150,000 Vietnamese refugees accepted by
the United States and 20,000 accepted by the French. Under pressure from the United
Nations, the Fraser Government sought discussion for a Green Paper on immigration
policies affecting the Australian population.
On 25 November 1977, The SMH tried to balance its report of that day about the high
number of refugees arriving by publishing another article explaining the reasons there
increasing numbers of IRAS coming to Australia by boat. It quoted a UNHCR official:
"The group preparing to leave for Australia has become frustrated at the months of
delay while their applications for permanent settlement abroad are being processed and
considered” (Sample 18).
160
In 2001, the themes of sympathised facts were repeated, with various witnesses telling
their stories to explain the reasons for boat incidents during the election period. The
Australian during this time contacted the relatives of people in boat incidents and tried
to change the narrative, which benefited the boat people. An article in The Australian on
24 October explained that refugees got on the boats because they had no choice. The
Australian on 25 October told a story about a family that sailed to Australia after
waiting a long time for the process but receiving no answer. On 29 October, this
newspaper interviewed the relatives of a drowning family, saying they fled from fear of
religious persecution in their home country.
The DT on the 24 October 2001 interviewed a witness who told of a sea tragedy that
happened like the movie Titanic. Then, on 29 October, this newspaper reported about
the witness who claimed refugees experienced troubled and desperate lives in their
home countries. The most sympathetic witnesses appeared in the three newspapers in
2001 after the ‘Children Overboard’ incident. A Navy doctor who worked on Christmas
Island started the ‘Children Overboard’ controversy on the days leading to polling. The
Australian on 7 November quoted this witness as saying the incident never happened.
The SMH on the same day quoted this doctor, condemning the despicable treatment of
the boat people; same content appeared in another article published by The DT.
Two days before the 2001 poll, other witnesses appeared in The Australian saying
refugees swam for their lives, did not throw the children overboard to frighten the Navy
and were forced to save their lives. On 9 November, The Australian revealed a Navy
video showing the boat already sinking before the asylum seekers jumped into the
water.
Sympathised facts recurred in the 2013 sample period. However, there were no articles
quoting refugees or migrants. Instead, the sympathised facts covered how successfully
these refugees and immigrants contributed to their communities after settling in
Australia. The DT on 21 August told a short story of a women refugee artist who started
an art show. The Australian on 23 August reported that the NSW Human Right Award
of 2013 was awarded to a refugee.
Topics of sympathised ideology and belief
161
The ‘sympathised ideology and belief’ was coded if the articles represented political
and religious ideas that supported good things said about the IRAS.
On 28 November 1977, The SMH reported that churches had asked for a high intake of
boat people when the whole nation was still reluctant to accept new Asian migration.
The Australian on 22 November reported that the government had been supporting a
wide range of services for the benefit of immigrants. The narration showed the attitude
of the government supported a multicultural society by providing new migrants with
language programs and ethnic broadcasting. However, with regard to boats coming to
Australia, the government feared that reckless political refugees might create a
government in exile.
Religious sympathy recurred during the 2013 election campaign. The SMH on 22
August told a story about young Jesuits reminding Mr Abbott that the core values of the
school where he once studied were to protect vulnerable people like asylum seekers.
This newspaper then wrote a story on 2 September about how the churches in Australia
had protested to help refugees to stay in Australia. The DT on 23 August also told a
story about the churches providing beds and food for refugees in capital cities such as
Sydney and Melbourne.
In summary, the Sympathy themes tried to contextualise and re-humanise the IRAS, but
this was less common in the 2013 sample when compared to the 2001 and 1977
samples. The Sympathy themes positioned the IRAS in a humanitarian framework,
focused on personal narratives, or contextualised them as part of a much larger problem.
However, the sympathised facts mainly focused on refugees who had already
immigrated and settled into Australian society. There were no faces or voices of the
refugees on board ships in the newspapers. Meanwhile, the sympathised ideology and
belief mainly focuses on church activityies and gave the impression that these
newspapers wanted to promote the churches and Christian beliefs. The sympathised
ideology in 1977 clearly showed support for the South Vietnamese refugees rather than
the victorious Vietnamese Socialist Government.
5.4. The tones of the press
Bell (2005) analysed the structure of different news stories into six elements, in which
most of the abstract, orientation and evaluation are described in the lead of the news.
162
Bell quoted Labov that the lead was the set scene of ‘5W+1H’ as well as the focus of
news evaluation. Furthermore, as explained in the Chapter Three, the first four
paragraphs of the news story play the role of a summary and teaser; they are the first
paragraphs presented to readers. Not only do they announce priorities and establish the
tone but also the major ideological influence on how the story develops.
Within the three timeframes, the three newpapers persisted in their critical tone of
coverage. Table 5.3 illustrates that ‘extraordinarily critical’ and ‘critical’ samples
comprised around half of the data set in the three periods: 47.2% in 1977; 55.4% in 200;
and 57.3% in 2013.
163
Table 5.3 Evaluation of the IRAS articles
Table 5.3 shows that the highest aggressive tone was retained by The Australian in all
three datasets: extraordinarily critical and critical samples made up 58%. The most
extreme-sounding headline, The Australian’s ‘Boat people highlight a problem – Trying
to cope with a refugee invasion’ in 1977, showed a sensational view: “Critics of the
Government's open-door policy say we are establishing dangerous precedents which
could one day create mini-nations and governments in exile. Also, they are not
164
necessarily the same people who subscribed to the domino theory so popular in the
sixties when the communist threat appeared more imminent”.
By contrast, The SMH had 48.9% of its samples expressing the critical view on boat
arrivals. However, this newspaper produced more affirmative articles (25.8% of its
sample) than the other two. Results show this newspaper focused on refugee tragedy
events and interviewed asylum seekers as first-hand witnesses of those sea tragedies.
However, examination of the sea tragedy stories found problems in the journalistic
dramatising of the ‘boat’ incidents.
Sensationalism was found to be the leading attitude in the three newspapers studied. An
article in The Australian on 6 November 1977 told a story in the following way: “These
are that the guards were overpowered by alcohol and drugs as the trawler sailed out of
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on November 7. They then, by a pre-arranged plan, picked
up the refugees, who are reported to include one of a syndicate, which owned the $250
000 trawler before the communists confiscated it. A Foreign Affairs spokesman said: “It
seems obvious this boatload contains people who are not ordinary refugees.”
Sensationalism is a frequent accusation aimed at the press (Benson 2013), which may
appear in both critical and affirmative articles. Critics often cite political and
commercial motives that drive press sensationalism (Sørenes 2010). Indeed,
sensationalism also connotes exaggeration, as in the boat arrival narrative that addresses
the IRAS arrivals as threats where no evidence exists. On the other hand, IRAS arrivals
were also narrated as a Titanic-like event, with shocking details but lacking sound
evidence and a wide range of views.
In the 2001 election coverage, The SMH result showed affirmative articles describing
dramatised Titanic-like events on the sea, with the asylum seekers desperate on their
boats. For example, The SMH on 24 October 2001 headlined, ‘Bound for disaster on a
hulk with no name’, and reported survivors on their horror-filled journey:
165
The DT also expressed sensationalism, with overly critical emotional tones, accounting
for 57.9% of all its articles during the three periods studied. For example, in a 2013
article, headlined ‘Manus Mayhem’, the journalist described how the costs of keeping
asylum seekers in the Manus detention centre stirred the bitter clashes:
5.5. Conclusion
The quantitative findings show that the coverage in 1977 was closely related to the
Vietnamese refugees, while the results in 2001 and 2012 were mainly associated with
Middle Eastern asylum seekers. Findings extracted from the qualitative content analysis
reaffirm how the central ideas of the ‘boat’ news stories were connected to such people.
However, large parts of the sample fell back on ‘traditional’ principles when reporting
the progress of the boat arrivals amid a ‘formal’ national political event.
The predominant news narratives focused on policy debates towards the IRAS boat
arrivals. Articles offering viewpoints on Australian ‘boat’ policy accounted for 37.1%
of all samples in 1977, 50% in 2001, and 54.3% in 2013. News stories that focused on
IRAS boat policies increased steadily over time and comprised 49.3% of all samples.
"Did you see scenes of the Titanic sinking in the movie?" asks Almjib.
"Remember the panic and terror? Well, it was worse than that."
Almjib, a 19-year-old Iraqi, told yesterday how a 19-metre, rotting,
leaking Indonesian fishing boat with no name sank off Java, killing 356
asylum seekers trying to reach Australia's remote Christmas Island.
“Australian taxpayers are already pouring around $500 000 per asylum seeker into
Manus Island under Kevin Rudd’s rushed “PNG Solution” — but the money pot is
igniting bitter clashes in the jungle between angry locals trying to cash in. One
Manus Island tribal leader is threatening to sabotage the makeshift detention centre
by cutting off water unless his demands for 291,000 kinas ($136 000) in "rent" are
paid. Inside the centre, local workers - who are astonished that asylum seekers are
receiving free mobile phones, chocolate and ice-cream - have staged strikes to lift
their pay from about 3 kinas ($1.41) an hour”.
166
This study found that the press’s greatest theme was the threat to ‘Foreign Relations’,
and Foreign Relations threats were connected tightly to election coverage. The related
literature was congruent with the Number threat and Security threat. Results show that
election coverages made the boat issue a topic of debate, and that these debates mainly
focused on the relationships with the regional countries where the offshore detention
centres were built.
Common themes were the establishing of policy debates and the suppressing of the
identities of the boat people. This journalistic approach left unexplored the complex
relationship of the authentic voices of the boat people and their then-current
international contexts. As a direct consequence of this narrative distance The SMH and
The Australian were lacking independent narratives and presented similar framings and
storylines. This researcher believes an understanding of how the themes recurred over
nearly 40 years in the three newspapers should allow journalists to proceed from a valid
evidence-based perspective concerning the writing compelling news stories about the
IRAS and their boats arriving in Australia.
On the other hand, ‘Sympathised Facts and Witness’ and ‘Sympathised Ideology and
Belief’ dominated the ‘sympathised’ themes. ‘Sympathised Facts and Witness’ mainly
focused on those Australian residents and refugees who had already immigrated and
settled in Australian society. Meanwhile, the ‘Sympathised Ideology and Belief’ mainly
focused on church activities, which may give an impression that these newspapers
would like to promote churches and Christianity. The sympathised ideology in 1977
clearly showed support for the South Vietnam refugees over the Vietnam Socialist
Party.
The research questions of this concern whether the news narratives on unauthorised
IRAS boat arrivals remained unchanged over 36 years of press coverage, and to what
extent had they drawn on the substantial IRAS myth that was initially established in the
1970s. It is clear that most samples studied were told in a predictable manner. With
news media being among the biggest influencers in reproducing, stereotyping and
shaping opinions, Propp’s classification theory (1984) is relevant and useful for
highlighting the similarities between different news stories.
167
If the underlying themes are the messages the press would like to send through different
news topics, the roles or characters of the news stories are those who attracted the
readers the most. Characters and conflicts are appealing tactics to entertain readers.
With this in mind, Propp’s classification of roles and Levi-Strauss’ binary oppositions,
such as heroes and villains and insiders and outsiders, will be co-opted in the source
analysis in the next chapter.
168
Chapter Six: Contextual Analysis
6.1. Introduction
Chapter Five used the inductive category development technique and categorised the
recurrent themes of the news narratives: Threat, Sympathy and Other. Most of the
articles analysed leant towards the negative, or Threat. Chapter Four, the quantitative
results chapter, also demonstrated that the news narrative about IRAS boat arrivals was
dominated by politicians. This chapter provides further evidence explaining how
politicians communicated about the problems and solutions in order to gain election
victories.
Chapter Two argued that whereas Propp was concerned specifically with narratives and
he classified the structures of different narratives to recognise the similarities of a
particular genre, Lévi-Strauss’s concern was with how the narrative arises out of basic
categories and trends of human thought. Propp (1968) established the foundation to
classify the functioned characters in narrative, while Levi-Strauss (1963) investigated in
anthropology to match pairs in Proppian function. The purpose of this chapter, the
second step of qualitative analysis, is to explore the story dimension through the
paradigmatic approach by examining the voice of the main actor in the story and finding
the oppositional pair, the subject or object of this story – in other words, the politicians
and the IRAS.
As explained in Chapter Three, the methodology chapter, the understanding of the main
actors’ functional characteristics in the news narrative is dependent on the relationship
between the contexts from which they came and the object they aim at. In Chapter Four,
the image of Australian politicians and authorities was elaborated on and they were
considered as the main actors in news narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals during the
studied time periods. This section provides a thorough explanation of the main actors’
characteristics in the IRAS news narrative.
The voice of the main actors is analysed through their direct quotes and paraphrasing, as
presented in the three newspapers. By doing so, the primary pair of binary oppositions
was discovered through the main actors, actions and objects of the news stories.
Bloomberg and Volpe (2012) call the method a quasi-statistical approach, using word
frequencies or phrase frequencies to determine the relative importance of terms or
169
concepts; the approach is typified by content analysis, which converts qualitative data
into the quantitative format by finding the key-word-in-context. Therefore, voice
analysis is conducted in three steps. First, the keyword of the study, the ‘boat’, will be
examined and searched for. Second, the themes of the context will be examined to find
similarities in the main actors’ voices through different time periods. Third, the attitude
of the main actors toward the on-board IRAS will be analysed to find who is for and
against the IRAS boat arrivals and what arguments they made to support their attitudes.
6.2. Voices of the politicians and authorities in the ‘boat’ story
The source analysis in Chapter Four found that politicians and authorities were the main
sources of the ‘boat’ story. That these voices are dominant is not surprising, but the
order of the dominant politician actors slightly changed over time (Table 4.4).
Schudson (1995) stated that “Mass media are also pictured as elite battlegrounds, on
which governments, opposing parties, and an array of interest groups fight each other in
efforts to gain the upper hand” (cited in Best & Higley 2010a, p. 118). This comment
significantly describes this case. Table 6.1 shows the frequency of the occurrences of
the main actors’ quotations and paraphrasing in the IRAS news narrative. In the 1977
dataset, the Immigration Minister, Michael Mackellar appeared most frequently: 35
times during the 1977 election campaign. The leader of the Federal Opposition, Mr
Gough Whitlam, appeared 27 times, and the Prime Minister, Mr Malcolm Fraser, 15
times.
170
Table 6.1 Occurrences of main actors’ quotations and paraphrasing
In 2001, Prime Minister John Howard appeared most frequently in the three newspapers
(199 times), followed by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Kim Beazley (151 times).
The Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock and Defence Minister Peter Reith appeared
third and fourth, with 84 and 63 appearances respectively.
In 2013, Opposition Leader Mr Tony Abbott appeared 296 times and Prime Minister Mr
Kevin Rudd 283 times. The Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison and
Immigration Minister Burke were similar with 63 and 62 times respectively.
The number of sample articles in 2013 was less than in the 2001 dataset. However, the
frequency of politicians and authorities in 2013 appearing was higher and more
condensed than in 2001, leading to a finding that the news narrative in 2013 focused
171
mostly on political and electoral events. Although boat arrivals in 2013 were still a hot
topic and an issue for debating (as shown in Chapter Five), the events related to boat
arrivals appeared least of three studied time periods. This finding is similar to the
quantitative result of the orientation of the news narratives, in which the election
orientation and campaign visibility in the 2013 dataset accounted for the highest
percentage of all samples.
Results show that the occurrences of the leader of the Opposition were greater than
those of the Prime Minister, except the year 2001, when the voice and the appearance of
Mr Howard dominated the newspapers and overwhelmed other voices. The voices of
Immigration Ministers decreased over three time periods; the highest incidence was in
1977, dropping to third highest in 2001 and then fourth highest in 2013. As the analysis
of common themes shows a higher degree of health-related articles in 1977 (Appendix
E), the appearance of the Minister for Health was higher in 1977 and disappeared in the
other two time periods. On the other hand, the news in 2013 showed an interest in
covering legal cases. Voices of the Shadow Attorney-General Senator George Brandis
and the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus appeared highly in the 2013 dataset. In
2001, when the Howard Government raised border protection as the main cause in
IRAS boat policy, the appearance of Defence Minister Peter Reith was more frequent
than other politicians.
In short, in 1977 the Immigration Minister, Mr Michael Mackellar was the main
character, the hero of the IRAS stories, in 2001 the main character was Prime Minister
John Howard, and in 2013 it was the Opposition Leader Mr Tony Abbott. These three
main characters were the heroes of the boat stories and had their voices raised high
above others in the coverage. Interestingly a victorious ending did occur for them in the
2001 and 2013 narratives, with the re-election of the Howard Government in the 2001
and the election of the Abbott Coalition in 2013.
A touch of Propp’s model of functions
This section begins by accounting for some of the critical functions that structure the
‘boat’ news narrative. Applying Propp's 31 identified functions in a folktale, this part
will try to list the critical actors, actions and objects of the news story. It will be argued
that those critical functions of the ‘boat’ news serial are identical, and this will be linked
172
to more discussion about the critical functions in IRAS boat arrival news stories in next
Chapter Seven.
As Propp claimed, the main character is always the hero of the story. The underlying
themes in Chapter Five affirmed that the central message the press wanted to send,
through the plots and motives of the news narrative, was that the ‘boat’ story would
always be a political story. In the three national election coverages, news became the
plot of a grand ‘soap opera’ about the IRAS boat arrivals. Bell (2005) studied the
structure of news, stating that a story consists of one or more episodes, and in turn an
episode consists of one or more events. Hence, news acted as an episode in a complete
serial, telling a master narrative about the boat people. The Propp formula applied to
this master narrative results in a framework of the boat news story, as shown in Table
6.2, taking The Australian in the 2013 election campaign as an example.
173
Table 6.2 An example of Propp’s attempt at morphology applied in the IRAS narrative
covered by The Australian in the 2013 election campaign
174
175
It should be noted that Propp’s Morphology of the Folktale is different from
contemporary news narratives, which may use some of Propp's elements but often
combine them in alternative ways. As shown in Table 6.2, the ruling Prime Minister in
2013 was considered as the false hero who made false claims, whereas the leader of the
Opposition was revealed as the recognised hero on the battleground and gained the
victory at the end. Political posturing inspired the journalists covering the boat stories,
with some news organisations seeking to use the boat issue to criticise the Rudd and
176
Gillard Labor Governments and to support Opposition Leader Abbott’s campaign
rhetoric that he would “stop the boats”.
Indeed, Table 6.2 suggests the action of the main actors motivated by the goal of
stopping the boats. Concerning the coverage of anti- and pro- IRAS boat arrivals in
politicians and authorities quotes and paraphrasing, the findings show the recurrent
statements about “stopping the boats” made by the main actors over the three time
periods studied, such as warning that an open nation is vulnerable, and condemning
IRAS who might be criminals and non-genuine refugees. Parsons (1914) in Fear and
Conventionality said: “Fear of change is a part of the state of fear man has ever lived in
but out of which he has begun to escape. Civilization might be defined indeed as the
steps in his escape” (page xxxvii). Similarly, the fear of change in the ‘boat’ narrative of
politicians and the press could be seen positively as part of a transforming procedure,
and start thinking of escaping from the current situation.
Contextual analysis of the word ‘boat’ in the main actors’ quotations and
paraphrasing
The IRAS boat arrivals during the three election campaigns significantly tested the
effectiveness of the boat policy of the ruling Governments and challenged the actions of
the candidates and their parties. To find the attitudes and orientations of the main
characters, the next two sections contextually analyse the main actors’ quotations and
paraphrasing containing the identified word ‘boat’.
Table 6.3 illustrates the context of the sentences in which the word ‘boat' appeared,
whether the context was Type 1 (election-related events) or Type 2 (immigration-related
events).
177
Table 6.3 Context of the identified word "boat"
Table 6.3 shows that Type 1 – election context – dominated in The Australian 2013,
The SMH in 2001, and The SMH in 2013. By contrast, Type 2 – immigration context –
dominated in The DT in 2001, The Australian in 1977, The Australian in 2001, and The
SMH in 1977.
Concerning the election context of the word ‘boat’, results described in Appendix F
show recurring messages in the main actors’ statements from 1977 to 2013.
Failure ruling policy
In 1977, Mr Whitlam criticised the Fraser Government because it was unprepared for
the boat people coming to Australia. The three newspapers quoted him saying:
The great failing of the Australian Government is that it has been caught by
surprise by this sudden influx of boat people. They were in boats in many cases
before they set off from South–East Asian countries. It is obviously not just a
failure of our defence forces to be caught by surprise by all these people just
sailing in and tying up at the wharf in Darwin. (The Australian sample 69)
In 2001, the leader of the Opposition, Mr Kim Beazley, linked the deaths on sea and
Howards’ policy failure. The Australian commented that Mr Beazley was correct when
he said the Coalition's boat deterrence policy had failed. The three newspapers quoted
him saying: “That was John Howard's challenge at APEC [Asia–Pacific Economic
Cooperation]. John Howard went to APEC, and he failed. He went to APEC, and he
178
failed on the crucial issue ... that is the protection of our borders” (The Australian, 24
October 2001).
On 22 August 2013, The SMH said the Opposition was continuing to attack the
government’s response to boat arrivals. It quoted immigration spokesman Scott
Morrison: “This thing becomes like a virus; every time the Labor party fails to solve it,
it mutates and comes back even stronger.” The DT on the same day also quoted Mr
Morrison criticising the Rudd Government:
Turn boats back to reduce problems at sea
In 1977, Labor’s Senator Mulvihill presented the tactics and arguments that were to
become popular in politicians’ commentaries in 2001 and 2013: "We have to turn a few
of them around and send them back to South-East Asia under naval escort, so they do
not have problems in the seas” (The Australian, 25 November 1977). Meanwhile, the
Immigration Minister said the decision to send an immigration team to Malaysia could
be expected to “dampen any enthusiasm there had been for embarking on a long and
hazardous boat journey” (The Australian, 25 November 1977).
In 2001, when The Australian asked if the Howard Government would consider taking
any boat survivors on humanitarian grounds, Mr Ruddock said he would have to
consider the implications before any decision could be made. He said, “A lot of the
people-smuggling is fuelled by expectations that people would reach Australia, and
when you realise those expectations, you encourage others to embark on voyages which
are equally as hazardous'' (The DT, 24 October 2001).
A similar comment appeared on 4 September 2013 in response to a letter criticising
Coalition Leader Mr Abbott's turn-back-the-boat program. A Coalition candidate said
he had read the letter, but would not be softening any aspect of his ‘stop the boat’
strategy:
“Labour has predicted success for every one of their failures in
the past, for East Timor, for Malaysia and now they are making
the same claims over PNG, but the boat continues to arrive,
with the largest ever boat arriving this week”.
179
The country’s right to choose
There were similar arguments from the main actors in the IRAS stories about the
nation’s right to choose its immigrants. The Labor Party president, Mr Bob Hawke was
the first to claim that those people on the Song Be 12 were not genuine refugees. He
opposed the Government policy to have them stay. The Australian spread his statement
over most of its article: “Any sovereign country has the right to determine how it will
exercise its compassion and how it will increase its population” (Sample 054).
On 8 November 2001, The SMH commented that in a history book by Frank Driscoll
that was tailored to the secondary school syllabus and taught in the 1940s and 1950s,
there are curiously similar expressions:
If the vigilance of the past is relaxed, if Asiatics are allowed to enter our land at
will, perhaps in far less than another half-century this will not be our land at all.
As Australians, we should be proud of our land, so proud that we should demand
that other nations mind their own business concerning our domestic affairs. We
do not tell other peoples what friends they should choose, and we must boldly
tell the world that this is our land and that we are quite capable of choosing our
friends.
This citation came after the address of Mr John Howard on the launch of his election
campaign on 31 October 2001: “We will decide who comes to this country and the
circumstances in which they come.”
In 2013, the Opposition Leader Mr Abbott insisted on connecting the IRAS boat
arrivals with the “sovereign borders” issue. Dimitrov (2014) claims that during the
election debate, the media quoted Mr Abbott as saying: “Our position for at least a
decade has been – to use the memorable words of the [former] Prime Minister [John
Howard] – ‘We will determine who comes to our country and the circumstances under
which they come’” (p. 11). The Opposition also confirmed that the right way to stop the
"It is good that young people are idealistic and passionate, but I am very
comfortable in my conscience about our policies, and the most
compassionate thing you can do in respect of boat people is stop the boat
and stop the deaths"
180
boats was to send IRAS to Nauru, using temporary protection visas, and turning boats
around where it is safe to do so.
Coverage of anti- and pro- IRAS boat arrivals in politicians’ and authorities’ quotes
and paraphrasing
Table 6.4 shows that the three newspapers lacked pro-boat quotes and paraphrasing.
The volume of pro-boat quotations reduced significantly in the 2013 dataset, despite a
similar volume of words counted. By contrast, the volume of anti-boat commentary was
unchanged over the three times studied, which was between 3,000 and 5,000 words. The
Australian had the highest volume of anti-boat quotations of all times, but The DT had
the highest percentage of anti-boat volume. The SMH had a more balanced volume of
pro-boat, anti-boat and neutral statements in the 1977 and 2013 datasets. Neutral quotes
and paraphrasing gained the majority with 36,085 words, compare with 11,604 words of
anti-boat commentary and 3,317 words of pro-boat commentary. Neutral statements
were more present in The Australian than the other two newspapers. Overall, the
volume of neutral statements accounted for 70.75% of all quotations, while the volume
of pro-boat statements made up 6.5%. Concerning the anti-boat and pro-boat quotations,
the findings show significant recurring statements made by the main actors over the
three times studied.
181
Table 6.4 Word count of anti- and pro- IRAS boat arrivals of politicians and authorities
quotes and paraphrasing
An open nation is vulnerable
In the last two months of 1977, IRAS boats arrived at Australian shores almost every
day, increasing the number of Indochinese refugees who came directly to Australia to
857, compared with the total of 2,109 refugees who had come coming from refugee
camps after being interviewed. The Immigration Minister, Mr Mackellar said on 25
November in The Australian that Australia was viewed as a potential haven for large
numbers of refugees and that the trail had been blazed by small boats: “These arrivals,
particularly in small boats, have important policy implications. No country can afford
the impression spreading that any group of persons who arrive on its shores will be
allowed to enter and remain. For instance, there is a need to avoid the establishment of a
government-in-exile in Australia”.
182
On the same day The Australian also quoted Labor Senator as well as Opposition
Immigration spokesperson Mr Mulvihill, saying that Government refugee policy is an
“open door”: “The present non-discriminatory policy leaves no justification for
Australia to exclude persons claiming to be refugees who come from nearby countries.”
Mr Mulvihill promised that if Labor were elected it would fix a quota for the boat
people. Before that, The Australian directly quoted him on 22 November 1977 saying,
"Australian and Canadian hospitality is at times abused".
In the 2001 Liberal Manifesto, which both The SMH and The Australia intensively
reported on 2 October 2001, Prime Minister John Howard claimed the IRAS boats
exploited the value and the spirit of Australian people’s “great capacity to reach out to
each other and work together when there is a common challenge, their essential decency
and their openness, their willingness to have a go, their willingness to look after those in
the community who are genuinely in need of help but equally to require of everyone
that they do their bit for the common good”.
Before this, The Australian on 8 October 2001 directly quoted Mr Howard saying on
Alan Jones’ radio program: “It is our firm resolve that these people will not come to the
Australian mainland ... I don't want in this country people who are prepared, if those
reports are true, to throw their own children overboard. And that kind of emotional
blackmail is very distressing. It must be very distressing for the sailors on the boat ...
But we cannot allow ourselves to be intimidated by this.”
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock stressed that the perception among
asylum seekers overseas was “that it is better to get into rickety boats (and) risk your
life travelling to Australia unlawfully than to wait and have your claims properly
assessed by the international community.” In The Australian of 24 October 2001, he
said: “If there is a linkage, it is the failure to be able to get reforms which have
addressed this perception of Australia being a soft touch on this matter”.
On 8 November 2001, the Opposition leader Mr Beazley also made a similar statement
in the The SMH as the election campaign was about to end:
We maintain a policy of generosity towards the entry of refugees in Australia. If
you decide to admit refugees to your country on the basis of being part of a
controlled program, you actually have to control the program. It's as simple as
183
that. When you're sitting there trying to keep control of an immigration policy,
which is generous, you have to acknowledge the fact that what you're dealing
with is a situation where deterrence is important, and order in your program is
important. You've got to understand that there are criminals selling the
generosity of Australia. They've been selling the generosity of Australia for
some time.
In 2013, the Opposition leader Mr Abbott stated that Australia is a free open country,
which "will best flourish when all of our citizens, individually and collectively, have the
best chance to be their best selves” (The Australian, 26 August). The Australian on the
same day quoted Mr Abbott saying :"We'll do what we have to do as a sovereign,
independent nation, but obviously this whole problem would be much, much better
managed if we had a strong, strong working relationship with Indonesia".
Criminals and non-genuine refugees getting on boats
In 1977, the three newspapers quoted authorities in Darwin saying many people arriving
by boat in the previous week did not appear to have suffered in refugee camps, and
some had substantial quantities of gold. The Australian on 25 November quoted a health
department official processing the refugees: "They look as though they've been on an
excursion cruise. I've seen people in much worse condition after the Sydney to Hobart
yacht race." The Australian selected this quotation to convince readers that the
Vietnamese refugees had prepared for the journey.
After the arrival of the Song Be 12, The DT on 28 November 1977 quoted Northern
Territory Trades and Labor Council (NTTLC) Secretary Mr Terry Kincade as saying
the refugees were “pirates who have seized a boat from a friendly country. They should
be taken back to where this crime was committed”. The NTTLC strongly condemned
"the act of piracy" by refugees on the Song Be 12 because the refugees “drugged and
kidnapped” three Vietnamese soldiers, stored pistols and rifles on-board and “hijacked"
the boat, which did not belong to them.
In 2001, The SMH on 6 November reported Australian officials saying “those on the
boat had immobilised it, cutting fuel lines and damaging the engine”. The Australian on
8 November quoted Immigration Minister Mr Ruddock, who was once a Sunday school
teacher, saying he applied the principles of Christian values to his portfolios. His
184
insistence on honesty was affected by some asylum seekers who had told lies and were
not genuine refugees.
In 2013, Ms Fiona Scott, a Liberal Party candidate, raised her voice against the boat
people by indicating those coming on boats were illegal and economic refugees (The
Australian, 21 August). The SMH on 4 September also quoted her saying the vast
number of boat people would create a Sydney traffic crisis: “[Asylum seekers are] a hot
topic here because our traffic is overcrowded. Go sit on the M4. People see 50,000
people come in by boat - that's more than twice the population of [western Sydney
suburb] Glenmore Park.” Mr Abbott, the leader of the Opposition Liberal Party,
supported Scott's argument: "Obviously when you've got something like 50,000 illegal
arrivals by boat that's a big number. We have all sorts of pressures that are created" (The
SMH, 4 September 2013).
Little voices supporting boat people
In 2001, there were situations in which a female candidate expressed her support to
refugees then withdrew her comments to protect the party. On 6 November 2001, The
Australian reported that Ms Julie Bishop, touted as a future minister, was forced to
clarify a statement pledging her full support for the Government's strict policy after she
said in the weekend edition of the Perth newspaper The Post: “I agree we have to take
more refugees.” Ms Bishop expressed sympathy for the refugees and said the UNHCR
should “get more money so it can process people in the camps much more quickly.
More countries need to take more people from the camps”. After just one day, Ms
Bishop released a short statement saying the Government's policy on illegal entrants had
her unequivocal support: “I fully accept it is not government policy to increase the
refugee intake.”
A similar situation happened in Labor party, on 4 November 2001, Labor MP Ms
Annette McCarthy told The SMH that she did not “agree with the way the Opposition is
handling this terrible, terrible plight of human beings” and she was ashamed to be
Australian. The SMH reported on 5 November 2001: “Opposition Leader Kim Beazley,
who has assured voters Labor, has virtually the same attitude to refugees as the
Government, refused to dis-endorse Ms McCarthy but said: “Annette's a novice brought
in after the tragic death of a more long standing candidate and she's wrong. She's not
185
going to be dis-endorsed, but she's obviously going to be counselled as to what the
[party's] policy direction is.”
6.3. The un-naming of the IRAS
The understanding of identical main actors and their functional characteristics in a news
narrative is dependent on the relationship between the contexts from which they come
and the objects they aim at. This is the reason the analysis of the IRAS began with
searches for the occurrences of the identified words in a main actor’s statement, such as
‘refugee’, ‘asylum seeker’ and ‘boat people’.
In this section, three identified words – ‘refugees’, ‘asylum seekers’ and ‘boat people’ –
were searched to understand different status of the IRAS, the object in the ‘boat’ news
narrative. As Hsieh and Shannon (2005) have stated, qualitative content analysis might
be applied with searches for occurrences of the identified words; that is, the counting of
word frequency with sources or speakers will be identified. This analysis provides an
analytical framework that helps to assess whether the main actor refers to a refugee, an
asylum seeker or a boat person in their voice about boat arrivals. It also helps to
understand how the media chose the main actor's quotation to support or contribute to
the main themes of the news narrative. Furthermore, this section attempts to compare
the frequencies of the word ‘boat’ to the appearances of the other three identified words.
Both direct quotation and paraphrased quotations of the main actors were used to assess
the occurrences of these words.
In Table 6.5, the key words ‘refugee’, ‘asylum seeker’, ‘boat people’ and ‘boat’ appear
980 times in all quotations and paraphrasing studied. Of the main actors’ quotations and
paraphrasing, these words appeared 615 times, accounting for 62.76% of all quotations.
Findings from the previous chapter show consistent frequencies of specific terms over
time. Among the four identified words, ‘refugee’ is most frequently repeated (373
times) in the three newspapers, followed by ‘boat’ as an object (335 times) and ‘asylum-
seeker’ (204 times). ‘Boat people’ was mentioned 68 times.
186
Table 6.5 Occurrences of the keywords in the main actor quotation and paraphrasing
compared to all quotations and paraphrasing
In Table 6.5 there is a similarity in the main actor’s usage of the keyword ‘refugee’
dropping between 1977 to 2013. Politicians did not use this word in 2013 in The DT,
although it appeared nine times in The Australian and three times in The SMH. Instead,
‘asylum-seeker’ was used more commonly among the main actors, and it frequently
appeared in the 2001 and 2013 datasets and accounted for roughly 50% of all quotations
in the three newspapers.
Meanwhile, the word ‘boat’ as an object appeared very frequently in the main actor's
quotations. Main actors tend to mention the physical ‘boat’ much more than ‘boat
person’ in their statements. In all quotations, ‘boat’ mostly appeared in the main actor's
speech than in other voices, accounting for 74.03%. The appearance of ‘boat’ in the
main actor’s speech remained high over the three time periods in the three newspapers.
Notably, the main actor was almost the only party who mentioned ‘boat’ in their
comments in The DT 1977 (7/8), The DT 2013 (16/17), The Australian 1977 (20/21)
and The SMH 2013 (31/33).
In 1977, the term ‘refugee’ was typically used to cover both asylum seekers and people
whose refugee status has been determined. As well, during this period, there was an
overlap in Australian newspapers’ representations of refugees and immigrants, both of
which can settle in Australia via migration schemes. The news narrative did not
differentiate between a refugee and an immigrant at that time.
187
Another dominant term appeared in the print media concerning the word ‘refugee’ in
1977. This was ‘political refugee’, which, following the American media, Fischer
(1995) found to be more easily accepted by Americans (p. 128). With the boats
continuously reaching Australia, Immigration Minister MacKellar on 23/11/1977
warned that “countries overseas saw Australia as a potential haven for a large number of
political refugees.” On that day, The SMH quoted the minister as doubting whether
people arriving in Australia without prior authority were in fact refugees and calling for
a committee to determine the status of those people who were coming by boats.
Moreover, Smit (2010) claimed that although Australia purported to be generous in
receiving Vietnamese refugees, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser was reluctant to process
unauthorised boats, stating that these boat people had come in through the “backdoor”
and were “queue jumpers”.
Initially, the concept “queue-jumping” came from the Opposition Spokesman on
Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Moss Cass, who was quoted in June 1977 by The
Australian in a column called ‘The ALP View’. Politicians of the significant parties
then used this term in the mainstream Australian media, and in March 1982, it was used
in the House of Representatives by Ian Macphee, the Minister for Immigration and
Ethnic Affairs in the Fraser Government (Smit 2010). Terms related to Vietnamese
refugees such as “backdoor” and “queue jumpers” were repeatedly used by the media
and spread widely in public, replacing the term “political refugees” (Richards 2008;
Smit 2010).
Since 1977 the Australian media has changed their way of referring to Vietnamese
refugees as ‘boat-people’, following the way politicians positioned these Vietnamese
people during the election debates. Various articles on 4 December 1977 quoted Mr
Whitlam criticising the current policy towards Vietnamese ‘boat-people’ and how the
ALP improved the immigration policy. Many newspapers also quoted Mr Whitlam
warning of the influx of ‘boat-people’ and how these people broke the Australia
quarantine arrangements. On the last article about the refugee debate in the 1977
election campaign, The SMH of 29 December presented a headline, “The refugee
dilemma” which emphasised that the ‘boat-people’ would no longer be accepted.
In 2001, the Australian press put the term ‘refugee’ in the national context, which
heavily linked it to political debate. ‘Refugee’ became ‘asylum seeker’ – whose status
188
was unclear to authorities. Also, during this period, certain media representations in the
sample drew connections between IRAS and terrorists. Just after the September 11
incident, The DT published an article titled ‘Terrorist Link with Boat People – Reith –
Act of War – Australian Victims’ and asserted that the connection was undeniable. The
“illegals” templates continued to be used in mainstream newspapers to describe the boat
arrivals of Muslims. Indeed, newspapers made the connection between the Muslims
arriving by boat and crime on Sydney streets. Two days before the election, The SMH
on 8 November, in an article entitled, ‘Victims Are Screaming, But No-One Hears’
crafted a connection between the rule-breaking Tampa incident and “illegal
immigrants” with recent events in Sydney such as gang rapes and other violent crimes.
As a response to complaints about the way the IRAS boat arrivals were represented in
the printed press, guidelines came into force in 2014. ‘Guideline No. 288: Asylum
Seekers’, which amended the 2004 Guideline, advised that in reports concerning the
IRAS boat arrivals, the use of the word “asylum seeker” is generally understood and
provides a fair and accurate meaning of the people in question, whereas the descriptor
“illegal(s)” is held to be inaccurate in many instances, and that it connotes criminality
((APC) 2009). While the Guidelines omit reference to ‘boat people’, the constant use of
this terminology to describe people on unauthorised boats, and the way it appears in
conjunction with ‘asylum seekers’, suggest that its use is acceptable. However, the
exclusive use of the term ‘boat people’ in publications can effectively remove the
connection to legality as well as the right to seek asylum.
In 2013, both political and news narratives strongly opposed the people smugglers.
McKay, Hall and Lippi (2017) claim “people smugglers” is the ideologically preferred
term and the narrative of “breaking the business model of people smugglers” is a code
phrase that demonises the smugglers and victimises the smuggled. For example, The
Australian of 8 June 2013, reproduced Mr Kevin Rudd’s calling the people smugglers
the “scum of the earth”. The paper said, “People smuggling to Australia – the industry
Kevin Rudd said was run by “the scum of the earth'' – is now a deeply entrenched, well-
financed global business and difficult to shut down. The three main source countries are
Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Another IRAS status emerging from the 2013 sample period was the word ‘detainees’.
As Australia increasingly detained IRAS in its detention centres and in Manus Island
189
and Nauru, the IRAS status was relegated to the status of a prison and a detainee,
ironically, to a customer in this complex system. As in McNevin’s (2011) study, the
refugee becomes a customer or client in the security market. Sorenes (2010) quoted
Fernandez, who called the detention cooperation of Australia as “migration-industrial
complex”, of which the effect was that immigration detention seems to have taken on a
life of its own: an increase in detention capacity corresponds with an increased tendency
to detain as a first resort. Detainees who seek refuge become the customers of the
system; they have their faces scanned and were fingerprinted just as prisoners do.
Besides, Philpott (2002) observed the inability of the media and other non-government
organisations to access these privatised detention centres means that it is difficult to
determine how economic demands shape the day-to-day policy in the centres. However,
rioting, hunger strikes, instances of self-harm and the tales of misery told by former
detainees indicate that there are many problems in the centres (Philpott 2002).
The status of the IRAS has changed over time, but overall, the inhumane object – ‘the
boat' – steadily replaced the humanness of the name IRAS. The ‘boat’ as an object was
highly repeated in the main actor’s quotations over 40 years. Moreover, descriptions
ofthe IRAS were broken down into more ‘generic’ terms, where the basis of group
affiliation is not revealed, such as “the group of 15 men (women)” or the “220 people
on board”. Generic and inhumane language suggests the press adopted a ‘safe’ position
and avoided giving any conclusions about the IRAS. This preference achieved a
‘neutral’ position where the events of unauthorised boat arrivals are framed as the ‘boat-
as-it-is’, not involving any nationality, religion or ideology. As a result, neutrality in
this case could be seen as ‘uninformative’, ‘unreliable’ and ‘imprecise’.
The appearance of the condensation, ‘the boat’, therefore suggests the lack of sources in
the IRAS stories. This finding is consistent with the results of source analysis (Chapter
Four), which found politicians and authorities are the dominant source for the press in
the ‘boat’ story. A benefit of media overreliance on official sources is that journalists
can make easy contact with officials and their information (as seen in centralised
authoritarian rule). However, the disadvantage is that it narrows the storylines and the
ability of the reports to pursue unbiased uncontrolled conclusions. The authoritarian
model in reporting the IRAS determined the fear of change in Australian politicians
towards the IRAS issues and shut down opportunities for journalistic criticism and
investigation.
190
A direct consequence of this narrative distance is that the newspapers were full of
under-contextualised facts and opinions, editorials and commentaries that exceeded the
amount of hard news, and the IRAS narrative was constructed towards hesitant and
debatable conclusions.
6.4. Concluding remarks
In this chapter, empirical evidence was used to test the hypothesis that the Proppian
formula applied to the master narrative about the IRAS and the functions of the ‘boat’
news stories. The initial results, which show critical functions in an IRAS news story,
establish at least the plausibility of the basic IRAS news story.
This study asked whether the news narratives on unauthorised IRAS boat arrivals had
been unchanged over 40 years of press coverage, and to what extent had the news
narratives drawn on substantial myth initially established in the 1970s. This chapter is
able to establish several key results.
First, the message of the press when covering the IRAS issue was similar to those of the
main actors. For example, when the 1977 Fraser Government commented that the
Vietnamese boat people might create a “government in exile”, there was no media
questioning whether such a government could possibly be built by these boat people.
They would be unlikely to form a “government in exile”, considering the scrutiny they
were subject to.
Second, the narratives of the press were similar to the narratives in the main actor
statements, which suggests that the narrative dealing with the IRAS events was heavily
influenced by politicians and authorities. These findings support the hypothesis that
Australian politicians and authorities were speaking and defining the IRAS boat stories,
reproducing similar opinions repeatedly nearly 40 years, and closing the opportunity for
criticism and development of the issue in the press.
Third, as Propp claimed, the main character is always the hero of the story. The
representation of politicians and authorities as the heroes in the ‘boat’ story suggests the
harmony between the press and the political leaders, as this group was the most-used
source in the news narrative.
191
The primary purpose of this chapter has been to assess the main characters’ functions in
the ‘boat’ news narratives. Elaborating the subtleties rooted in Proppian functions of
news narrative and considering their implications will require a great deal of additional
work. However, the next chapter will interpret and explain the three main contributions
and arguments of this thesis following the results from this content analysis.
192
Chapter Seven: Discussion
7.1. Introduction
The previous chapters show that in over 40 years of Australian press coverage of boat
arrivals, the IRAS were positioned as the object – the same as the ‘boat’ – in the
narrative of ‘problems’ during the pre-election periods of 1977, 2001 and 2013. The
thematic analysis shows how much media power comes from the promise of policy
breakthroughs, the drama of the Government–Opposition contests, the boat threats, and
fears of unauthorised newcomers.
The ‘boat’ narrative gathers many of the ‘functions’ of Propp’s formula of folktales,
through the plots (the news) in the serials of the ‘boat people’ saga. Newspaper readers
can find elements of Propp’s 31 characteristics in the news about the boat arrivals.
Examples include the political upheaval when boats arrived; deaths at sea; political
election strategies until the hero appears; and saving Australia from the ‘influx’ of
boats. The main actor in the saga is the politician. Evil characters in this ‘grand folktale’
of the boat people are also portrayed as doing bad things such as telling lies, pirating,
and terrorising. The victim is the Australian people, facing threats and fears of invasion.
The hero is responsible for rescuing Australia from these threats. Analysing different
ways of organising those functions and patterns in the news, the present study
distinguishes such categories in the boat news narrative.
Propp introduced a method for examining folktales by looking from the inside to show
how the tales are formed. The main point of Propp’s examination is to understand what
the characters had done; the investigation into how they did it was less important. The
present study overcomes this by not only examining the boat news through the
syntagmatic approach but also following the paradigmatic approach to discover the
binary opposition in which the function of the hero is found and the objectification of
the boat people shown.
A premise of this study is that compelling storytelling influences journalists to rely on
already written ‘perfect’ stories. In other words, the press draws on the grand narratives
constructed throughout the history of professional media practice, believing them to be
appropriate for reporting boat news and related events. So, the grand narrative of the
IRAS reflects the circular working habit of journalists and can explain the media
193
blackout in covering the topic; the media’s involvement in immigration to Australia;
and the creation of the national myth about the boat people.
As well, the newspapers became the mouthpiece of their preferred politicians and used
the boat news to advance election agendas and shape public knowledge about the issue.
In their boat news stories the press was mostly uncritical of the politicians, reflecting an
authoritarian top-down media model. Despite struggling to get balance in their reports,
the press became more dualistic, with descriptions of oppositional functions bringing
the news closer to folktales.
7.2. Press and the Creation of the Grand Narrative
According to the Canadian journalist Robert Fulford (a columnist for the National
Post),
A grand narrative that we find convincing and persuasive differs from other
stories in an important way: it swallows us. It is not a play we can see
performed, or a painting we can view, or a city we can visit. A grand narrative is
a dwelling place. We are intended to live in it. (Fulford 1999)
The grand narrative on the IRAS boats demonstrates the “news narrative templates”
observed by Dunn (Dunn 2005). These templates showed that people coming to
Australia by boats might mostly be economic migrants who paid large sums of money
to smugglers, not genuine refugees. The narrative accusing asylum seekers of being
ungrateful rioters who throw children overboard and sew their lips together for
sympathy contributes to the isolation and rejection that the IRAS experience.
In addition, analysis of the election context of the word ‘boat’ between 1977 and 2013
shows the recurrence of main actor’s quotes criticising policy, arguing for turning back
boats to reduce deaths at sea, and declaring Australia’s right to choose its immigrants.
The repetition of such quotes shows that the press tended to draw on similar ideas and
opinions rather than form new ones.
The circular working habit of the journalists
An explanation for the repetitive work of journalists engaged with the IRAS boat
arrivals may be found in the peculiar habits of the journalistic mind. When journalists
report repeated events in their specific areas of coverage over long periods, ‘grand
194
narratives’ may have a stronger affect on the shape of the story, especially when dealing
with conflict areas, politics, crime and science. These are considered traditional or
classic topics. As McAuley (2010) said, "Societies, as well as people, become afraid of
change as they grow older. It's human nature. The young have adventures while the old
sit at home and nurture their memories” (p. 221). Election campaign reporting is also
one of the traditional narratives in journalism practice. In election news coverage,
candidates are often symbolised as horses in a race, with voters paying more attention to
the candidate with the most backing. This ‘game’ metaphor is unlikely to change in
journalism practice.
The influence of Propp's formative ideas can be seen by the number of scholars they
have motivated, such as Todorov, who integrated Propp’s identical sequence model, and
Lévi-Strauss, with his typical binary oppositions. Todorov stated that narratives were
led by events in a cause and effect format and presented the multi-dimensioned, multi-
modelled narrative format (Todorov & Weinstein 1969). As pointed out in the literature
review in Chapter Two, ‘problem–effect’ is a powerful narrative format, adaptable to
the boat news narrative. The press’s use of this format demonstrates that it is writing
‘stories’ rather than ‘news’. As Fulton observed, news templates and formats are used to
save time and when the reportage lacked an accomplished author's story-telling skills
(Huisman, Murphet & Dunn 2006). From a post-structuralist perspective, the narrative
is no longer limited to the reassembled frames and formulas or bounded with typical
characters and symbolic functions. Meanwhile, news narrative, which is considered one
of the simpler nonfiction textual models in narrative theory, is still attached to the
formulated selection of reality, reproducing common frames of groups of people and
remaining unchanged in its ways of reporting particular events.
When stressing ‘story elements’ in the presentation of news relating to the boat issues,
the press may be seen to have gradually lost the skills of producing news. Back in the
times of Marcus Clark (1846 – 1881), freelance journalists honoured the ‘peripatetic
philosopher’ (Clark 1869). This way of doing journalism is no longer respected. To
meet the fast pace of the new media and the digital trending of multi-platforms, news
agencies nowadays tend to employ multi-skilled news producers whose technical skills
are more competent than their creative writing skills. Marcus Clark’s style of journalism
is becoming extinct.
195
What Clark brought to Australian journalism was a sensational, ‘flaneur’ way of
reporting social changes from the view of a wandering eyewitness. However, such
sensationalism is not how The DT and other tabloids now practise. The DT has been
shown to make a profit from news entertainment of an aggressively conservative,
populist and patriotic kind (Manne 2005). Clark’s sensationalism was an attempt to
reach to the voiceless, the lower levels of society, by doing research ‘on the street’ and
peppering reports with the voices of real people. The main characters in Clark’s reports
were people trying to catch the winds of change, such as the immigrants, exiles,
convicts and adventurers that roamed across borders.
Unlike Clark, in its coverage of boat arrivals the press has reproduced available
knowledge because they do not question the connections between that knowledge and
current social life. The press is not regulated against repetition, but its power rests with
those journalists who are devoted to changing perceptions that have taken root over
many generations. Journalists lose power when they are not zealous enough to report
sensational news and knowledge, and only want to finish their job each day. They need
few skills to complete the article and need not put effort and emotion into what they
write. Furthermore, the press is practising one kind of dictatorial journalism in covering
the IRAS. Dictatorial journalism does not rely on reality but imposes assumptions and
conservative beliefs on the collective.
On the other hand, Hall (1997) saw news media as acting both monolithically and
specifically at the same time. Hall suggested journalists change their habit of stepping
outside storytelling in order to evaluate an event with objectivity; acknowledging the
‘grand narratives’ will inspire fresh thinking and urge journalists to escape the ready-
made formulae. In researching the newsworthiness of reporting relating to refugees,
Hall (2010) claimed that Australian journalists’ notions of newsworthiness overlapped
in four domains; professionalism; nationalism and key events; journalists’ subjective
beliefs; and institutional objectives. The current study suggests the most important value
to guide Australian journalistic reporting of refugees and asylum seekers should be the
humanness of the IRAS, which was found to be missing in the news narrative studied.
Media and cultural assimilation
196
The repetition of the ‘boat’ news content and themes, regardless of the 40-year gap over
the three time periods, conveys an underlying explanation: the IRAS in 2013 were
assumed to be essentially the same as the earlier IRAS generations of 1977 and 2001. If
the press can show that current groups of IRAS act like those in the recent past, things
will work out as they should. It is basically an assimilation imposed on not only the
refugees but also the Australian ethnically diverse population, as shown in the ‘power of
the voters’ theme extracted from the thematic analysis.
In post-September 11 contexts, the coverage in 2001 and 2013 datasets led to voters
putting the refugee incidents and the war on terrorism together in their minds as one
issue. The 2001 dataset shows a problem of terrorists coming to Australia in refugee
clothes, and the 2013 dataset show the boat people as attacking the sovereignty of
Australia. This press coverage resulted in limitations in public knowledge about the
IRAS and blaming them for bringing more risks than benefits to Australia. As Marr
(2013) illustrated, a 2013 Nielsen poll showed 67% of respondents supported sending
the IRAS to Nauru and Manus Island, and 27% opposed it, with off-shore detention
strongly favoured in Lebanese, Vietnamese and Chinese migrant communities. Directed
by the grand narrative of the press rather than their own settlement experiences, these
communities rarely showed sympathy for the new IRAS population. The basic
argument is that they are the first generations of immigration, they assimilate, work
hard, pay tax and contribute to society; the new IRAS population, however, are mostly
opportunists, lazy and not genuine refugees. These kinds of arguments are found in
various comments, blogs, forums and social media (Chatfield, Reddick & Brajawidagda
2015; Schultz 2005).
Ironically, references by the media to cultural assimilation are not new to the current
situation; they are rooted in the past. The grand narrative of the refugees appeared
earlier in the press and was expressed in the nationalistic idea of the true owners of
Australian land must be the British Australians. For example, during the post-war
period attitudes the towards assimilation of immigrants had also been narrated in terms
of the Australian government’s attempt to protect its people from them. A headline in
the Western Mail on 5 June 1952 quoted Labor’s slogan “The Australian baby is the
best immigrant” and claimed that Australians and New Zealanders had always had a
vision of themselves forming a British community on their side of the world. The news
indicated that the government had created a dilemma concerning a significant increase
197
of the population and the resulting economic and social problems coming from ‘non-
British’ immigrant communities, and that this would be a challenge for immigration
authorities.
The categories of ‘threats’ shown in the quantitative and qualitative results of this study
were also indicated in the past in the form of economic threats, welfare burden, lack of
skills, unemployment, English language proficiency, poor school records, and political
problems. For example, Phillips and Spinks (2013) commented that although the first
wave of Vietnamese unauthorised boat people coming to Australia were received with
sympathy, when boats continued to arrive they quickly became an increasing concern.
The news narration started to focus on such issues as rising unemployment and the
impact of people ‘jumping the immigration queue’. Phillips and Spinks (2013) reported
that The SMH regularly published comments from readers who were against refugee
arrivals, for example, on 15 and 29 November 1977, the Letter-to-the-editor sections
argued that there would be 400,000 Australians out of work until the 1980s and that
charities must focus on this internal issue instead of receiving more refugees.
Similarly, during the mid-1950s, news arguments about the Hungarian intake were
raised, as shown in the Letters-to-the-editor section in The SMH. For instance, a reader
asked for a limit on immigration in The SMH on 23 February 1957, after 3000
Hungarian refugees were accepted in Australia. This reader criticised the social and
economic problems migrants brought and that the government was responsible for the
welfare of the longer-established citizens. On 15 March 1957, another letter-to-the-
editor in The SMH told the political narrative on this trend of migration, commenting
that Labor should consider how new voters could affect its electoral fortunes. The
dominant narration in The SMH told the problems of Hungarian refugees, such as their
lack of skills and trades. On 28 July 1957, a news story in The SMH about job rates
blamed Hungarian migrants as the primary factor in pushing up unemployment in
Australia. Another SMH story published on 11 February 1960 quoted Justice Dovey
saying that social assimilation worked well with young migrants, they faced less
delinquency, and 97 per cent had good employment records. However, this story also
listed negative aspects of these people such as their poor English skills and low school
records.
198
The assimilation question was echoed in 1977 when the narrative referred to the new
Vietnamese immigrants. The DT on 24 November 1977 had a title, "Back-Door
Invasion a Problem" and presented this ‘classic’ portrayal:
Numbers of little boats carrying people are growing while Australia had already
taken in many Vietnamese refugees in a planned migration program. There are
some who suspect those who are fleeing two and a half years after the fall of
Saigon are doing so for convenience, not compassion. Many are rich, and many
fear persecution. Many are said not to be Vietnamese at all. Many are "pirates"
who prey on the real refugees' gold. Australians have here an abundance of food,
land … and waste. We have a multitude of people out of work and on welfare.
We do not need for either major party to make election fodder of the situation.
In his Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms, Wilkes (1985) defines “a reffo” as “a
European refugee” while the term “not in the race” means “given no chance at all”.
These definitions tell two things. First, the refugee, in conservative Australian minds,
implies those coming from European countries. Second, if the immigrants are not in the
same race as the Australian population, or cannot assimilate or adapt to living like
locals, they are given no chance at all. They are seen as diluting or weakening a unique
and specific culture and are unwanted competition for jobs. This viewpoint on cultural
assimilation nowadays leads to opposition towards immigration and diversity across
Western nations, escalating as conservative parties increase their power and focus on
anti-immigration and anti-globalisation policies.
Decades ago, with the fall of the communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe
and with the increase of globalisation, the optimistic news narrative promoted the idea
of the world as a global village. However, there was a side-effect: the rearrangement of
the labour force on a global scale, and affordable transportation that brought more
opportunities to some groups of people and threats to others. Confronting the threat of
reduced opportunities in life, some people tend to hate everything coming from another
place. Indeed, some politicians have tried to exploit the public’s hate to gain votes in
elections.
199
Media blackout
In the reporting of IRAS news, the first images of unknown groups reaching the border
are usually tired faces and soulless eyes. They sit in rows on board cramped fishing
boats, keeping silent or talking in another language. Then they report the transportation
to remote detention centres. The next images would be hunger strikes, lip stitching and
violent protests.
Studies have found the media had been denied access to official IRAS boat information
and detention centres in Australia and on remote islands (Jufri 2016; Laney et al. 2016).
Jufri (2016) claims the Australian government under the Operation Sovereign Borders
did not release any news, or it imposed a media “silence” regarding the location of the
boats it dealt with (Jufri 2016). According to Laney et al. (2016), media blackouts in the
context of Operation Sovereign Borders could result in more personal perspectives
being presented in the news. The authors observed that half of the quotes about
Australian Operation Sovereign Borders came from two politicians, Prime Minister
Tony Abbott and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Minister Scott
Morrison. When challenged by the Australian media, politicians replies were couched in
rhetoric that dehumanised and criminalised those who arrive in Australia without a visa
(Laney et al. 2016).
These findings reflect similar results found in an earlier study by Coghlan (2005) that
revealed public relations workers and departments supply more than 55 per cent of
stories for the daily newspapers in Australia. Public relations, including by government
and political parties, had become a significant information subsidiary of journalism.
Coghlan interviewed Australian journalist Mungo MacCallum, who claimed the
Australian media generally accepted the media bans on the detention centres: "The
Government's claim of national security seemed to be enough to ensure silence, or at
least acquiescence and by and large the media sat back and copped it” (Coghlan 2005,
p. 12).
Indeed, the militarising of border policing and the privatisation of detention centres has
distanced the media and restricted their possibility for humanising the IRAS. As a
result, problems in detention centres that led to anonymous deaths and suffering of
detainees, have been out of sight of the press. Hence, the main focus of the news story,
200
such as the refugees and asylum seekers, remains unseen and unheard. In news items
they rarely feature as contributors to the policy debate, except when they are the
subjects of a report. Romano (2005) suggested that journalists should “speak with
asylum seekers and not simply about them”, reporting that asylum seekers and refugees
just accounted for 3 per cent of all sources that The Australian in particular used for
quotes and information in its many IRAS-related stories (Romano 2005).
The objective of the refugees became more evident with the repeated patterns in the
boat news reporting, suggested it covered more issue news than events news. White
(2005) distinguished events news as what happens in the event of some misadventure,
act of political violence, crime, economic setback and so on. Issue news typically
describes the criticisms, accusations, demands, warnings, discoveries or announcements
of the authorised sources such as politicians, community leaders, lobbyists, professional
experts or scientific researchers. Results from the content analysis of the present study
shows that most of the samples are election and politics oriented, given the strong
dominance of official sources. When covering such issues, the press lacked sources and
depended on the voices of the authorised groups.
In narrative theory, who is speaking in the story is defined as the narrative voice
(Genette 1983). Regarding the news narrative about the IRAS boat arrivals, under
Genette’s ‘narrative level’, the press gives the politicians and authorities the power to
transform from intradiegetic narrators to extradiegetic narrators as they distinguish and
control the attributed facts. Neither the IRAS nor the journalists define the story – it is
the politicians and authorities who do.
In its attempts to avoid the blackout of information, the press tried to cover the events
news whenever they could. Results of this study show more interviews and features
were produced in the 2001 dataset, notably as exclusive interviews and features
published in The SMH and The Australian. Whether or not the main actor in those
exclusive articles had a political background or an IRAS background, the press’s efforts
to make personal connections and the voices heard made the coverage during this period
somewhat diverse.
201
Grand narrative: a path to the national myth of the boat people saga
Bourdieu (Bourdieu & Wacquant 1992) stated that the journalistic field belongs to the
field of culture, where the main function is myth making. Hall (1997) researched myth
and how the marking of difference and binary oppositions were crucial for meaning.
The results of this study illustrate the grand narrative of the ‘boat’ people, including
myths of heroes and the villains, insiders and the outsiders. If the heroes sought to solve
the ‘illegal boats’ problems, the villains opposed the heroes. If the insiders acted and
spoke on behalf of the community for the advantage of society, the outsiders resisted
those common values and challenged the insiders’ beliefs. Australian news media, as a
record keeper in the community, played a significant role in the protection of the
Australian origin myth.
In the narratives among communities, there are three characteristics that differentiate
the grand narrative from the micro narrative (Abbott 2008, Ryan 2007). First, the grand
narrative concerns concepts and abstracts rather than individuals. Second, the grand
narrative exists over time as the collective of memories and beliefs rather than a
particular ‘concrete’ text. Third, the grand narrative inherits the foundation role of myth
in society more than stories that simply entertain or provide anecdotes.
Fisher (1989) argued if a narrative is consistent, logical, and meaningful to an audience,
it is likely that the audience will believe and justify the meaning of the story; the
individual reader or receiver is granted power to personally choose what the narrative
means to them. However, Fisher also said that even if a story is full of questionable
“values”, an audience might not be aware that they are being deceived. This notion is
similar to narrative approaches from communication theorists, who state that news is a
mythological narrative that allows individuals to form individual connections with one
another that will eventually lead to a quest for meaning; and as information systems,
narratives take messages and convey them as universal stories (Abbott 2008).
In Coupe’s (2013) investigation of ‘Kenneth Burke on myth’, when studying the
relationship between myth and media, Burke argued that mythic patterns in news
narrative are not merely unchanged versions of the ancient ones that have survived
intact. That is, as Latta (2009) stated:
202
Myths are organic, they maintain their original storyline but adapt to the passage
of time and social change so that they can be delivered recognisably and
relevantly to changing audiences. In this process, the news media both leads and
follows. (p. 20)
As previously stated, journalists oblige the institution of their profession. More or less,
all of the press is binding to a certain authoritarian model. Any ruler in power should
desire to write the historical narrative exclusively, in order to create a grand narrative to
regularise their power and any wrongful practice, enforcing this on the imagination of
future generations. Telling the grand narrative of the ‘boat people’ is a process for
creating a myth by repeating it in similar stories and opinions and reproducing
representative images and ideas toward the boat people.
The impact of myth creation leads to the uncertainty in the journalists’ perception of the
new immigration. How the journalists report on this could be somewhat different from
the reality. As a result, the issue of the tension between myth and reality is left for the
journalists to ponder. However, the more they want to be free from the myth of the boat
story, the more they fall into an unstable, vague situation. By distinguishing their
professional practice from the myth of the ‘boat’, journalists disconnect their memory
from the continuing narrative stream that is glued to the history of Australian
immigration. It is a challenging struggle but also an opportunity to begin representing
the IRAS boats from two different perspectives. First, with a fresh and somewhat
innocent mind, journalists could write a ‘boat’ story in a creative manner, by
demolishing the grand narrative function of history. Second, with the biblical story of
the Babel Tower in mind as a symbol of humans being punished for speaking in various
languages instead of one united language, journalists could rewrite the ‘boat’ story from
a post-Babel perspective as an indicator of the creativity and diversity of humans.
7.3. The interrelationship between the press and the political leaders in the ‘boat’
stories
This section looks at the relations of politicians, journalists and the IRAS and how the
contact between the journalistic field and IRAS field has been purposely neglected. The
representation of politicians and authorities as the heroes in the ‘boat’ story suggests a
close interrelationship between the press and the political leaders, as this group remain
the most-used source in the news narrative. This section argues that the harmony
203
between the press and politicians reflects the taking of sides by the writing profession. It
points to Bourdieu’s notion of reproduction of the cultural capital of the journalistic
field (Bourdieu & Wacquant 1992) and the dependence of the journalistic field on the
political field. As a result, the ‘boat’ story has been transformed into a ‘political’ story,
and the ‘boat’ has become a legitimated topic for political debates.
Political leader – the hero of the story
As Propp claimed, the main character is always the hero of the story. Findings from
qualitative analysis support the argument that the political leaders are the hero of the
‘boat’ stories, as this group remains the most-used talent in the sample articles.
The research examines The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and The Daily
Telegraph and describes the identical functions of the main characters in their ‘boat’
news narratives. Such narratives define politicians as the main actors and reproduce
their voices as they talk about turning back the boats to reduce problems at sea, the
country’s right to choose, the vulnerability of an open nation, and concerns that
criminals and non-genuine refugees are getting on the boats.
An explanation of the reproduction of the political narration in the press’s
representation of the IRAS suggests the need for further research regarding the
ownership of the newspapers and whether journalists covering the IRAS stories might
be following the ideology of these owners. However, the findings of the 2001 and 2013
data analysis show that the two newspapers owned by News Corp. (The Australian and
The DT) supported the Coalition against the Labor Party. The SMH (published by
Fairfax Media at the time of this research) showed its support for the Labor Party and
attacked the policies of the Coalition. Results suggest that rather than offer debates on
resolving the IRAS issue, each branch of the press followed its favoured electoral
candidates and relied on opportunities to both negatively construct the IRAS and attack
individuals from rival political parties.
The findings suggest the three newspapers picked sides and selected opinions that
supported their favourite candidates. For example, The Australian on 28 November
1977, when focusing on the relation crisis of the Song Be 12 arrival, quoted the Foreign
Minister Mr Peacock condemning Mr Whitlam’s regional solution for the Vietnamese
refugees: “He [Mr Peacock] said ASEAN countries would see Mr Whitlam as ‘the
204
threat from the south’ because of his ‘incredibly stupid’ and irresponsible remarks on
Vietnamese refugees.” In 2001, The DT quoted Mr Howard commenting on Mr
Beazley’s efforts to link Australian foreign policy to the deaths of the IRAS on the sea
as “desperately despicable”.
As Hayward (1996) claims, the relationship between press freedom, individual liberty,
and democracy is somewhat ambiguous. Bias, censorship, and sensational or intrusive
reporting arouse particular concern. A survey of broadly conceived elite opinions in
Britain showed that they trusted television and radio more than the press, and educated
and political elites were more committed to press freedom than the general public in
matters of government secrecy (Hayward 1996).
Contrasting to the hero is the villain, the IRAS, who were characterised in the
qualitative results as illegal and non-genuine migrants. Indeed, the good politicians/bad
IRAS narratives might not possess any moral sophistication, but they are useful for
getting people to vote for the ‘right’ person (as presented in the thematic analysis) and
fight for the solution they think is good for the nation. When seeing the heroic
politicians beside the villains, their values feel like morals and the association of IRAS
with a grand narrative gives them a foundation of legitimacy.
Transforming from the ‘boat’ story to ‘political’ story
During the three election debates, the IRAS news narrative focused on the unauthorised
boat arrivals. Articles on Australian policy towards unauthorised boats accounted for
37.1% of all samples in 1977, 50% in 2001 and 54.3% in 2013. Results from this
content analysis show that news stories focusing on IRAS boat policy increased steadily
over the years and comprised 49.3% of all samples studied. This finding points to a
problem in press coverage of issues where traditional and conservative arguments and
knowledge are hard to publicise. As Hall (2010) put it, the power of the press is not
stipulated by repetition regulation; it rests with the journalists devoted to changing the
society and changing conservative perceptions. There needs to be a greater inclusion of
contextual information rather than personalised perspectives.
205
The dominant narration of the Australian print media about the IRAS boat arrivals
verifies to some extent Van Dijk’s (1999) argument that the “immigration script” was
being followed ideologically by the press. This ‘script’ was reinforced and publicised
during each of the Australian federal election campaigns studied, with the news
narrative appearing to assume that stopping unauthorised IRAS boats was essential. As
a result, the policy towards boats has become a legitimated topic for political debates.
Previous researchers have examined how the IRAS narrative has transformed from
being about boat arrivals to ‘political news’ (Bird & Dardenne 1988; Koch 1990; Lule
2002). However, the political perspective has appeared in most journalistic work
because professional journalism is politically motivated. For Bourdieu (1993),
journalism is placed within the field of power, where it occupies a dominant position.
As discussed in Chapter Two, Bourdieu’s concept of field establishes a relevant
understanding of the professional space of news production in Australian society.
However, the independence of the journalistic field is related its internal struggles and
the autonomy of journalism as an independent institution.
Van Dijk (1991) emphasised that the press does not passively participate in the
reproduction of power but has a vital role in the final definition of a situation through its
“specific discursive and cognitive strategies of selection, emphasis, focusing,
exaggeration, relevance assignment, description, style or rhetoric” (p. 42). For Bourdieu
(1993), intellectuals are more generally “the dominated fraction of the dominant class”
(p.189). The newspaper has been seen as a symbol of democratic elitism belonging to
the upper class and only read by intellectuals who have opinions. A survey by Josephi
and Richards (2012) found that Australian journalists in the 21st century were much
better educated than in the past, with only 16% having had no exposure to university
education. Four in five journalists (79.7%) were born in Australia, the overwhelming
majority (73.3%) having Anglo-Saxon origins. Only 4.3% of journalists had some
Asian background. Those in the senior editorial positions of power in Australian
newsrooms were holding slightly more conservative views and were much more likely
to vote for the Coalition than for the Labor Party or the Green Party (Weaver & Willnat
2012). Thus, one could say newspapers only work alongside political groups that can
give an opinion, spread ideas and lead public opinion. Results from this study suggest
the Australian print media has held an elitist position in the “boat” story and the reports
of the IRAS reflect conservative or negative views.
206
This elitist ideology is found among xenophobic and nationalistic journalists. The media
works not for the masses but for the authorities. White (1991) called it the voice of the
authors of an intelligent country. For Van Dijk (1991), the organisation of headlines,
topics, and sources, especially the news-gathering and agenda-setting of the
newspapers, is circumlocutory and restrained by power relations. Carter (2006) claimed
The Australian was supportive of the Howard Government and generally supportive of
Howard’s border protection policies. Schudson (2008) has questioned journalists’
overuse of experts’ quotes and explanations in their articles, which somehow lead to
unqualified truths established by the leaders; journalists tend to quote politicians as
experts, without questioning whether that expert could represent the views of
constituents. The privileging of government sources over those of the refugees in the
content analysis of this study reflects the press’s elitist ideology. It is the government
that is eligible to be quoted in refugee news and allowed to define the legitimation of
immigrants.
According to Best and Higley (2010a), the harmony between political elites and the
media is proportional to the success of those political elites. However, Callaghan and
Schnell (2001) demonstrated that media do have an independent effect and play a
potential role in shaping public policy debates: “When complex policy issues are
reduced to a single issue frame, regardless of the complexity of the issue, the public is
short-changed, and a window of opportunity is closed” (p. 203). Indeed, if journalists
are to be seen to involve themselves significantly in the framing of progress and,
therefore, to change opinions, they should first identify themselves as unbiased
outsiders and position themselves as independent of groups of interest. However, one
constant thing every journalist is dealing with is their habitus. For example, journalists’
perception is influenced by the groups or categories they belong to, such as region, race,
gender, religion and age (Willis 2010). Such categories reflect their personal biases, and
they should therefore be required to put personal views aside and report a range of
perspectives. However, with a limited number of sources and the blackouts of
information about the IRAS, journalists could only make dualistic reports. Merriam-
Webster defines ‘dualism’ is a doctrine that the universe is under the domination of two
conflicting essences which are the ‘good’ vs the ‘evil’.
Dualistic reports
207
The results chapters in this thesis reflect the doctrine that there is a dualism of two
opposing narratives, such as the “threats” and the “sympathies” found in the thematic
analysis. The problems of the IRAS on boats were variously represented as threats to
Australia during the three time periods studied. For example, in the 1977 coverage, the
Vietnamese IRAS were reported as not only lying about health quarantine but also their
status as refugees. Opposition leader Mr Whitlam maintained: “the Fraser Government
has a responsibility to ensure they are genuine refugees” and that “it should also see that
they don’t get ahead in the queue over people who have been sponsored and who are
already coming here” (The Age, 29 November 1977, cited in Button, 2002, p.86). The
news narrative during the ‘sovereign border’ practices in 2001 and 2013 again
concentrated on the question of whether people arriving by boat were in fact ‘genuine
refugees’. Dimitrov (2014) observed that these refugees played the passive part, hidden
behind the ‘people smugglers’.
By contrast, a few articles about refugees tried to give broader perspectives in their
reporting. The qualitative results show The DT described the adverse conditions waiting
for refugees in Nauru detention centres and ironically depicted Christmas Island as a
paradise with perfect facilities and freedom, full of light and hope. The SMH told the
sad and horrific life story of a refugee named Alex, who was now a street gang member.
Alex fled Sri Lanka to Canada when young and was then deported from Canada. He
moved between Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand while waiting for refugee status.
These contrasting details reflected two journalistic perspectives of the refugee issue: the
dramatised angle of a story and the sensationalisation of a global issue.
The use of sensational stories to show social empathy has been controversial in
journalism because the image of a person or a group, in this instance, refugees and
asylum seekers, could be linked to broader issues in a reader’s experience. Schudson
(2008) draws on C. Wright Mills’s The Sociological Imagination to show a connection
between “private troubles” and t “public issues”, claiming that journalists have used
cliché terms such as “the personal is political” to describe their reluctant use of dramatic
stories about the poor or the insane, who may have no public face or public identity.
208
The contextual analysis illustrates that neutral quotes and paraphrasing were the
majority of quotations, with 36,085 words accounting for 70.75% of all quotations.
Findings in the contextual analysis show that the three newspapers lacked pro-boat
quotes and paraphrasing. The volume of anti-boat commentary was unchanged over the
three time periods studied.
Indeed, neutral quotations suggest the press represented two conflicting personal
opinions. Schudson (2008) described how journalists “assimilate the new, apparently
novel, unique, unprecedented event to the familiar old ways of understanding the
world” (p. 89). By simplifying the event, the journalist influences the readers to
communicate through stereotypes.
The large proportion of neutral statements in the findings support Best and Higley’s
(2010b) recommendation on political reportage: “Report political developments as
neutrally and … as insipidly as possible” (p. 119). Dualism in reporting has simplified
the complexity of IRAS issues and their implications for the world in the 21st century.
The results of this study illustrate Rosen’s (2003) blog posting that a master narrative is
“a relatively non-partisan, apparently neutral, sometimes technical and of course
reusable device. It maintains an agreed-upon narrative, which then maintains the press
tribe as one tribe. In this way, grand narratives resemble myths as anthropologists
understand them” (Rosen 2003). The media coverage of the IRAS boat arrivals has led
to Australian residents and politicians readily accepting the grand narrative.
7.4. Concluding Remarks
There is an extensive body of media research on the representation of IRAS debates in
Western liberal democracies. This study suggests that a grand narrative became
instrumental in Australian press coverage of IRAS boat arrivals during the federal
election campaigns of 1977, 2001 and 2013. It argues that the news narrative of the
‘boat’ is fundamentally a sequence of cycles between binary elements recurring over
time, and this topic has since become a traditional issue for debate in Australian federal
elections.
This study has questioned whether the IRAS news narratives remained unchanged over
the time period researched and to what extent they drew on a substantial myth initially
209
established in the 1970s. The researcher examined three Australian newspapers in order
to describe the same functions of the main characters in the ‘boat’ news narratives. The
narratives defined politicians as the main actors and reproduced their voices as they
spoke about turning back the boats to reduce problems at sea, the country’s right to
choose, the vulnerability of an open nation, and concerns that criminals and non-
genuine refugees would be getting on the boats. Results of this study show that the press
regularly reported statements concerning foreign relations and defence issues that were
relatively consistent among political officials and were intended to persuade readers to
share a particular view of border protection and the tightened security against the
unauthorised boat arrivals.
In the thematic analysis, ‘Foreign Relations Threats’ recurred as the top core theme.
This result reflects how the Australian governments during the three elections
considered the ‘boat’ issue a global and regional problem that relied on offshore
solutions. While results show politicians dropping the keyword ‘refugee’ over time, the
‘boat’ as an object appeared increasingly in their political rhetoric. Significantly, the
term ‘refugee’ shifted in meaning but was still usually negative and more suitable to the
global context of the refugee crisis, although less sympathetic to those human beings.
This chapter has shown how important it is for journalists working with refugee
statistics and terms to source and contextualise their use of figures when reporting on
asylum issues.
The themes and quotations recurring in the ‘boat’ news narratives indicate that the
media’s retelling of the familiar story is more important than the reporting of the facts.
Australian press coverage of the ‘boat’ issue expressed a progression away from media
professionalism. Professional journalism now means journalists are tying themselves to
media agencies, news organisations or other institutions; they are becoming dependent
on external conditions to nurture their professionalism, one of which is the political
regime and its institutional system. As a result, the narratives on the ‘boat’ issues reflect
the lack of sources and information caused by the Australian government’s censorship
regulations. The control of IRAS news such as boat arrivals and turn-backs, and
detention centre conditions is explained as the government trying to protect national
security. The media blackout during the post-9/11 Border Protection period – which
journalists could only breach at risk – also portrayed individual refugees as faceless and
part of a ‘wave’ of indistinguishable human beings. This allowed media commentators
210
to demonise these ordinary people who were seeking refuge in Australia by sea. The
narratives on the IRAS during the three election periods were substantially constructed
by official operatives framing acceptable stories that did not breach the blackout.
Qualitative findings confirm the common themes in the literature, which in this study
mostly fell into two major categories, “Threat” and “Sympathy”. The binary opposition
and the domination of conflicting themes suggest the doctrine of a dualism of two
opposing views, with the press in a neutral position quoting and paraphrasing the
politicians.
This discussion highlights the challenges facing journalists who write about IRAS
issues. As Derrida (cited in Neel 1988) put it: “To write differently, we must reread
differently” (p. 106). Reporting on the topic of boat people is not only a way of writing
but also of reading. The contemporary IRAS news narrative demands transformation
not only of journalistic reporting but also of the way readers interpret the reports.
Furthermore, as a way of seeing, it determines the style of writing and reading. Without
perceiving the issue differently, reconsideration of the IRAS narrative would be
unproductive.
211
Chapter Eight: Conclusion
8.1. Introduction
People cannot escape from narrative. Narrative exists everywhere, its basic element is to
build up history and from that notionally create personal and public personalities. This
research touches on the work of Russian structuralist Vladimir Propp to argue that a
grand narrative has become instrumental in journalism practice when covering IRAS
boat arrivals during three election periods in Australia. This study suggests news stories
about the IRAS boat arrivals fell into a revolving wheel of Australian history of
immigration created by journalists’ habits of repetition.
Jean François Lyotard (1984), the author of the term ‘grand narrative’, stated it was
ambitious to explain the complex and multi-faced nature of reality and history using
vague ideas and simple notions. Hence, Propp’s (1968) theory has been the initial
foundation for exploring the formation of the actors in the ‘boat’ narrative. The heritage
of French structuralism, particularly the works of Roland Barthes and Claude Bremond,
freed the narrative from the field of literature and fiction and perceived it as an
interdisciplinary and multimedia communication study. Propp’s (1968) emphasis on the
morphology of the folktales is especially useful to journalism study as it allows us to
think through how something such as a ‘boat’ grand narrative existed for 40 years in
Australian newspapers. To this end, Propp’s conceptualisation of identical elements and
common themes is generative for grasping how and why journalists did not change the
way they reported about the issue. It is here also that Propp’s notions and Lévi-Strauss’s
binary oppositions are valuable for informing understanding of dominant neutral
attitudes toward the IRAS boat arrivals expressed by politicians and authorities in the
press through a doctrine of dualism that simplifies the stories of the boat people.
The current study concludes that during the election periods studied the press coverage
of unauthorised boat arrivals focused on problems that the politicians and authorities
repeatedly mentioned and thereby transformed the story of the boat people into the story
of the policymakers. Each of the electoral periods was chosen because it included a
politicised controversy concerning IRAS: the era of the Vietnamese boat people in
1977, the post-9/11 incidents in 2001, and the detention issues of 2013.
212
8.2. Summary of the Research
The test conducted by search engines was double-checked with the newspaper archives
in the UTS library. It showed a total of 609 relevant articles about the IRAS boat
arrivals. Of these, The Australian published 281, The SMH 221, and The DT 107.
During the three time periods, 89 samples were collected in the year 1977, 356 samples
in 2001 and 164 samples in 2013, with a total word length of 40,621, 221,550 and
94,422, respectively.
The research found that the repetition of news narratives about unauthorised boats
arriving during the federal elections of 1977, 2001 and 2013 supports the hypothesis
that the news narratives on IRAS boats remained unchanged over time: the press created
a grand narrative about the ‘boats’ and utilised it over a 40-year period.
Quantitative Content Analysis
The SMH told the most ‘boat’ stories in the 1977 election. This newspaper’s coverage of
the topic was still high during the 2001 and 2013 elections – as high as the other two
newspapers. The Australian’s coverage increased from 38.2% in 1977 to 44.1% in 2001
and 54.9% in 2013. Although the three newspapers had similar opinions on this agenda
setting in the 1977 and 2001 timeframes, they did not share the same ‘boat people’
concern in 2013; The SMH and The DT still treated this topic as one of their extended
coverage topics during the 2013 election period. This result supports the Campaign
Visibility analysis, which indicated that of 609 IRAS news samples 380 were about
campaign visibility. This means that 62.4% of all IRAS coverage was connected in
some way to the election. The SMH had the highest campaign-initiated reports.
Meanwhile, The Australian focused on media-initiated reports that included more
commentary pieces than news articles.
The quantitative results on the density of news reports show that each election period
was divided into three phases. The initial (alarm) stage covered the first days when the
news of the sea tragedies or the boatloads of IRAS spread, quickly becoming mass
reporting. In 1977, the news was about the trawler Song Be 12, which arrived during the
election campaign. In 2001, it was about the interception of the SIEV 4, which had 220
asylum seekers on board, by the Australian Navy and the story told later of children
213
being thrown overboard. In 2013, it was about the drowning of 106 people who had
arrived by boat.
The second (crisis) stage came after the boats arrived, when the legislation dealing with
the IRAS on board became an issue in the election campaigns. During this second stage,
the Government officially declared its measures to keep unauthorised boats away from
Australia. The third stage (negotiation) began in the last few days before election day,
when measures were debated and motivated in ways that would relate to the election.
The SMH and The Australian directly placed most of their IRAS articles in the Election
Campaign Headings, with 73 and 92 articles respectively. Meanwhile, The DT
positioned its IRAS news in the National News Heading. These results reflect the
former two newspapers’ focus on the election campaign perspectives of the ‘boat
arrivals’, and the latter’s interest in ‘boats’ events.
The Orientation analysis of the three newspapers found that 59.9% of the national news
samples were negative. This was comparable among the three newspapers: 62.3% in
The Australian; 61.7% in The SMH; and 52.6% in The DT. Editorials had the highest
biases, while feature articles had the most balanced coverages. Samples of the feature
articles were 57.5% negative, with the three newspapers again comparable: 58.4% in
The Australian, 55.1% in The SMH, and 59.2% in The DT.
Overall, the three newspapers remained unchanged in their aggressive tone of coverage.
Extremely critical and critical samples together made up around half of the data set in
the three periods: 47.2% in 1977, 55.4% in 2001, and 57.3% in 2013. The Australian
retained the highest aggressive tone towards boat-related events and its political
opponents during all three datasets, with a negative inclination in 65.8% of all its stories
(185/281 articles). The gap between positive samples (28) and negative samples (185)
was 6.6 times, which makes it the most negative paper in the study. The DT also
expressed its sensationalism with overly critical emotional tones of coverage. It had
58.8% negative, 14.9% positive and 26.1% neutral content, with 63, 16 and 28 articles,
respectively; the gap between positive and negative articles was 3.9 times. The SMH
had 48.9% of its samples expressing a critical view on boat arrivals. It had 64.2%
negative, 19.5% positive and 16.2% neutral content with 36, 43 and 142 articles,
respectively; the gap between positive and negative articles was 3.3 times. Therefore,
214
The SMH was more balanced in its coverage and produced more affirmative articles
than the other two newspapers; affirmative articles accounted for 25.8% of its sample in
all timeframess studied.
Source analysis confirmed Australian politicians and authorities were reported or
quoted dramatically in the IRAS news articles, with 55% of all articles mentioning
Australian authorities’ or politicians’ views and actions more than any other type of
news actors. By contrast, the IRAS commanded 7.5% of all the main actors mentioned,
making it the smallest proportion of the dataset.
In the Australian authorities and politician group, the six most mentioned actors are
Federal Government politicians in 72 articles; Prime Minister John Howard in 48
articles; military forces in 28 articles; other members of parliament in 27 articles;
immigration officials in 26 articles; and Mr Kim Beazley in 24 articles. Noticeably,
journalists represented the voice of immigration officials significantly in their articles in
1977, but not in 2001 and 2013. By contrast, Federal Government sources remained the
greatest main actor in 1977, 2001 and 2013, appearing prominently in 23, 25 and 24
articles respectively. The four most-mentioned actors in the ‘Other’ group were
international figures in 56 articles, community residents in 29 articles, specific voter
blocs in 28 articles, and regional figures in 28 articles.
The number of sample articles in 2013 was less than in the 2001 dataset. However, the
frequency of politicians and authorities in 2013 was higher than in 2001, leading to the
conclusion that the news narrative in 2013 focused mostly on political and electoral
events. Overall, the number of the IRAS articles engaged in the campaign visibility
dominated, accounting for 62.4% (380/609 articles). The occurrences of the leader of
the Opposition overwhelmed those of the ruling Prime Minister, except in 2001, when
the voice and appearance of Mr Howard dominated the newspapers and overwhelmed
other voices.
Quote analysis found the total amount of quotes on the IRAS matter increased more
than four times in 2001. All three newspapers relied heavily on the views and opinions
of Australian politicians and authorities, whose words made up 55.7% of all words
counted in quotes and paraphrases. By contrast, the IRAS voice was frequently the
215
smallest presence in comparison with politicians and other sources; the total number of
words said by IRAS accounted for 5.2% of all quotes and paraphrases.
To sum up, the quantitative analysis shows that unauthorised boat arrivals were central
to the three campaigns. The peaks in coverage of each time frame reflected either the
arrival of IRAS by boat during the election or the tension in the IRAS policy debate.
The consistency of intensive coverage of the IRAS issue in the last days of the
campaigns demonstrates the editorial perception that IRAS had become a routine and
predictable facet of political campaign reporting.
Qualitative Content Analysis
The qualitative content analysis of news narrative in its story dimension consists of
syntagmatic and paradigmatic analyses. Following the syntagmatic analysis, the
thematic analysis compared the lead paragraphs of news stories to see if any main
themes emerged in the three timeframes and to find the main messages about the IRAS
boat arrivals. The paradigmatic approach then identified the primary pair of binary
oppositions. The subsequent follow-up ‘duality’ character was also observed in this
contextual analysis.
Thematic Analysis
The IRAS were represented in the three timeframes under core themes, of which the
safety issue was always paid most attention. In 1977 the refugee was represented as a
health threat to Australians, the arrivals of boat people creating problems in Australian
humanitarian projects and bringing an economic burden to the nation. The news
narrative suggested the problem of the Vietnamese boat people had spread across the
Pacific Ocean and impacted the region. In 2001, the most noticeable messages
concerned the people smugglers, the sinking of the IRAS vessels, and border security,
which linked the IRAS to terrorism. The press addressed a firm link between protecting
the borders from illegal arrivals and terrorists by quoting Mr Howard: “A military
response and wise diplomacy and a steady hand on the helm are needed to guide
Australia through these difficult circumstances” (Sample 247). In 2013, the common
themes focused on federal legalisation of the unauthorised boats and whether the
government’s offshore policy was constitutionally lawful. During the 2013 federal
election the IRAS were represented as economic refugees rather than political ones.
216
Therefore, the incidence of the keyword "refugee" decreased to a minimum, only
appearing in the international news during the election times.
In the news narrative related to the context of election debates, the findings show that
the following recurring themes appeared in the three timeframes: the press promoting
for the ‘right man’ who can stop the boats to win the election; the power of the voters in
the ‘boat’ policy; the enormous spending on border security and the army and navy; the
increasing of the quota of immigration and humanitarian refugees to reduce boat
arrivals; and the vigorous cutting of aid and humanitarian projects.
The SMH and The Australian shared significant similarities in the proportion of the
categories of main themes – policy, legislation and international background focus. All
of these are politically oriented points of view that these two mainstream newspapers
appealed to when covering the IRAS stories. By contrast, The DT distinguished itself by
focusing on the dramatic and tragic events of the boat people. The percentages of
‘Threat’ and ‘Tragedy' themes were higher in The DT than in the other two newspapers.
Besides, The DT and The Australian significantly shared similar editorial lines on the
IRAS boat arrivals, except that The DT was more sensational in its appeal to the lowest
common denominator in the community.
Thematic analysis also found the doctrine of dualism, categorised into two major
opposite perspectives, such as the “threats” and the “sympathies”. In the “threats”
category, the ‘Foreign relations threats’ recurred as the top core theme of all samples,
while ‘Number’ threat’ and ‘Security’ threat also ranked high, confirming previous
studies in the literature and a “problem” narrative.
Indeed, the problems of the IRAS on boats were represented as various threats to
Australia during the three timeframes studied. In the 1977 coverage, the problem lay in
the status of the refugees, the government having a responsibility to ensure they were
genuine refugees. The news narrative during the “sovereign border” practices in 2001
and 2013 also concentrated on the question of whether people arriving by boat were in
fact “genuine refugees”. During these latter periods, the people smugglers had become
the villain characters, with politicians raising the "war on smugglers" slogan and
massively spread it around the media outlets in 2013. For example, The Australian on
25 July 2013 stressed the idea that the people smuggling network was tied closely to the
217
Australian communities that knew about people-smuggling activities. The paper quoted
an anonymous official: “People with knowledge of people-smuggling activities could be
accessories to those crimes.”
By contrast, there were only a few articles telling stories about refugees that tried to get
broader perspectives. However, the results of the “sympathy” category opened up
significant arguments. “Sympathised facts and witness” mainly tell the life stories of
overseas-born residents and former refugees who successfully migrated and settled into
Australian society. Reporting the sympathised facts, The DT showed the bad conditions
for refugees in the Nauru detention centres, but it ironically compared this with the
Christmas Island detention centre looking like a paradise with perfect facilities and seen
as full of light and hope. Meanwhile, the “sympathised ideology and belief” mainly
focused on church activities, which may give the impression that these newspapers
would like to promote Christian beliefs.
There are special sympathised messages also worth taking into account, although they
only appeared in one article. In 1977, there was an article in the “Sympathy conflict”,
commenting on Mr Whitlam, who was against the Vietnamese refugees because he
supported communism and the victory of Hanoi. In 2013, there was an article about the
Coalition's plan to cut free legal advice for IRAS and the ensuing sympathy protest
during which the protesters and refugee advocates illegally painted graffiti condemning
both political parties’ IRAS solutions.
Hence, the "Sympathy" category showed the oddity of conflicts, between the individual
believer and the humanitarian rights, between the Christian's goodwill and the chance to
extend its believers, and between the facts of successful settlers and the unknown faces
of strangers drifting outside on the water.
Contextual Analysis
The context of the study’s keywords such as "refugee", "asylum seeker", "boat people"
and "boat" were examined. Among the four identified words, “refugee” is most highly
repeated (373 occurrences in the three newspapers), followed by the “boat” (335) and
“asylum-seeker” (204). “Boat people” was least mentioned in the quotes, with 68
occurrences among all samples. Notably, the three newspapers represented the
confusion and conflation of definitions of the terms ‘immigrant’, ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum
218
seeker’. There was a similarity in the main actor dropping the use of the keyword
“refugee” from 1977 to 2013. However, the "boat" (as an object) appeared frequently in
the main actors’ quotes. Indeed, the politicians tend to mention the “boat” much more
than the person on the boat in their comments and opinions. In all quotes, the word
“boat” mostly appeared in the main actor’s speech rather than other voices and
accounted for 74.03% of all searches for the keyword in context.
The context of the identified object, “boat”, was analysed to understand the attitude of
the main actors toward the boat arrivals. Results showed that election context dominated
in The Australian in 2013, The SMH in 2001 and The SMH in 2013. By contrast,
immigration context dominated in The DT in 2001, The Australian in 1977 and 2001,
and The SMH in 1977.
Concerning the election context of the word "boat", results show the recurring main
actor's opinions quoted in the press from 1977 to 2013 were criticism of the failure of
the ruling policy; arguments for turning boats back to reduce problems in the sea; and
confirmation about the country’s right to choose its new migrants.
In assessment of political attitude, The Australian produced the highest volume of anti-
boat quotes, and The DT had the highest percentage. The SMH produced a relatively
balanced volume of pro-boat, anti-boat and neutral statements in 1977 and 2013.
Overall, neutral quotes and paraphrasing made up 70.75% of all main actors’ word
count in the dataset.
In the coverage of anti- and pro-IRAS boat arrivals in politicians and authorities quotes
and paraphrases, the findings show the recurring statements the main actors made over
the three timeframes studied were warnings that an open nation is vulnerable;
accusations that criminals and not genuine refugees were getting on boats; and
notifications that illegal entrants would face tragedy. Analysis of the main actor action
found that the politicians and authorities who defined the situation of boat arrivals were
the heroes in the “boat” stories.
However, when assessing the tone of the main actor’s quotes and paraphrases, the
volume of neutral attitudes towards the IRAS boat arrivals dominated this entire group.
The neutral category comprises quotes from sources in which there is approximately
equal affirmative and critical content. However, as the discussion of boat policy
219
overwhelmed the election campaign samples, a neutral article concerning boat policies
may be seen as a journalist’s attempt to be impartial, with the arguments regarding the
divisive boat policy relatively dispassionate.
8.3. Implications
In this section I discuss the implications of this study for further research and for
journalism practice.
Implications for further research
This section presents three implications for further research. First, news as narrative is
justified as a basis for rhetorical critique as it contains elements through which readers
can choose the themes based on their own realities and judge the story by their values
and reasoning. The narrative structurists studied here did not mention the problem of
evaluating a unique narrative creation. To them, all narratives were formed from what
had been written before using formulas and unchanged elements (Abbott 2008).
Therefore, the most exciting contribution of narrative structural analysis is to help
readers better understand the conditions forming a narrative, rather than the narrative
itself. Moreover, the implications of the proposition that grand narratives are used in
journalism practice are associated with the explorations of the concrete elements of
narrative in news templates and models, and how narrative supports comprehension and
facilitates readers news literacy.
Fisher's (1985) narrative paradigm supposes that humans are essentially storytellers who
are more persuaded by a good story than by a good argument. Ultimately, all
conversations and communication in the world are narratives that have the paradigmatic
mode of "good reasons". Similarly, the “boat” story during the election timeframes
showed that the press uses narratives to help convey significant meaning and establish
universal meaning. As Fisher (1989) said, “The ground for determining meaning,
validity, reason, rationality, and truth must be a narrative context: history, culture,
biography, and character" (p. 64). Hence, news, with its limitation of word count, tries
its best to attract the readers immediately, and journalists adapting a grand narrative is a
“perfect” storytelling method to quickly convey the meaning of their articles.
220
Second, observations of all the narrative theories suggest they pursue the same
objective, namely structure. The highest goal of narrative theory is to explore the
grammar of the narrative, which are the established conventions that make a text
become a narrative. Finding that grammar in narrative leads to the folktale function
theory in Propp’s work, the theory of myth by Levi-Strauss or the narratology theory of
Todorove and Barthes' codes in fiction work.
Indeed, Propp’s identical functions in folktales might be applied in contemporary
textual analyses, concerning different topics in communications and media studies.
Adaptations of Propp’s common folktale themes have been praised in film and
documentary studies. It would be interesting for journalism researchers to explore the
“rules” by which non-fiction media narratives are generated or transformed.
Moreover, the appearance of these typical formula in various news templates and topics
might motivate future researchers to explore such narrative grammars, with their main
characters and the focalisation of the stories, in order to find new moods and fresh
formations in news reports.
The revitalising influence of Propp's formative ideas was indicated in part by the
number of studies it has motivated. Greimas (1971), for example, criticised Propp’s
classification as the attachment to narrative progression, yet he built his own narrative
structural analysis model upon it. Greimas’s “actantical model” (p. 161) re-categorised
Propp’s functions into a set of oppositions that are useful to model the narrative
structure of simple non-fiction narratives such as news narratives. Actants are typical
narrative roles or narrative functions. The action of a person is defined according to its
meaning for the flow of action. These actants are the subject (which is looking for the
object), the object (looked for by the subject), the sender (of the subject to look for the
object), the receiver (of the object), the helper (of the subject) and the opponent (of the
subject). Each actant can be represented by different actors, and an actor can occur as a
synthesis of more than one actant. This simple actant model can be used to analyse fairy
tales, but journalists can also model their stories on this basis. The actant model
classifies unchanged opposition roles of news narrative such as subject and object, the
sender and the receivers, the helper and the opponent.
221
Third, when adapting narrative observations to media studies, researchers might
evaluate language as a closed and stationary system. Hence, there would be no formal
or functional requirement that the author, speaker, and narrator of a dialectical narrative
be identical. The author assumes the story itself would remain objective no matter who
tells it (Lucaites & Condit 1985). This condition is suitable for studying journalism,
when the authorship is less important and objectivity has the highest priority. Hence, I
recommend that future research explore the use of narrative theories in news reports
aimed at identifying existing narratives that could be used in different journalistic works
and topics and examining the effects of these narratives on news readers and viewers.
Last, the review of the literature showed a lack of previous studies investigating how the
media represent the politicians and authorities in the ‘boat’ story. News media present
few IRAS quotes and voices, and studies on media representation lack the scientific
analyses of how politicians’ and authorities’ voices are represented. There is a need for
further textual analysis in politicians and authorities quotes and paraphrases concerning
the boat arrivals, to explore more deeply into the rhetoric of this group toward the topic.
Implications for journalism practice
This study looks at journalistic coverage of IRAS stories over 40 years of immigration
to Australia. The sameness of the IRAS news narratives found in this research suggests
that journalists should recognise and free themselves from the grand narrative of the
‘boat’ stories. In his book Reflections on the Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco (1994)
gives an example of his attitude towards the idea of the grand narrative:
I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves a very cultivated
woman and knows that he cannot say to her ‘I love you madly’, because he
knows that she knows (and that she knows he knows) that these words have
already been written by Barbara Cartland. Still, there is a solution. He can say
‘As Barbara Cartland would put it, I love you madly'. At this point, having
avoided false innocence, having said explicitly that it is no longer possible to
speak innocently, he will nevertheless have said what he wanted to say to the
woman: that he loves her in an age of lost innocence (p. 68).
Losing their innocence in telling the IRAS story means that journalists should become
incredulous toward the grand narratives and understand, like Eco’s character, that what
222
they may be about to say in a ‘boat’ story will not be written according to a unique
template. To go beyond the repetition of the ‘boat’ reports, journalists need to write
from a stance of liberation, creating new rules and formulae for this story, instead of
being controlled by traditional opinions and typical news templates. Journalists require
an open mind towards their perception of the facts and because of this openness, they
will not be conservative, but unassuming and openhearted. Such a journalist would not
proudly claim to be the only one who could cover the absolute truth or criticise
colleagues with different opinions for being wrong and unfaithful to the truth.
In the IRAS stories, context should be as important as facts. Unauthorised boat arrivals
are considered as old-time stories. According to Jameson (1985), contemporary writers
struggle in a world of pastiche, the world in which they gain no hope of finding any
innovation about the style to write; what they could do is to imitate existing literature
and “to speak through the masks and with the voices of the styles in the imaginary
museum” (p. 114). Therefore, to bring the current context to a ‘boat’ story, journalists
should improve their skills of doing research and make the procedures of re-evaluation
and reflection their priority in their writing. This might be challenging in the
information age when journalists have deadlines measured in hours or minutes or even
in real-time. Researching for the context of a ‘boat’ story might also remind journalists
of the risk of slipping into prevailing frames and standard schemas such as the refugee
schema, which usually links the refugees with economic interests and opportunists.
While balancing sources in the IRAS news stories might be more difficult, it will be a
worthwhile investment if it changes the focalisation of the news story. Under the
government’s censorship, the most significant difficulty for journalists when reporting
of IRAS is the inability to witness what is happening with their own eyes. In the IRAS
boat arrival reports studied for this research, journalists gave the power of the narratee
to the main actor. In the ‘boat’ story, politicians and authorities are both the narratees
and the narrators who can decide the sequences and the functions of all characters.
Currently, the Australian Government works hard to keep the media away from Nauru
and Manus Island detention centres. Governments centralise and formalise relations
with the media, regulating and limiting media contacts with all but the highest position
holders (Foye & Ryder 2011).
223
An implication of this study is that news organisations need to give the IRAS greater
priority and campaign for much better access to these detention centres. Journalists
should always challenge the government’s handling of the boat issue, whether or not
readers or viewers tire of it. However, Australian news media is tightly controlled by a
few individuals. The results suggest that denial of access to IRAS voices has been the
principal reason for delays in finding solutions for the boat people. From the politicians’
point of view, denial of access is an ineffective defence mechanism. From the
journalists’ perspective, it can be seen as an adaptive strategy to protect against
devastating events and feelings.
The notion of ‘news as narrative’ implies journalists do not uncover news and events
but embroider them using the rules of their game. Calling the news a narrative is a way
of questioning the news media’s assertion of truth and equates news with myth and
fiction.
During the 20th century journalists served an integral function as the Fourth Estate in
political life, particularly in democratic societies. Journalists had the right to require
governments to publicise policies. The media positively defended what was true and
right, or called attention to what was wrong, informing the public, leading the public
opinion and pressuring governments to alter policies to meet public aspirations. Indeed,
media had become a thermometer, measuring the level of democracy in a society.
Journalism today struggles to pursue the role of the Fourth Estate. In dictatorial
regimes, governments try to control mass media, information is censored, dissident
voices and criticism are silenced, and the public’s right to know and question the
government no longer exists. In democratic societies, freedom of the press is also
limited due to the centralisation of the economy, and most of the mainstream news
organisations belong to a few owners who can subvert public opinion in an election
period. The Fourth Estate is either strangled or limited. The media are no longer free
and independent.
An alternative has arisen: the “fifth estate”. Representatives of the “fifth estate” are the
Internet, especially blogs, software, internet activism, open data, open knowledge
movement, and so on. The main function of the “fifth estate” is to examine and support
224
the Fourth Estate to publicise, inform and make transparent government activities. It
corrects the mistakes of the Fourth Estate and notice when it is silent.
The journalistic field has been expanded dramatically by these technological tools, and
in order to understand contemporary practices one needs to look beyond the news
narrative to the roles they play. This work is not easy when journalists also face the
challenges of the ‘fake news’ insurrection. Recently, ‘fake news’ has become an
emerging interest in journalism and media studies. An implication of this study is the
extension of research on how grand narratives appear in the ‘fake news’ and affect news
literacy in general. It raises questions about extent to which the grand narratives
contribute to readers readily accepting fake news and how the grand narrative works to
make fake news more realistic, believable and appealing.
Limitations of the study
Five limitations of the study have been identified. First, working alone on the project
within a tightened timeframe limited the researcher’s ability to conduct inter-coder
reliability assessment to measure agreement and variance. However, the content
analysis was conducted on a collectable data of 609 samples on a single factor of the
‘boat’. As Marsh and White (2006) claim, collecting, analysing, and cross-checking a
variety of data on a single factor from multiple sources and perspectives can heighten a
qualitative study’s credibility and confirm-ability.
Second, the researcher initiallly intended to accomplish a mix-method project that
would include interviews with Australian journalists who cover the ‘boat’ topic. Deuze
(2005) once claimed that only a few authors combined insights on technological and
cultural issues and researched into a broader framework of thinking about journalism
and media production processes as a whole. Further investigation of the topic of this
study from social and cultural perspectives could explore how the new media could
change the ways of journalistic reporting.
Third, an intention of this project was to use Propp’s classification concept to analyse
structures of various IRAS news stories and to determine if there were identical
formulae and functional characteristics in them. This initial objective is lightly touched
in the thesis, but it has inspired the researcher to investigate further how the Proppian
model may be adapted to the IRAS news narrative.
225
Last, the limitation in English language proficiency has restricted the researcher’s
exploration of the discourse of the press in reporting the IRAS boat arrivals. The
analysis of the main themes and dominant narratives on the ‘boat stories presented in
this thesis opens the way for future discourse analyses of data from the same similar
timeframes to empower the results of the content analysis.
8.4. Final remarks
Narratives link events and present to readers or listeners a sequence of written or spoken
sentences or a series of images (Huisman, Murphet & Dunn 2006). Jean François
Lyotard created the term “grand narrative” and stated that people have the negative
habit of repetition. The repetition of news narrative on boat arrivals makes the readers
think the press was going in a circle, while timeline of history is considered to be linear.
The repetition of formularised news stories and language is a challenge for practising
journalists.
Thinking of journalism is to think of the changing of reality, as Bateson defined media
as “a difference that makes a difference” (Ryan & Thon 2014, p. 25). However, one of
the most popular requests regarding media coverage of IRAS boat arrivals was to
change the narrative on IRAS stories. This request has motivated the researcher to
continue investigating the news narrative on the ‘boat people’, which seems to be a
negative habit. Fisher (1985) stated that life is comprehended through a series of
ongoing narratives that have characters, beginnings, middles and ends; therefore, in
order for the episodes and narratives to accurately represent human experience,
consistency is necessary. This suggestion is important for news writers.
Fisher (1989) also proposed that there are two fundamental principles of a good
narrative: coherence and fidelity. Coherence emphasises the logical order of the
elements of the narrative, and fidelity is concerned with the truthfulness of the story and
its reasoning and values. If the elements within a narrative are consistent, logical,
sequential and accurate, the narrative is more effective in establishing relationships that
have contextual and cultural relevance. Indeed, these two narrative principles are the
essential values that a good news article pursues. The news articles ultimately reveal the
truth through conflict resolution. News values also promote the context and culture
appropriated to the readers. The real revelation has to emerge through the reasoning that
leads to conflict resolution and its significance to the reader's culture.
226
This study suggests that the policies towards the unauthorised boat arrivals in the
timeframes studie were rooted in the collective opinions of the most powerful groups in
the country, the politicians and other authorities. The ideas concerning ‘boat’ policies
and how the press has covered them have been reproduced repeatedly in the history of
Australian immigration. For example, opinions about transferring boat people to other
nations for offshore processing are not unfamiliar. The results of this study show that
the ‘boat people’ news narrative was planted during the Fraser Government’s election
campaign in 1977. As Robert Frost (1914) wrote in his poem ‘The Black Cottage’,
“Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favour.”
The negative attitude towards the IRAS boat arrivals was created by the repetition of
various collective actions that strongly influenced Australian peoples’ perceptions.
Indeed, the way Australian newspapers have covered the issue of refugees and asylum
seekers would lead one to think that Australia is the only country in the world that is
faced with this situation. For example, we rarely see news reports about the tens of
thousands of asylum seekers who travel across the Mediterranean every day from North
Africa.
The researcher is of the opinion that the issue with asylum seekers and refugees in
Australia is tainted with xenophobia. Australians think they are being swamped, but any
rational human being can see that this is not the case. The issue of children in detention
centres is appalling, but successive governments use this for political gain rather than
take a humanitarian approach to the whole issue of asylum seekers. A typical story
might report on asylum seekers paying US$10,000 to get to Australia, with columnists
arguing, "If they can afford US$10,000, why don't they take the refugee route and join
the queue?" This attitude tends to go to the heart of the argument in suburban Australia.
The power of the press is not stipulated by regulation; it rests in the journalists' devotion
to change society and change conservative perceptions that are rooted through many
generations. When a journalist is not zealous enough to impart news and knowledge but
only wants to finish their work quickly, they lose power. When they rarely question
claims by government officials and systematically ignore the voices of the marginalised,
they avoid the fulfilment of investigative journalism. Hence, they need few skills to
complete an article instead of putting their whole-hearted effort into what they write.
Conversely, dictatorial journalism does not rely on reality but imposes its assumptions
227
and conservative beliefs on the collective. That attitude is highly likely to lead to the
fanatic and dictatorial thoughts throughout the nation.
228
References
Abbott, H.P. 2008, The Cambridge introduction to narrative, Cambridge University Press.
ABC 2016, ‘Election 2016: Peter Dutton, Malcolm Turnbull confirm Vietnam asylum seeker boat turn-back’, viewed 06/03/2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-06-22/dutton-turnbull-confirm-vietnam-asylum-seeker-boat-turn-back/7532368
ABC 2017, The 10 most Australian values that make Australia so valuable, viewed 28 April 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-28/these-are-our-core-australian-values/8476902%3E
ABC News 2013, Asylum seekers: where the parties stand, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-08/federal-election-policy-asylum-seekers/4630056
Altheide, D.L. 1987, ‘Reflections: Ethnographic content analysis’, Qualitative Sociology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 65-77.
Anderson, Z. 2012, ‘Borders, babies, and “good refugees”: Australian representations of “illegal” immigration, 1979’, Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 499-514.
Annear, R. 1999, Nothing but gold: the diggers of 1852, Text Publishing. Australian Press Council 2006, State of the news print media in Australia, Australian
Press Council. Australian Press Council 2009, Asylum seekers, 'illegal immigrants' and entry without a
visa, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.presscouncil.org.au/document-search/asylum-seekers/
Bell, A. 1991, The language of news media, Blackwell, Oxford. Bell, A. 2005, ‘News stories as narratives’, The language of time: a reader, p. 397. Bell, P. 1997, ‘New values, race and “The Hanson Debate” in Australian media’, Asia
Pacific Media Educator, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 4. Benson, R. 2013, Shaping immigration news: A French-American comparison,
Cambridge University Press. Berelson, B. 1952, 'Content analysis in communication research', Free Press, New
York, NY, US. Berry, M., Garcia-Blanco, I. & Moore, K. 2016, Press coverage of the refugee and
migrant crisis in the EU: a content analysis of five European countries, Report prepared for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
Best, H. & Higley, J. 2010a, Democratic elitism: new theoretical and comparative perspectives, Brill, Leiden.
Best, H. & Higley, J. 2010b, Democratic elitism: new theoretical and comparative perspectives, vol. 111, Brill, Leiden.
Betts, K. 2001, ‘Boat people and public opinion in Australia’, People and Place, vol. 9, no. 4, p. 34.
Bird, S.E. & Dardenne, R.W. 1988, ‘News as mythological narrative’, Media, myths, and narratives: television and the press, Sage, Newbury Park.
Bird, S.E. & Dardenne, R.W. 1997, ‘Myth, chronicle and story’, Social meanings of news: a text-reader, pp. 333-50.
Bird, S.E. & Dardenne, R.W. 2009, ‘Rethinking news and myth as storytelling'’ The handbook of journalism studies, pp. 205-17.
229
Bishop, P. 2003, ‘Lost at Woomera: rereading mainstream and alternative media’, Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 138-52.
Bleiker, R., Campbell, D., Hutchison, E. & Nicholson, X. 2013, ‘The visual dehumanisation of refugees’, Australian Journal of Political Science, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 398-416.
Bloomberg, L.D. & Volpe, M. 2012, Completing your qualitative dissertation: a road map from beginning to end, Sage Publications.
Bourdieu, P. 1993, The field of cultural production: essays on art and literature, Columbia University Press.
Bourdieu, P. & Wacquant, L. 1992, An invitation to reflexive sociology, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Brader, T., Valentino, N.A. and Suhay, E., 2008. What triggers public opposition to immigration? Anxiety, group cues, and immigration threat. American Journal of Political Science, 52(4), pp.959-978.
Breen, M. 1998, Journalism: theory and practice, Macleay Press Paddington, NSW. Bryman, A. 2012, Social research methods, 4th edn, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Burke, S. & Goodman, S. 2012, ‘“Bring back Hitler’s gas chambers”: Asylum seeking,
Nazis and Facebook – a discursive analysis’, Discourse & Society, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 19-33.
Burstein, P. 2003, ‘The impact of public opinion on public policy: a review and an agenda', Political Research Quarterly, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 29-40.
Button, J., 2002. Quarterly Essay 6 Beyond Belief: What Future for Labor? (Vol. 6). Black Inc., pp. 86.
Bye, S. 2006, ‘TV Memories, The Daily Telegraph and Ton: “First in Australia”’, Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 121, no. 1, pp. 159-73.
Caldiero, C.T. 2007, ‘Crisis storytelling: Fisher’s narrative paradigm and news reporting’, American Communication Journal, vol. 9, no. 1.
Callaghan, K. & Schnell, F. 2001, ‘Assessing the democratic debate: how the news media frame elite policy discourse’, Political Communication, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 183-212.
Capdevila, R. & Callaghan, J.E.M. 2008, ‘“It's not racist. It’s common sense”. A critical analysis of political discourse around asylum and immigration in the UK’, Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 1-16.
Carey, J.W. 1975, Communication and culture, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Carruthers, A. 1995, ‘Rethinking the Vietnamese-media relation’, Australian Journal of
Communication, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 48-61. Carter, N. 2006, The Howard Factor, Melbourne, University Press Melbourne. Chatfield, A.T., Reddick, C.G. & Brajawidagda, U. 2015, ‘Government surveillance
disclosures, bilateral trust and Indonesia – Australia cross-border security cooperation: Social network analysis of Twitter data’, Government Information Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 118-28.
Chomsky, N. 2002, Syntactic structures, Walter de Gruyter. Clarke, M.A.H. 1869, The peripatetic philosopher. G. Robertson. Coghlan, J. 2005, ‘In their voice-experiences of Australia's mandatory detention
policies’. In Seeking refuge: asylum seekers and politics in a globalising world, University of Wollongong Press, Broadway NSW. p. 81.
Colebatch, H. 2015, ‘The “Boat People” and the 1977 Election’, Quadrant, p. 50.
230
Columbro, D. 2017, Migration: the new frontier of storytelling, International Journalism Festival, viewed 3 May 2019, https://www.journalismfestival.com/programme/2017/migrations
Cooper, S., Olejniczak, E., Lenette, C. & Smedley, C. 2017, ‘Media coverage of refugees and asylum seekers in regional Australia: a critical discourse analysis’, Media International Australia, vol. 162, no. 1, pp. 78-89.
Cottle, S. 2007, ‘Mediatised recognition and the “Other”’, Media International Australia, Incorporating Culture & Policy, vol. 123, pp. 34-48.
Coupe, L. 2013, Kenneth Burke on myth: an introduction, Routledge. Cover, R. 2013, ‘Undoing attitudes: subjectivity and ethical change in the Go Back to
Where You Came From documentary’, Continuum, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 408-20. Crawford, N.C. 2004, ‘Understanding discourse: a method of ethical argument
analysis’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 22-5. Cullum-Swan, B. & Manning, P. 1994, ‘Narrative, content, and semiotic analysis’,
Handbook of qualitative research, pp. 463-77. De Saussure, F., Baskin, W. & Meisel, P. 2011, Course in general linguistics, Columbia
University Press. Deuze, M. 2005, ‘What is journalism? Professional identity and ideology of journalists
reconsidered’, Journalism, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 442-64. Dimitrov, R. 2014, ‘“Does this guy ever shut up?” The discourse of the 2013 Australian
election', Global Media Journal: Australian Edition, vol. 8, no. 2. Dodds, K., Kuus, M. & Sharp, J. 2013, The Ashgate research companion to critical
geopolitics, Ashgate. Dogra, S. 2016, ‘The thirty-one functions in Vladimir Propp’s Morphology of the
Folktale: an outline and recent trends in the applicability of the Proppian taxonomic model’, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Vol. 9, no. 2.
Dreher, T. 2010, ‘Speaking up or being heard? Community media interventions and the politics of listening’, Media, Culture & Society, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 85-103.
Due, C. & Riggs, D.W. 2008, ‘“We grew here you flew here”: claims to “home” in the Cronulla riots’, Colloquy, vol. 16, pp. 210-28.
Due, C. 2010, ‘A discursive analysis of media representations of belonging in Australia’, PhD Thesis, The University of Adelaide, South Australia.
Dundes, A. 1997, ‘Binary opposition in myth: the Propp/Levi-Strauss debate in retrospect’, Western Folklore, pp. 39-50.
Dunn, A, 2005b, ‘Radio news and interviews’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A. Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 203-217.
Dunn, A. 2005a, ‘Television news as narrative’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A. Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 140-152.
Dunn, K.M., Klocker, N. & Salabay, T. 2007, ‘Contemporary racism and Islamaphobia in Australia: racializing religion’, Ethnicities, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 564-89.
Dyrenfurth, N. 2015, Mateship: a very Australian history, Scribe Publications. Eco, U. 1994, Reflections on The Name of the Rose, trans. William Weaver, Minerva,
London. Edmiston, W.F. 1989, ‘Focalization and the first-person narrator: a revision of the
theory’, Poetics Today, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 729-44. Emden, C. 1998, ‘Conducting a narrative anlysis’, Collegian, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 34-9.
231
Every, D. & Augoustinos, M. 2007, ‘Constructions of racism in the Australian parliamentary debates on asylum seekers'’ Discourse & Society, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 411-36.
Every, D.S. 2006, ‘The politics of representation: the discursive analysis of refugee advocacy in the Australian parliament’, University of Adelaide research theses online, viewed 22 February 2019, http://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/37856/files/91/37856.html
Fairclough, N. 2013, Critical discourse analysis: the critical study of language, Routledge.
Federal Register of Legislation 2013, Migration Amendment (Bridging Visas—Code of Behaviour) Regulation 2013, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2013L02102/Explanatory%20Statement/Text
Federal Register of Legislation 2015, Australian Border Force Act 2015, Australian Government, viewed 3 March 2019, https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00354
Fisher, C., Park, S. and Lee, J.Y., 2019. Who writes a press release? Changing audience perceptions of journalists as marketers of news, not just reporters. Journalism, p.1464884919847803.
Fischer, J.L. 1963, ‘The sociopsychological analysis of folktales’, Current Anthropology, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 235-95.
Fischer, M.M. 1995, ‘Starting over: how, what, and for whom does one write about refugees? The poetics and politics of refugee film as ethnographic access in a media-saturated world’, Mistrusting Refugees, pp.126-50.
Fisher, W.R. 1985, ‘The narrative paradigm: in the beginning’, Journal of Communication, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 74-89.
Fisher, W.R. 1989, Human communication as narration: toward a philosophy of reason, value, and action, University of South Carolina Press.
Flynn, M. 2014, ‘There and back again: on the diffusion of immigration detention’, Journal on Migration & Human Security, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 165-97.
Forde, S. and Johnston, J., 2013. The news triumvirate: Public relations, wire agencies and online copy. Journalism Studies, 14(1), pp.113-129.
Foye, J. & Ryder, P. 2011, ‘Cries from Babylon: the problem of compassion in Australian refugee policy’, Global Media Journal-Australian Edition, vol. 5, no. 1.
Fozdar, F. & Pedersen, A. 2013, ‘Diablogging about asylum seekers: building a counter-hegemonic discourse’, Discourse & Communication, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 371-88.
Frank, M.C. and Malreddy, P.K., 2018. Global responses to the ‘War on Terror’. Graham, W.P., 2009. Nation Builders. Macmillan Education AU. Franzosi, R. 2010, Quantitative narrative analysis, Sage, p. 60. Frost, R. 1914, ‘The black cottage’, Poetry, pp. 55-9. Fulford, R. 1999, The triumph of narrative: storytelling in the age of mass culture,
House of Anansi. Fulton, H. 2005a, ‘Print news as narrative’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A.
Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 218-244.
232
Fulton, H. 2005b, ‘Conclusion: postmodern narrative and media’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A. Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 300-306.
Fulton, H. 2005c, ‘Analysing the discourse of news’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A. Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 245-268.
Fulton, H. 2005d, ‘Introduction: the power of narrative’, in H. Fulton, R. Huisman, J. Murphet & A. Dunn, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-7.
Fulton, H., Huisman, R., Murphet, J. & Dunn, A. 2005, Narrative and media, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gabrielatos, C. & Baker, P. 2008, ‘Fleeing, sneaking, flooding: a corpus analysis of discursive constructions of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press, 1996-2005’, Journal of English Linguistics, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 5-38.
Gale, P. 2004, ‘The refugee crisis and fear Populist politics and media discourse’, Journal of Sociology, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 321-40.
Genette, G. 1983, Narrative discourse: an essay in method, Cornell University Press. Giannacopoulos, M. 2006, ‘Terror Australis: white sovereignty and the violence of
law’, Borderlands e-journal, vol. 5, no. 1. Goodall, H. & Jakubowicz, A. 1994, Racism, ethnicity and the media, Allen & Unwin,
St Leonards, N.S.W. Gordon, M. 2005, Freeing Ali: the human face of the Pacific solution, University of
New South Wales Press, Sydney. Granato, L. 1998, ‘Interpretive journalism and research’, Research into Australian
journalism, study guide. Geelong: Deakin University, Faculty of Arts. Grant, B. 1979, The boat people: an age investigation with Bruce Grant, Penguin
Books, Harmondworth, Middlesex. Greimas, A.J. 1971, ‘Narrative grammar: units and levels’, MLN, vol. 86, no. 6, pp.
793-806. Grewcock, M. 2009, Border crimes: Australia's war on illicit migrants, Institute of
Criminology Press, Sydney, N.S.W. Hall, M.A. 2010, ‘Interpretive communities and the legitimation of news values: a
recursive framing analysis of the representation of refugees in The Australian’, University of Southern Queensland EPrints, viewed 22 February 2019, http://eprints.usq.edu.au/19526/files/103/19526.html
Hall, S. 1985, ‘Signification, representation, ideology: Althusser and the post‐structuralist debates’, Critical Studies in Media Communication, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 91-114.
Hall, S. 1997, Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices, vol. 2, Sage.
Hardy, C., Harley, B. & Phillips, N. 2004, ‘Discourse analysis and content analysis: two solitudes’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 19-22.
Harris, W. 1970, The bitter fight: a pictorial history of the Australian labor movement, University of Queensland Press.
Hartley, J. 1995, '’ournalism and modernity’, Australian Journal of Communication, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 20-30.
Hayward, J. 1996, Elitism, populism, and European politics, Oxford University Press. Henry, F. & Tator, C. 2009, ‘Report: Contributions and challenges of addressing
discursive racism in the Canadian media’, Canadian Journal of Communication, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 711-13.
233
Herman, D., Manfred, J. & Marie-Laure, R. 2010, Routledge encyclopedia of narrative theory, Routledge.
Herrera, Y.M. & Braumoeller, B.F. 2004, ‘Symposium: discourse and content analysis’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 15-19.
Hightower, B. 2014, ‘Refugees, limbo and the Australian media', International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 335-58.
Hoang, C. 2010, Boat people: personal stories from the Vietnamese exodus 1975-1996, Carina Hoang Communications.
Holmqvist, K. & Wartenberg, C. 2005, ‘The role of local design factors for newspaper reading behaviour-an eye-tracking perspective’, Lund University Cognitive Studies, vol. 127, pp. 1-21.
Hopf, T. 2004, ‘Discourse and content analysis: some fundamental incompatibilities’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 31-3.
Hsieh, H.-F. & Shannon, S.E. 2005, ‘Three approaches to qualitative content analysis’, Qualitative Health Research, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 1277-88.
Hyvärinen, M. 2008, ‘Analyzing narratives and story-telling’, The SAGE handbook of social research methods, pp. 447-60.
Iorio, S.H. 2014, Qualitative research in journalism: taking it to the streets, Routledge. Jameson, F. 1985, ‘Postmodernism and consumer society’, Postmodern culture, pp.
111-25. Johnson-Cartee, K.S. 2004, News narratives and news framing: constructing political
reality, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Johnston, J. 2007, ‘Turning the inverted pyramid upside down: how Australian print
media is learning to love the narrative’, Asia Pacific Media Educator, vol. 1, no. 18, pp. 1-15.
Johnston, J. and Forde, S., 2011. The silent partner: News agencies and 21st century news. International Journal of Communication, 5, p.20.
Johnston, J. and Forde, S., 2017. Churnalism: Revised and revisited. Joseph, R.L. 2011, ‘“Hope is finally making a comeback”: First Lady reframed’,
Communication, Culture & Critique, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 56-77. Jufri, M.M. 2016, ‘Violations of international law by the Government of Australian in
practice of turn back the boat management policy for asylum seekers’, Indonesian J. Int'l L., vol. 14, p. 205.
Jupp, J. 1998, Immigration, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Jupp, J. 2007, From white Australia to Woomera: the story of Australian immigration,
2nd edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Kabir, N. 2007, ‘The Cronulla riot: how one newspaper represented the event’, Public
sociologies: Lessons and trans-Tasman comparisons. TASA/SAANZ Conference, Department of Sociology, The University of Auckland, pp. 4-7.
Kelly, P. 2001, 100 years: the Australian story, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW. Klocker, N. & Dunn, K.M. 2003, ‘Who’s driving the asylum debate? newspaper and
government representations of asylum seekers’, Media International Australia, vol. 109, pp. 71-92.
Koch, T. 1990, The news as myth: fact and context in journalism, Greenwood Publishing Group.
Kracauer, S. 1952, ‘The challenge of qualitative content analysis’, Public Opinion Quarterly, pp. 631-42.
Krippendorff, K. 2012, Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology, Sage.
234
Kumar Rajaram, P. 2003, ‘“Making Place”: The “Pacific Solution” and Australian emplacement in the Pacific and on refugee bodies’, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol. 24, no. 3.
Lack, J. & Templeton, J. 1995, Bold experiment: a documentary history of Australian immigration since 1945, Oxford University Press, USA.
Laffey, M. & Weldes, J. 2004, ‘Methodological reflections on discourse analysis’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 28-31.
Lamble, S. 2004, ‘Documenting the methodology of journalism’, Australian Journalism Review, vol. 26, no. 1, p. 85.
Laney, H.M., Lenette, C., Kellett, A.N., Smedley, C. & Karan, P. 2016, ‘“The most brutal immigration regime in the developed world”: international media responses to Australia’s asylum-seeker policy’, Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, vol. 32, no. 3.
Latta, J. 2009, ‘The river god as a necessary horizon: myths of origin as hegemonic influences in feature news journalism’, PhD Thesis, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
Lawson, S. 1983, The Archibald paradox: a strange case of authorship, A. Lane, Ringwood, Vic.
Lévi-Strauss, C. & Layton, M. 1963, Structural anthropology, vol. 1, Basic Books, New York.
Lewis, J. 1994, ‘The absence of narrative: boredom and the residual power of television news’, Journal of Narrative and Life History, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 25-40.
Lindlof, T.R. 2002, ‘Interpretive community: an approach to media and religion’, Journal of Media and Religion, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 61-74.
Lippi, K., McKay, F.H. & McKenzie, H.J. 2017, ‘Representations of refugees and asylum seekers during the 2013 federal election’, Journalism, doi.org/10.1177/1464884917734079
Loo, E. 1991, ‘Cultural approaches to journalism training’, Media Asia, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 20-3.
Loo, E. 1994, ‘Riding on platitudes and prejudice: media coverage of John Newman and Vietnamese’, Media Information Australia, vol. 74, no. 1, pp. 73-7.
Louw, P.E. & Loo, E. 1997, ‘Constructing Hansonism: astudy of Pauline Hanson’s persona in Australian press’, Asia Pacific Media Educator, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 2.
Lowe, W. 2004, ‘Content analysis and its place in the (methodological) scheme of things’, Qualitative Methods: Newsletter of the American Political Science Association Organized Section on Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 25-7.
Lucaites, J.L. & Condit, C.M. 1985, ‘Re‐constructing narrative theory: a functional perspective’, Journal of Communication, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 90-108.
Lueck, K., Due, C. & Augoustinos, M. 2015, ‘Neoliberalism and nationalism: representations of asylum seekers in the Australian mainstream news media’, Discourse & Society, 26(5), pp. 608-629.
Lule, J. 2002, ‘Daily news, eternal stories: the mythological role of journalism’, New York: Guilford Publications.
Lyotard, J. F. 1984, The postmodern condition: a report on knowledge (Vol. 10). University of Minnesota Press.
Macdonald, M. 2007, ‘Television debate, interactivity and public opinion: the case of the BBC's Asylum Day, Media, Culture & Society, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 679-89.
Macken-Horarik, M. 2003, ‘Working the borders in racist discourse: the challenge of the 'Children Overboard Affair' in news media texts’, Social Semiotics, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 283-303.
235
Maclellan, N. 2002, ‘The Pacific “non-solution”’, Pacific Journalism Review, vol. 8, p. 145.
Macnamara, J.R. 2005, ‘Media content analysis: its uses, benefits and best practice methodology’, Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, vol. 6, no.1.
Manne, R. 2011, Bad news: Murdoch’s Australian and the shaping of the nation, Black Inc., Melbourne.
Manning, P. 2003, ‘Arabic and Muslim people in Sydney's daily newspapers, before and after September 11’, Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy, Vol 109, no.1, pp. 50-70.
Manning, P. 2006, Us and them, Random House Australia, Milsons Point, N.S.W. Marcus, G.E., Neuman, W.R. and MacKuen, M., 2000. Affective intelligence and
political judgment. University of Chicago Press. Mares, P. 2002a, Borderline: Australia's response to refugees and asylum seekers in the
wake of the Tampa, 2nd edn, UNSW Press, Sydney. Mares, P. 2002b, ‘Reporting Australia’s asylum seeker “crisis”’, Media Asia, Vol. 29,
no.2, pp. 71-76. Marjoribanks, T. & Muller, D. 2014, The AuSud Media Project, Final Report,
University of Melbourne. Marr, D. 2013, Panic. Black Inc. Marr, D. & Wilkinson, M. 2005, Dark victory, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin. Marsh, E.E. & White, M.D. 2006, ‘Content analysis: a flexible methodology’, Library
trends, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 22-45. Matthews, J. & Brown, A.R. 2012, ‘Negatively shaping the asylum agenda? the
representational strategy and impact of a tabloid news campaign’, Journalism, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 802-17.
Mayring, P. 2014, Qualitative content analysis: theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution, Klagenfurt, Austria, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/39517/ssoar-2014-mayring-Qualitative_content_analysis_theoretical_foundation.pdf
McAuley, P. 2010, The quiet war, Hachette, UK. McCallam, K. & Posetti, J. 2008, ‘Researching journalism and diversity Australia:
history and policy’. In F. Papandrea & M. Armstrong (Eds.), Communications policy & research forum, Network Insight, Sydney, pp. 109-129
McCombs, M. 2018, Setting the agenda: mass media and public opinion, John Wiley & Sons.
McGoldrick, A. & Lynch, J. 2014, ‘Changing the story on asylum seekers: Positive Peace Journalism images can influence the way audiences think and feel’, Global Media and Communication, vol. 11, no. 3.
McGowan, B., 2004. Reconsidering race: The chinese experience on the goldfields of southern New South Wales. Australian Historical Studies, 36(124), pp.312-331.
McKay, F.H., Hall, L. & Lippi, K. 2017, ‘Compassionate deterrence: a Howard Government legacy’, Politics & Policy, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 169-93.
McKay, F.H., Thomas, S.L. & Kneebone, S. 2012, ‘“It would be okay if they came through the proper channels”: community perceptions and attitudes toward asylum seekers in Australia’, Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 113-33.
McKay, F.H., Thomas, S.L. & Warwick Blood, R. 2011, ‘“Any one of these boat people could be a terrorist for all we know!” Media representations and public perceptions of “boat people” arrivals in Australia', Journalism, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 607-26.
236
McNair, B. 1998, The sociology of journalism, Oxford University Press. McNevin, A. 2011, Contesting citizenship: irregular migrants and new frontiers of the
political, Columbia University Press, New York. Moore, K. 2013, ‘“Asylum shopping” in the neoliberal social imaginary’, Media,
Culture & Society, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 348-65. Monash University, 2019, Australian Border Deaths Database, Australia, viewed 3
March 2019, https://arts.monash.edu/border-crossing-observatory/research-agenda/australian-border-deaths-database
Multicultural Australia, Brief History of SBS, viewed 06/03/2019, http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/sbs_3.pdf
Nash, C. 2018, 'Field Theory, Space and Time', Bourdieu’s Field Theory and the Social Sciences, Springer, pp. 217-33.
Neel, J.P. 1988, Plato, Derrida, and writing, SIU Press, Carbondale. Neuendorf, K.A. 2004, ‘Content analysis: a contrast and complement to discourse
analysis’, Qualitative Methods, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 33-5. Neuendorf, K.A. 2016, The content analysis guidebook, Sage. Northern Pictures 2012, Once upon a time in Cabramatta, viewed 22 February 2019,
https://northernpictures.com.au/ouat-cabramatta/ O’Brien, N. 2012, ‘Methodology for the investigation: what do we know about the
SIEV boat that disappeared on its way to Australia on October 3, 2009?’, Journalism Major Project, University of Technology, Sydney.
O’Doherty, K. & Lecouteur, A. 2007, ‘“Asylum seekers”, “boat people” and “illegal immigrants”: social categorisation in the media’, Australian Journal of Psychology, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 1-12.
O’Sullivan, T., Hartley, J., Saunders, D., Montgomery, M. & Fiske, J. 1994, Key concepts in communication and cultural studies, Routledge, London.
Pan, Z. & Kosicki, G.M. 1993, ‘Framing analysis: an approach to news discourse’, Political Communication, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 55-75.
Papandrea, F. and Tiffen, R., 2016. Media ownership and concentration in Australia. In Who Owns the World's Media?: Media Concentration and Ownership around the World. Oxford University Press.
Parliament of Australia 2003, Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: an annotated chronology based on official sources, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Publications_Archive/online/Refugeescontents
Parliament of Australia 2013, Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2012-2013/BoatArrivals
Parliament of Australia 2016, Media ownership and regulation: a chronology, viewed 8 November 2019, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/Media_ownership
Parsons, E.W.C. 1914, Fear and conventionality. GP Putnam’s Sons, page xxxvii Pearson, M., Brand, J.E., Archbold, D. & Rane, H. 2001, ‘Sources of news and current
affairs’, Humanities & Social Sciences Papers, p. 96. Phillips, D. 2006, ‘The asphyxia of the image: terror, surveillance and the Children
Overboard Affair’, Arena Journal, Vol. 27, no. 81. Philo, G., Briant, E. & Donald, P. 2013, Bad news for refugees, Pluto.
237
Philpott, S. 2002, ‘Protecting the borderline and minding the bottom line: asylum seekers and politics in contemporary Australia’, Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees, vol. 20, no. 4.
Pickering, S. 2001, ‘Common sense and original deviancy: news discourses and asylum seekers in Australia’, Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 169-86.
Plowman, P. 2006, Australian migrant ships 1946 – 1977, Chiswick Publications, NSW.
Portin, M. 2015, ‘“I have something to tell the world”: a comparative discourse analysis of representations of refugees and asylum seekers in print media and texts written by refugees and asylum seekers themselves, within the frames of creative writing workshops’, Masters Thesis, Malmo University, Sweden.
Potter, J. & Wetherell, M. 2001, ‘Unfolding discourse analysis’, Discourse theory and practice: a reader, Sage, pp. 198-209.
Priest, H., Roberts, P. & Woods, L. 2002, An overview of three different approaches to the interpretation of qualitative data. Part 1: Theoretical issues, Nurse Researcher, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 30-42.
Prince, G. 1982, Narratology: the form and functioning of narrative, vol. 108, Walter de Gruyter.
Propp, V. 1968, Morphology of the folktale, trans. Louis Wagner, 2nd. ed. (1928). Rai, M. 2008, ‘Navigating the national and global: media representation of refugees
(IELHSS)’, Communication, Politics & Culture, vol. 41, no. 2. Refugee Council 2017, Refugees without refuge, viewed 22 February 23, 2019,
https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/assets/0004/1432/Refugees_without_refuge_Sept_2017.pdf.
Richards, E. 2008, Destination Australia: migration to Australia since 1901, UNSW Press.
Richardson, J.E. & Stanyer, J. 2011, ‘Reader opinion in the digital age: tabloid and broadsheet newspaper websites and the exercise of political voice’, Journalism, vol. 12, no. 8, pp. 983-1003.
Riessman, C.K. 2008, Narrative methods for the human sciences, Sage. Rimmon-Kenan, S. 2006, Concepts of narrative, University of Helsinki. Roberts, P., Priest, H. & Traynor, M. 2006, ‘Reliability and validity in research’,
Nursing Standard, vol. 20, no. 44, pp. 41-5. Romano, A.R. 2005, ‘Refugees, radio journalism, and communications for social
change’, in Transformations: culture and the environment in human development, Australian National University, Canberra, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/9253/
Romano, A.R. 2007, ‘Missing the boat?’ in Reporting on asylum seekers and refugees, A Walkley Media Forum 2007, Regatta Hotel, Brisbane, Australia, 19 June 2007, https://eprints.qut.edu.au/14110/
Rosen, J. 2003, ‘PressThink Basics: The master narrative in journalism’, Jay Rosen’s blog, viewed 22 February 2019, http://archive.pressthink.org/2003/09/08/basics_master.html.
Roy Morgan Research 2018, Australian newspaper readership, viewed 06 March 2019, http://www.roymorgan.com/industries/media/readership/newspaper-readership
Rutland, S.D. & Encel, S. 2009, ‘Three "Rich Uncles in America": the Australian immigration project and American Jewry’, American Jewish History, vol. 95, no. 1, pp. 79-115.
Ryan, M.-L. & Thon, J.-N. 2014, Story worlds across media, University of Nebraska Press.
238
Ryan, M.-L. 2004, Narrative across media: the languages of storytelling, University of Nebraska Press.
Ryan, M.-L. 2007, ‘Toward a definition of narrative’, The Cambridge companion to narrative, pp. 22-35.
Saxton, A. 2003, ‘“I certainly don't want people like that here”: the discursive construction of'asylum seekers’, Media International Australia incorporating culture and policy, Vol. 109, no.1, pp. 109-120.
Saxton, A. 2006, ‘“Racism ain't got nothing to do with it”: advocating exclusion or inclusion of asylum seekers in “Letters to the Editor”’, Critical Psychology: International Journal of Critical Psychology, no. 18, pp. 34-55.
Schudson, M. 1995, ‘How news becomes news’, Forbes Media Critic, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 76-85.
Schudson, M. 2008, Why democracies need an unlovable press, Polity, Cambridge. Schultz, R. 2005, The agenda setting function of mass media, Tampa, John Howard,
print media and public opinion: how it all came together in Melbourne, Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection.
Schuster, L. 2003, ‘Common sense or racism? The treatment of asylum-seekers in Europe’, Patterns of Prejudice, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 233-56.
Schwarz, A. 2006, ‘The theory of newsworthiness applied to Mexico's press. how the news factors influence foreign news coverage in a transitional country’, Communications, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 45-64.
Scott, M. 2014, ‘More news is bad news’, in Popular representations of development: insights from novels, films, television and social media, Routledge, London, pp. 73-91.
Senate Select Committee 2001, Certain Maritime Incident Secretariat, Parliament House, viewed 03 March 2019, https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj3s4K6_tTgAhWj1VkKHQSkBFYQFjABegQIBBAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aph.gov.au%2F~%2Fmedia%2Fwopapub%2Fsenate%2Fcommittee%2Fmaritime_incident_ctte%2Freport%2Freport_pdf.ashx&usg=AOvVaw0bs7So8kD4TX4dK2TXFgk8
Serdechnaya, V.V. 2012, Narratology as a narrative philosophy. Контекст и рефлексия: философия о мире и человеке (4), pp.18-42.
Silverman, S.J. & Nethery, A. 2015, ‘Introduction: understanding immigration detention and its human impat’, in Immigration detention, Routledge, p. 12.
Slattery, K. 2003, ‘Drowning not waving: The “Children Overboard” event and Australia's fear of the other’, Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy, vol. 109, no. 1, pp. 93-108.
Slobin, D.I., 2005. Linguistic representations of motion events: What is signifier and what is signified. Outside-in, inside-out: iconicity in language and literature 4, pp. 307-322.
Smit, J.H. 2010, ‘Malcolm Fraser’s response to “commercial” refugee voyages’, Journal of International Relations, vol. 8, no. 2.
Smith, D. 2014, ‘Immigration in UK newspapers during general election campaigns, 1918–2010’, doctoral dissertation.
Sonn, C.C., Ivey, G., Baker, A. & Meyer, K.J.Q.P. 2017, ‘Post-apartheid South African immigrants in Australia: negotiating displacement, identity, and belonging’, Qualitative Psychology vol. 4, no. 1, p. 41.
239
Sørenes, I. 2010, ‘Conflicting countries – conflicting perspectives? a comparative analysis of the Tampa crisis in Australian and Norwegian media’, Masters Thesis, University of Oslo.
Special Broadcasting Service 2012, Once upon a time in Cabramatta, viewed 22 February 2019, https://northernpictures.com.au/ouat-cabramatta/
Sydney Morning Herald, 2008, ‘Flight from Nauru ends Pacific Solution’, The Sydney Morning Herald (National), 08 February 2008.
Tanikawa, M. 2017, ‘What is news? What is the newspaper? The physical, functional, and stylistic transformation of print newspapers, 1988–2013’, International Journal of Communication, vol. 11, no. 22.
The Australian, 2001, ‘PM flips race card to woo migrants – ELECTION 2001: 3 DAYS TO GO’, Sydney, 08 November 2001.
The Guardian 2015, ‘Journalists reporting on asylum seekers referred to Australian police’, viewed 06/03/2019, https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jan/22/journalists-reporting-on-asylum-seekers-referred-to-australian-police
The Monthly 2005, ‘Murdoch's war’, viewed 22 February 2019, https://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-robert-manne-murdochs-war-how-lovestruck-teenager-angry-man-and-ambitious-baron-made-
The Telegraph, 2015, ‘Mediterranean migrant death toll “30 times higher than last year”: as it happened’, UK, viewed 06/03/2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11548995/Mediterranean-migrant-crisis-hits-Italy-as-EU-ministers-meet-live.html
Tilbury, F. 2004, ‘They’re intelligent and very placid people and it’s unavoidable that they become your friends: media reporting of “supportive” talk regarding asylum seekers’, Revisioning Institutions: Change in the 21st Century TASA 2004 Conference Refereed Proceedings.
Todorov, T. & Weinstein, A. 1969, ‘Structural analysis of narrative’, NOVEL: A forum on fiction, vol. 3, pp. 70-6.
Tuchman, G. 1976, 'Telling stories', Journal of Communication, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 93-7. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 2014, Figures at a glance, viewed 22
February 2019, https://www.unhcr.org/uk/figures-at-a-glance.html?query=Figures%20at%20a%20Glance
Van Dalen, A. & Van Aelst, P. 2014, ‘The media as political agenda-setters: journalists’ perceptions of media power in eight west European countries’, West European Politics, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 42-64.
Van Dijk, T.A. 1988, News as discourse, L. Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ. Van Dijk, T.A. 1991, Racism and the press, Routledge, London. Van Dijk, T.A. 1995, ‘Opinions and ideologies in editorials’, 4th International
Symposium of Critical Discourse Analysis, Language, Social Life and Critical Thought, Athens, pp. 14-6.
Van Dijk, T.A. 1999, Discourse and society, Sage. Viviani, N. 1980, The Vietnamese in Australia: new problems in old forms, Griffith
University, School of Modern Asian Studies, Centre for the Study of Australian-Asian Relations, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland.
Viviani, N. 1996, The Indochinese in Australia, 1975-1995: from burnt boats to barbecues, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Wahl-Jorgensen, K. & Hanitzsch, T. 2009, The handbook of journalism studies, Routledge.
240
Waterhouse, R. 2000, ‘Australian legends: representations of the Bush, 1813–1913’, Australian Historical Studies, vol. 31, no. 115, pp. 201-21.
Waxman, P. 1998, ‘Service provision and the needs of newly arrived refugees in Sydney, Australia: a descriptive analysis’, The International Migration Review, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 761-77.
Weaver, D.H. & Willnat, L. 2012, The global journalist in the 21st century, Routledge. Weber, R. 1989, Basic content analysis, Sage Publications, California. Wells, K. 2011, Narrative inquiry, Pocket Guides to Social Work R. White, D. 1991, ‘The politics of exclusion’, Arena, vol. 97. White, P. 2005, ‘Narrative impulse in mass-media “hard news” reporting’, Genre and
institutions: social processes in the workplace and school, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, pp. 101-23.
Whitlam, G., Fraser, M., Hawke, B., Howard, J., Rudd, K. & Henderson, G. 2013, ‘The asylum seeker debate and the historical confusion of David Marr and Julian Burnside’. The Sydney Institute Quarterly, no. 42, pp. 21-27.
Wilkes, G.A. 1985, A dictionary of Australian colloquialisms, Sydney University Press. Willis, J. 2010, The mind of a journalist: how reporters view themselves, their world,
and their craft, Sage, Los Angeles. Windle, J. 2008, ‘The racialization of African youth in Australia’, Social Identities, vol.
14, no. 5, pp. 553-66. Windschuttle, K. 2004, The White Australia policy, Macleay Press, Paddington, N.S.W. Wright, B.D. 2014, ‘Asylum seekers and Australian politics, 1996-2007’, PhD thesis,
The University of Adelaide, South Australia. Wright, T. 2004, ‘Collateral coverage: media images of Afghan refugees, 2001’, Visual
Studies, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 97-112.
241
List of Appendices
Appendix A: List of sample articles
Appendix B: Codebook for the content analysis of Australian press report on the IRAS
boat arrivals in The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, and The Sydney Morning
Herald
Appendix C: Actors/Objects/ Direct Quoted Source
Appendix D: Main Theme Categories
Appendix E: Word Frequency Results
Appendix F: Orientation of the Press
Appendix G: Thematic Analysis and Results
Appendix H: Analysis of main actor quotes and attitudes
242
Appendix A: List of sample articles
The Sydney Morning Herald 1977
243
244
The Australian 1977
245
The Daily Telegraph 1977
246
The Sydney Morning Herald 2001
247
248
249
250
The Australian 2001
251
252
253
254
255
The Daily Telegraph 2001
256
257
The Sydney Morning Herald 2013
258
259
The Australian 2013
260
261
262
The Daily Telegraph 2013
263
Appendix B: Codebook for the content analysis of Australian press on the IRAS
boat arrivals on The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning
Herald
VAR COLS VARIABLE
I. Selecting of articles to be coded
Articles that must not be coded are:
- Cartoons
- Letters to editor
- Op/Ep pieces
- Exhibition
- TV program schedule
- Weather
- Book Review
- Duplicate articles (articles which generated more than once in different search
category)
II. Descriptive variables (Level 1)
V1 1-2-3 Coder ID Number (CC)
V2 4 Newspaper (CC) SMH: 01/ The Australian: 02/ DT: 03
Each newspaper has been assigned a two-digit code.
V3 5 Year (CC) 1977: 01/ 2001: 02/ 2013: 03
V4 6-7 Month (CC)
1977: Nov: 01, Dec: 02
2001: Oct: 03, Nov: 04
2013: Aug: 05, Sep: 06
Month article appears; use a two-digit numeric code.
V5 8-9 Day (CC)
Day article appears in paper; use a two-digit numeric code
V6 10-11 Sequence Number
Number the stories sequentially for each daily issue of the paper.
For example, the first article you code for the October 1st issue of a paper should
be coded 1 for sequence number, the second article in the same issue is at 2, and so forth.
For each new day or new paper, restart the sequence at 1.
264
V7 12 Section
This is the location of the article within the newspaper. The general news section
is the "main" or A section of the paper. The rest of these options are specific sections
within the paper that have a distinct heading at the top of the page or heading for a set of
stories; national news, election/campaign news, and editorial sections should be
specifically labelled.
1. General News
2. National News Heading
3. Election/Campaign Heading
4. Editorial
5. International News Heading
V8 13-14 Page number (CC)
Page number that the article appears on. For example, if it is M13, code 13.
V9 15-16-17 Size of article (by words)
V10 18 Article Type
This variable captures the nature of the article being coded. Editorials, columns, and
letters to the editor are usually labelled as such. A news article covers an event that has
occurred within the past 48 hours and, although it may contain background/historical
material or political analysis, the basis of the article is the news event. News analysis is
an article that describes or analyses the campaign or candidates, but is not linked to a
specific event; for instance, a review of the candidate’s policies, a discussion of campaign
strategy, and so forth.
1. Local News article (events from the last 48 hours)
2. National News article (events from the last 48 hours)
3. International News article
4. News Analysis/ Feature article (Evaluation/historical material)
5. Editorial (official paper statement)
6. Column/opinion
7. Interview
V11 19 Source (C)
This is the primary source of the article as it appears in the paper. Usually the source is
determined by the byline at the start of the article, e.g. "By Ross Gittins, Economics
Writer." You may also find attribution of sources at the end of an article, e.g., "AAP."
1. Staff writer of the paper/paper's own sources
265
2. Unattributable source/source unclear
3. Government/ party source
4. Mixed local/wire service
5. Other news service
6. Other specific newspaper or media agent
7. Organisation/Interest group/ Poll service source
III. Variables analysing the primary and secondary frames (levels 2 and 3)
V12 20-21 Occasion for Report (CC)
This variable measures the stimulus of the action or events of the article, that is, the
occasion that created the article. For example, if a committee issues a report that is critical
of Fraser's refugee policy, then code 1. If Whitlam cites the same report in a press
conference the next day, then code 7. If the article is not a news report, then there often
is "no identifiable setting," such as an analytic article on the candidates' programs.
0. No identifiable setting
Political Settings
1. Legislative actions
2. Government/Bureaucratic action
3. Party meeting
4. Interest group meeting
5. International event
6. Other political actions
Campaign-initiated
7. Press conference/direct candidate statements to press
8. Press releases from campaign
9. Campaign event, rally, photo op, etc.
10. Other campaign actions
Media-initiated
11. Interviews
12. Journalist report/evaluation; news analysis
13. Media sponsored public opinion poll
14. Other media actions
19. Other causes or occasions
V13 22 Campaign Visibility (C)
Is the campaign explicitly mentioned in article? For instance, an article about a campaign
266
event, a discussion of the candidate's standings in the election, or campaign strategy
would qualify as campaign stories. On the other side, a biography on Abbott's refugee
ancestor, or Rudd's actions as Prime Minister (signing bills, meeting with Immigration
Minister, etc.) are not campaign stories -- unless they explicitly link these events to the
campaign.
1. Yes
2. No
V14 23-24 Main Theme of Article (CC)
The main topic is the theme that is given greatest coverage in the article. Coverage is
judged by the amount of space given to each theme, the ordering of the presentation, and
the visibility of themes in the headline. If these criteria do not lead to a clear definition of
main theme, select the topic that is cited more clearly in the headline. Once you have
identified the main theme, use the list of codes in Appendix D to code this variable.
V15 25- 26 Main Actor in Article (CC) The main actor is the figure who is given
greatest coverage in the article. Coverage is judged by the amount of space given to each
actor, the ordering of the presentation, and the visibility of actors in the headline. If these
criteria do not lead to a clear definition of main actor, select actor who is cited more
clearly in the headline. See Appendix C for codes
V16 27 Evaluation of Main Actor's Action (CC)
This is a judgement of the action(s) taken by the main actor. First judge whether the actor
is taking a critical or affirmative action; then code the intensity of this action. Not all
stories have actors who are taking actions with an evaluative dimension; thus there are
separate codes for balanced and neutral stories. Use code 2 for critical stories if the
intensity is unclear (this is the "default" value) as is code 6 for affirmative actions. Use
the other critical/affirmative codes if the intensity of the article is clearly evident, such a
"strong" commendation, or "modest" support.
0. No Actor mentioned
1. Extremely critical
2. Critical
3. Slightly critical
4. Balanced (equal positive/negative)
5. Slightly affirmative
6. Affirmative
7. Extremely affirmative
267
8. No evaluative content
V17 28 Reporter's Tone
Were there identifiable comments by the reporter that reinforced (or reflected positively
on) the candidate's actions, deflated the message of the candidate (negative comments or
diminishing comments), or is the reporter making simple descriptive comments or
straight comments with no evaluation?
0. Not applicable
1. Reinforcing comments
2. Mixed
3. Deflating comments
4. Straight description
8. Can't determine
V18 29-30 Main Object
This variable assesses who is the object of the action described in the article. Think of
this in terms of sentence structure; if the article has a direct object, then code the object
here. See Appendix C for codes.
V19 31 Direct quote
This variable assesses whether direct quotes appeared in the article.
1. Yes
2. No
V20 32-33 First direct quotation. See appendix C for codes.
268
Appendix C: Actors/Objects/ Direct Quoted Source
00 None Candidates/ Politicians/ Campaign/ Election 10 PM Malcolm Fraser 11 Gough Whitlam 12 PM John Howard 13 Kim Beazley 14 PM Kevin Rudd 15 Tony Abbott 16 Other parties’ leaders (Democracy/Green/ Palmer United/…) 17 Government’s candidates 18 Oppositional party’s candidates 19 Other candidates (independent candidates, white/ Asian candidates, racist candidates, troubled candidates of party) Government Agencies/Institutions
20 Federal Government (Treasurers/ Attorney-generals/ Defence Ministers/ Foreign Ministers…) 21 Un-named official source 22 House of Representatives- committee; official (MPs, government staff) 23 Senate- committee; official (staff) 24 High Court/ Supreme Court/ Justice/ Prosecutor/ Tribunal 25 Immigration Minister/ Immigration Department/ Immigration Official 26 Security Protection Forces (Federal Police/ Police Officers/ Navy/ Military group/ Forces/ Inspector/ Defence Director) 27 State governments 28 Local governments
29 Other government actors (MPs’ spokeman/woman, First lady, politicians’ relatives, party figures) Non-Government Figures
30 National figure (non-partisan; e.g. actor/celebrity) 31 State level figure 32 Local level figure 33 Non-Australian figure/ International figures 34 Ex-government official 35 Political Experts 36 Non political experts 37 Lobbyist/ Campaign related actors/ strategists 38 Regional figures (Indonesian figures/ PNG/ Pacific Islands…)
39 Other political figures Interest Groups (These codes are used when the actor is the interest group per se, or a group of individuals clearly acting/speaking on behalf of a group).
269
40 Business or professional group (nurses/ teachers…) 41 Labor unions/ workers 42 Church/religious group 43 Humanities group/ NGO/ UN/ international aid groups 44 Lawyers/ Law companies/ barista/ solicitor 45 Ethnic community
49 Other interest group Other Quoted Actors and Objects
50 Refugees/ Boat People/ Asylum Seekers/ former refugees 51 Journalist (editor/ media figure/columnist) 52 Media in general/ newspaper source 53 Public/voters in general/ residents 54 Specific voter bloc (e.g. young voters, women, elderly, junior students…) 55 Participants at an incident/ rally/campaign event (witness/ supporters or
attendees) 56 Pollster/ Poll surveyors 57 People smuggler/ criminal in general
59 Other actors
270
Appendix D: Main Theme Categories
Categories are organized by topic area. Assign the most appropriate code within the appropriate general category. The "other" code should be used infrequently, only when a subject fits the general area but not a specific code within the area. Choose only one per main topic variable.
IRAS in 1977
IRAS as threat
10 Health threat/ undetected IRAS/ quarantine 11 Economy threat/ cost of humanitarian aid/ lack of fund to spend on patrol boat 12 Foreign relation threat/ Viet government in exile/ Relations with Hanoi 13 Number threat/ flood of boats/ Viet Armada 14 Security threat/ not genuine humanitarian refugees/ pirates / reckless/ illegal/
without authority/ rich refugees 15 Election threat/ influx brings difficulty to election 16 Community threat/ Protest against IRAS/ community complaints IRAS bad
behavior
19 Other threat themes
IRAS welcome
20 Sympathy aid program/ Humanitarian refugee/ interview refuge face to face/ granted visa
21 Sympathy conflict/ Against communism 22 Sympathy request/ Religious groups asking for higher intake/ Christine assist
IRAS 23 Sympathy facts/ How refugee fled poor and war/ bad condition in IRAS home
country 24 Sympathy deal/ Defence IRAS from deportation to their home country 25 Sympathy ideology/ support IRAS, migration and multiculturalism
29 Other sympathy themes
IRAS policy/ election debate
30 Government moves to reduce boats/ do not accept IRAS come this way 31 Working with other countries about IRAS issue (Vietnam/ South Africa/ US/
Singapore/ Malaysia/ Thai) 32 Increasing patrol boat and aircraft/ coastal surveillance/ firm line on sea
271
33 Lack of worthy IRAS policy to deal with boat problem/ Government slow action 34 Candidates use boats in debate as political game/ campaign conducted against
IRAS 35 Government candidates ignore boat issue/ do not allow IRAS as election issue 36 Oppositional Labor candidates focus boat issue/ stress on IRAS as election issue 37 Government expand intake and support to reduce boats come in dangerous way 38 Bipartisan in IRAS policy/ Oppositional party changing mind/ follow government 39 Other election or campaign themes
IRAS in 2001
IRAS as threat
40 International relations threat/ Australia isolated image on the world and region for Pacific Solution banning refugee policy/ export problem to poor countries (UN/ APEC/ Indonesia/ Pakistan/ Fiji/
41 Criminal threat/ IRAS linked with people smugglers/ IRAS fight, protest or escape detention center/ rich refugee pay for smuggler/ IRAS hijack boat from people smugglers/ hijack boat landed/ take control boat/ IRAS fire boats, cut fuel line, damage the engine when meet Navy coastal guard/
42 Humanitarian aid threat/ jump the queue/ not genuine lying refugee/ IM granted visa unfairly/ illegal, desperate and reckless male take onboard/
43 National security threat/ Middle Eastern terrorists may come to Aust within IRAS boats/ IRAS linked with terrors
44 Number threat/ boatload kept coming/ flow of boats/ Influx others are still venturesome regardless of tragedy/ reckless IRAS
45 Election threat for Government/ child over board scandal/ witness said child overboard claim never happen/ government shame of lie/ Navy conflict Government/ Reith mistake may loose Lib/ Labor may win/ Green and other parties boost votes/ government try to ignore scandal
46 Economic threat/ cost too much/ neglect funding for education spend on border protection/ PM neglect disadvantage deficit budget to favor IRAS debate
47 Assimilation threat/ young IRAS face English difficulty at year 12/ town attack doctor/
48 49 Other threat themes IRAS as sad story/ tragedy on sea (not sympathy/ drama tell/ just for câu khách)
50 Boatload sunk at sea/ high number drown/ too many IRAS on bad condition boats 51 IRAS sad story of dangerous journey on sea/ separate family/ dream broken/
witness tell Titanic style story 52 IRAS accusation of UNHCR for slow processing and smugglers who took them
on dangerous trip 53 Desperate IRAS had no choice/ IRAS bad life in home countries/ camps full of
desperate 54 Vulnerable IRAS/ Indonesian police force IRAS kept sailing at gun point/ guard
bash IRAS in detention center/
272
55 Information control/ Navy block sailors send images or emails about boats and IRAS/ accuse Navy doctor breach the rule
56 Legal aid fail for refugee: tribunal refuse/ family deportation 59 Other tragedy story themes
IRAS policy as an issue/ election debate
60 Government insist IRAS as push factor/ election front line security issue/ strong stance against IRAS (stress on boat crisis as domestic security issue not international immigration/ 175 millions for Navy patrols to stop illegals/ launching border protection policy/ link IRAS with war and terrorism/ follow US and UK/ temporary visa restriction
61 Labor desperately direct voters to life issues/ Labor core values/ and unstable on poll survey with weak IRAS policy (to replace Navy by coast guard/ weak and divided in IRAS policy/ cannot work with Indo/ blame PM for death at sea but fail/
62 Legalisation of Pacific Solution/ Tampa legal case/ PM don’t accept IRAS processed on Australia soil/ mandatory detention unchanged/ Aust pick 40 over 1500/ Kiribati take 500/ PM take genuine refugee survivor to Manus/ Tampa court waste of money/ create south pacific refugee colonies
63 Failure of policy/ ineffective offshore plan/ full in detention centers/ dissident MP protest/ trouble candidates/ community accusation/ imitating policy/ injustice policy: im granted visa for libs relative/ policy break law/ no solution for boat crisis/ voter have mix reaction
64 Bipartisan in IRAS policy/ Oppositional party change mind of using Navy/ follow government/ Child overboard scandal/ labor may win but too cautious/ silence in child overboard scandal/ labor is more efficient but common ground
65 Sound and safe policy/ Poll confirm IRAS as an issue/ 2/3 election hot issues linked to IRAS and 73% support turn back boats/ PM and Liberals win/ PM is right man/ biggest audience attend/ rural more concern than metropolitan/
66 Candidates use boats in debate as political game/ campaign conducted against IRAS / Conservatism, xenophobia and racism dominated election/ National party choose white candidates
67 Government focus on source of problem: people smugglers/ investigation/ arrest suspects
68 Clash of ideology: Leftist vs rationalist/ extremist in IRAS debate/ liberalism anti boats vs support multiculturalism/ anti muslim vs pro muslim/ elitist vs ordinary
69 Other election or campaign themes
IRAS as sympathy
70 Sympathy protests/ anti-racism protest against tough offshore policy/ advocates rally/ artists protest
71 Sympathy facts/ Breaking myths of asylum seekers/ asylum seekers are genuine refugees not opportunities/ inhuman policy/ voter fade support PM
72 Sympathy projects/ architects design refugee house/ music therapy center / film on a life of refugee
73 Sympathy witnesses/ IRAS treated like animal/ doctor condemn/ Foxtel history channel new program/ former figure anger/ respectful refugee obit
273
74 Sympathy thought/ IRAS can benefit Australia/ ethical question to leaders/ PM not a statesman/ compare to Vietnam time/
75 Sympathy policy/ Green offer multi party mission to Pakistan and Indonesia/ unity party
79 Other sympathy themes
IRAS in 2013
Legal aspect of IRAS/ PNG Plan/ TVP Tony (offshore processing/ Pacific Solution 2)
80 Legalisation of IRAS plan/ lawyer challenge PM/ PM accept challenge/ unconstitutional policy/ high court hearing/ high court battle/ Right agenda on human right sector/ Attorney General claim
81 Criminal case/ civil case of IRAS/ court hearing Rajini case/ court charge for people smugglers/ ill toddle/
82 Temporary Protection Visa 83 Tony’s cut legal advise/ cut free legal advise for IRAS 84 Legal position of abolish refugees’ right of judicial review/ Scott disagree/ 85 Police cannot arrest riots in detention center for lacking of legal act/ Tony
promise to ger police more power in detention 89 Other legal themes
IRAS as solution/ election debate
90 Lib imitating policy/ IRAS as fighting point of Oppositional Coalition/ stress on IRAS as election issue/ Turn back boat/ stop the boat/ Howard style IRAS policy/ adopted policy/ Tony refuse ASIO/ cut funding on aid organisations/
91 Weak and soft Government PNG policy/ IRAS as Government weak point/ Labor candidates ignore boat issue/ do not allow IRAS as election issue/ 3000 boat people came after PNG plan/ bring IRAS onshore for process/ IM bring ill toddle to shore against court order
92 Rudd lonely campaign / Labor leadership dispute/ desperate Government/ imitate Libs policy/ retired labor leader accuse/
93 Foreign relations linked with IRAS/ summit not successful/ regional solution fail/ Sri lanka/ Julie Bishop/
94 Defence linked with IRAS/ toll company/ Australian role in Syria/ Aust force to join military in Syria/ operation sovereign borders
95 Voters main concern on IRAS and support Coalition tough IRAS policy/ against
IRAS/ Tony confident easy victory/ stop boat company in Indo/ 96 Candidates use boats in debate as political game/ campaign conducted against
IRAS / Conservatism, xenophobia and racism dominated election/ IRAS as reason
274
of traffic jam/ Green rely on IRAS policy to push vote/ Libs IRAS plan was push factor not effective/ Scott fail in IRAS policy details/ Pauline join/ death of an asylum seeker stab by his mate/
97 PNG plan is cruel/ Malcolm Turnbul/ children in offshore detention/ plan awful but necessary/ fraud deal with PNG/ deny access to visit hang boy in hospital
98 Right vs Left perspective in politic/ Leftist pollies accuse both parties’ IRAS policy/ Leftist twitters/ Green left wing on issues/
99 Other election campaign themes
IRAS as threat
100 Number threat/ 5 missing at boat sunk/ navy rescue 40th boat sunk/ start journey more to come/ full detention center in Manus 101 Criminal threat/ gun crime in NSW/ people smugglers arrested/ smuggler test PNG plan/ grant visa for sexual criminal IRAS/ sexual assault / refugee stab to death/ refugee killer/ biggest people smuggler operation/ 102 Relation threat/ Indo accuse Tony’s buy back plan/ PNG accuse Gov break the words/ Manus islanders angry/ contract in PNG plan/ Torres Strait Islands/ arrest 5 more smugglers/ Manus MP/ 103 Economic threat/ increase fund for PNG plan/ pump money for air transfer IRAS to islands/ studio public house is poor condition/ Gov undetailed budget plan/ Palmer blame Gov spending/ Tony confusing spend on Stop the boat/ 1 billion to reduce to 600 IRAS per year 104 Security threat/ 5 escape from detention center/ suicide attempt/ hunger strike/ 105 106 107 108 109 Other threat themes
IRAS as sympathy
110 Sympathy project/ Religious groups assist IRAS/ women refugee artists 111 Sympathy protest/ advocates against IRAS plans/ anti racism graffiti/ advocates accuse Scott/ 112 Sympathy thought/ Jesuits alumni/ Rudd ancestor/ queue is not exist/ 113 Sympathy witness/ winner of human right award / girl brain/ family IRAS house 114 Sympathy policy/ Green find safe pathways for refugee/ Palmer party/ Senator warn to against most Libs policy/ 119 Other sympathy themes
Other themes
120 Other domestic themes 121 Other international refugee issues 122 Other international themes
275
Appendix E: Word Frequency Result
Word frequency 1977
The Sydney Morning Herald
19,030 words 836 sentences
The Australian 17,221 words 598 sentences
The Daily Telegraph 4,206 words 179 sentences
Word
Frequency
refugee 243 boat 145 said 138 mr 127 australia 114 darwin 93 govern 88 people 74 vietnamese 73 immigration 57 child 55 yesterday 51 australian 45 children 44 parent 44 vietnam 43 official 42 agency 42 country 39 report 39 last 37 camp 37 fami 36 two 36 year 35 minister 33 service 33 malaysia 33 number 31 program 30 song 29 one 29 say 28 care 28 back 28 way 27 return 27 arriv 26 made 26
Word
Frequency
refugee 263 said 148 mr 132 australia 125 boat 93 people 89 govern 85 australian 62 vietnamese 56 vietnam 54 country 53 darwin 52 immigration 47 policy 44 new 42 one 42 official 38 minister 37 yesterday 37 last 36 year 35 number 31 whitlam 31 thailand 28 problem 27 two 26 song 26 fraser 25 over 25 accept 25 labor 25 arrival 25 political 24 say 24 arrive 24 mackellar 23 come 23 ethnic 22 federal 22
Word Frequency refugee 80 boat 47 said 39 australia 38 mr 30 yesterday 28 vietnamese 27 vietnam 27 darwin 27 people 23 govern 23 return 21 immigration 18 soldier 15 australian 14 official 13 song 12 stay 11 south 11 aboard 11 board 11 health 10 arriv 10 federal 10 two 10 country 10 minister 9 number 9 know 9 last 9 allow 9 three 9 migrant 8 question 8 archbishop 8 week 8 navy 8 mackellar 7 under 7
276
women 25 allow 25 island 24 go 24 soldier 24 three 23 develop 23 land 23 over 22 time 22 come 22
south-east 22 return 22 first 21 arriv 21 allow 21 three 21 go 21 migrant 21 affair 21 under 20 back 20
many 7 want 7 back 7 affair 7 year 7 crew 7 arrive 7 africa 7 pirat 6 work 6 genuine 6
Word frequency 2001
The Sydney Morning
Herald 78,401 words 3,040 sentences
The Australian 95,846 words 3,623 sentences
The Daily Telegraph 28,998 words 973 sentences
Word Frequency people 342 labor 303 howard 296 been 277 government 256 australia 252 more 243 about 213 election 204 beazley 187 cent 172 all 161 asylum 157 over 152 when 150 one 150 year 149 australian 149 seeker 143 policy 138 also 135 minister 135 million 133 new 127 boat 122 campaign 121 last 119
Word Frequency howard 364 been 331 people 327 labor 312 australia 278 asylum 265 about 248 beazley 244 seeker 236 election 235 more 235 australian 214 government 209 campaign 200 when 196 one 192 after 185 policy 182 all 174 minister 169 says 166 refugees 164 last 149 yesterday 145 boat 145 also 141 coalition 137
Word Frequency said 306 mr 235 boat 202 people 190 howard 168 australia 123 govern 119 asylum 116 refugee 110 seeker 109 minister 109 beazley 104 labor 98 yesterday 80 election 76 john 68 one 66 australian 61 children 60 indonesian 56 over 55 leader 52 indonesia 51 policy 50 campaign 48 want 47 prime 47
277
only 117 other 114 coalition 109 national 106 after 105 refugee 103 any 100 issue 99 time 98 yesterday 94 party 93 most 93 health 91 australia 90 some 89 says 88 two 87 now 87 children 86 because 86 both 84 country 81 prime 81
two 137 time 134 over 130 some 129 could 127 liberal 121 only 118 boatpeople 114 being 113 political 110 years 109 back 109 against 109 any 108 children 108 new 107 most 106 national 106 indonesia 105 now 104 navy 104 war 102 because 98
year 46 because 46 ruddock 45 party 44 navy 44 last 44 water 43 voter 43 ``i 43 island 42 day 42 liberal 41 back 41 kim 40 vessel 40 say 40 claim 39 take 38 off 38 immigration 37 report 37 new 37 coalition 37
Word frequency 2013
The Sydney Morning
Herald 23,380 words 935 sentences
The Australian 59,607 words 1,976 sentences
The Daily Telegraph 10,832 words 370 sentences
Word Frequency abbott 126 labor 109 said 107 australia 102 people 90 govern 89 boat 87 asylum 84 seeker 81 policy 80 rudd 79 year 78 mr 76 campaign 73 party 70
Word Frequency labor 268 asylum 230 been 222 australia 193 government 184 more 171 seeker 159 rudd 157 australian 155 people 151 about 148 election 145 coalition 129 policy 129 greens 122
Word Frequency said 86 mr 74 people 71 boat 61 asylum 60 seeker 56 govern 42 png 39 rudd 38 island 37 manus 34 minister 34 one 28 refugee 25 centre 24
278
refugee 62 coalition 61 say 60 election 55 one 52 australian 47 plan 44 minister 41 new 40 tony 38 time 37 last 35 liberal 34 come 34 change 34 right 34 prime 33 over 33 because 33 get 33 country 32 stop 31 voter 31 three 30 go 30 way 30 week 29 under 29 detention 27 indonesia 26 per 26 very 26 want 26 day 26 call 25
campaign 119 new 119 minister 118 cent 113 party 112 abbott 110 png 109 one 105 when 103 after 94 last 89 immigration 88 also 88 two 88 year 87 labor 85 all 84 island 83 yesterday 82 over 78 under 77 while 76 prime 72 being 70 solution 69 manus 69 national 68 back 68 could 67 some 66 since 66 boat 65 says 65 tony 64 other 63
australia 23 under 23 year 23 yesterday 23 immigration 22 police 21 over 21 australian 19 time 19 abbott 19 smuggler 19 two 18 claim 18 morrison 17 week 17 policy 17 how 17 new 17 prime 17 kevin 17 arriv 16 christmas 16 last 15 tony 15 first 15 off 15 come 15 solution 15 back 15 m 14 court 14 live 14 since 14 labor 14 opposition 13
279
Appendix F: Orientation of the Press
The SMH The Aust
The DT
Total
Local news Neutral 2001 2 0
2
2013 1 2
3
3 2
5
Positive 2001 2
0 2
2013 0
1 1
2
1 3
Negative 2001 2 1
3
2013 0 1
1
2 2
4
Total 2001 6 1 0 7
2013 1 3 1 5
7 4 1 12
National news
Neutral 1977 6 2 5 13
2001 2 15 10 27
2013 5 11 3 19
13 28 18 59
Positive 1977 6 5 3 14
2001 8 7 6 21
2013 4 1 0 5
18 13 9 40
Negative 1977 7 9 3 19
2001 29 34 16 79
280
2013 14 25 11 50
50 68 30 148
Total 1977 19 16 11 46
2001 39 56 32 127
2013 23 37 14 74
81 109 57 247
International news
Neutral 1977 4
0 4
2001 0
1 1
4
1 5
Positive 2001 2 3
5
2 3
5
Negative 1977 5 4 0 9
2001 12 15 6 33
2013 1 5 1 7
18 24 7 49
Total 1977 9 4 0 13
2001 14 18 7 39
2013 1 5 1 7
24 27 8 59
Feature article
Neutral 1977 3 4 0 7
2001 3 11 6 20
2013 3 9 0 12
9 24 6 39
Positive 1977 0 1 1 2
2001 12 7 1 20
281
2013 1 0 3 4
13 8 5 26
Negative 1977 4 5 1 10
2001 20 20 8 48
2013 3 20 7 30
27 45 16 88
Total 1977 7 10 2 19
2001 35 38 15 88
2013 7 29 10 46
49 77 27 153
Editorial Neutral 1977 1 0 0 1
2001 0 2 1 3
2013 0 1 0 1
1 3 1 5
Positive 1977 2 0 0 2
2001 1 3 1 5
2013 1 0 0 1
4 3 1 8
Negative 1977 1 2 1 4
2001 7 12 3 22
2013 4 9 1 14
12 23 5 40
Total 1977 4 2 1 7
2001 8 17 5 30
2013 5 10 1 16
17 29 7 53
282
Column Neutral 1977 0 1 1 2
2001 5 9 1 15
2013 1 1 0 2
6 11 2 19
Positive 1977 1 0
1
2001 3 1
4
4 1
5
Negative 1977 0 1 0 1
2001 25 17 4 46
2013 8 5 1 14
33 23 5 61
Total 1977 1 2 1 4
2001 33 27 5 65
2013 9 6 1 16
43 35 7 85
Total Neutral 1977 14 7 6 27
2001 12 37 19 68
2013 10 24 3 37
36 68 28 132
Positive 1977 9 6 4 19
2001 28 21 8 57
2013 6 1 4 11
43 28 16 87
Negative 1977 17 21 5 43
2001 95 99 37 231
2013 30 65 21 116
283
142 185 63 390
Total 1977 40 34 15 89
2001 135 157 64 356
2013 46 90 28 164
221 281 107 609
284
TYPES AND TONES
Types of
articles
Tones
Year
The
SMH
The Aust
The DT
Total
Local news
Neutral 2001 2 0
2
2013 1 2
3 3 2
5
Positive 2001 2
0 2 2013 0
1 1
2
1 3 Negative 2001 2 1
3
2013 0 1
1 2 2
4
Total 2001 6 1 0 7 2013 1 3 1 5
7 4 1 12 National
news Neutral 1977 6 2 5 13
2001 2 15 10 27 2013 5 11 3 19
13 28 18 59 Positive 1977 6 5 3 14
2001 8 7 6 21 2013 4 1 0 5
18 13 9 40 Negative 1977 7 9 3 19
2001 29 34 16 79 2013 14 25 11 50
50 68 30 148 Total 1977 19 16 11 46
2001 39 56 32 127 2013 23 37 14 74
81 109 57 247 Internatio
nal news Neutral 1977 4
0 4
2001 0
1 1
4
1 5 Positive 2001 2 3
5
2 3
5 Negative 1977 5 4 0 9
2001 12 15 6 33
285
2013 1 5 1 7
18 24 7 49 Total 1977 9 4 0 13
2001 14 18 7 39 2013 1 5 1 7
24 27 8 59 Feature
article Neutral 1977 3 4 0 7
2001 3 11 6 20 2013 3 9 0 12
9 24 6 39 Positive 1977 0 1 1 2
2001 12 7 1 20 2013 1 0 3 4
13 8 5 26 Negative 1977 4 5 1 10
2001 20 20 8 48 2013 3 20 7 30
27 45 16 88 Total 1977 7 10 2 19
2001 35 38 15 88 2013 7 29 10 46
49 77 27 153 Editorial Neutral 1977 1 0 0 1
2001 0 2 1 3 2013 0 1 0 1
1 3 1 5 Positive 1977 2 0 0 2
2001 1 3 1 5 2013 1 0 0 1
4 3 1 8 Negative 1977 1 2 1 4
2001 7 12 3 22 2013 4 9 1 14
12 23 5 40 Total 1977 4 2 1 7
2001 8 17 5 30 2013 5 10 1 16
17 29 7 53 Column Neutral 1977 0 1 1 2
2001 5 9 1 15 2013 1 1 0 2
6 11 2 19
286
Positive 1977 1 0
1
2001 3 1
4 4 1
5
Negative 1977 0 1 0 1 2001 25 17 4 46 2013 8 5 1 14
33 23 5 61 Total 1977 1 2 1 4
2001 33 27 5 65 2013 9 6 1 16
43 35 7 85 Total Neutral 1977 14 7 6 27
2001 12 37 19 68 2013 10 24 3 37
36 68 28 132 Positive 1977 9 6 4 19
2001 28 21 8 57 2013 6 1 4 11
43 28 16 87 Negative 1977 17 21 5 43
2001 95 99 37 231 2013 30 65 21 116
142 185 63 390 Total 1977 40 34 15 89
2001 135 157 64 356 2013 46 90 28 164
221 281 107 609
287
Appendix G: Thematic Analysis and Results
Main theme of the story: summary of the lead in australian news stories about the iras boat arrvials
1977
The Sydney Morning Herald The Australian The Daily Telegraph
1. High number refugee surprise officials 2. Lacking money humanity groups change
aid project less refugee resettlement aids 3. Im warn vietnamese refugee establish of
“government in exile’ 4. Witness met and talk face to face with 4
boats landed 5. How viet fled from communist tyranny 6. Federal government measures to reduce
flow of boats 7. Viet refugee boats come from camps in
malaysia 8. Refugee kidnapped viet soldiers onboard
song be 12 9. Ran patrol boat and aircraft search for
boats near darwin 10. Whitlam concerned on refugee problem
but refused provide policy on deportation 11. Churches and unis asked for higher
refugee intake 12. Aid delay india suvivors 13. Candidates used boats in politic but no
worthy policy
41. Somali fear soviet wrath 42. Federal gov set up committee to assess
refugee claim 43. Pm fraser support migration resource center 44. Gov boost job traning for youth 45. Gov cost more on patrol boat 46. Workers protest against viet refugees 47. Png gov feel no threat to rebel 48. Immi officials sent to sing and malay to
interview refugee 49. Mac kekellar fear of government in exile 50. Refugee no fear of sea journey 51. Immi min and other gov staff state own fear
to flood of refugee 52. Thai and other regional govs refuse to
accept viet boats 53. Gov will boost coastal surveillance to boats 54. Politicians don’t accept boat and debate
how to stop 55. Fuiro rebels resist hanoi 56. Deputy pm treat genuine refugee with
humane way 57. Fraser would not sent refugee back
75. Immi department provide english lesson for migrants
76. Immi authorities checked on 2 new boat arrivals
77. Immi min said boat come without authority
78. Refugee give australia sensible stand point
79. Gov move on refugee intake to reduce boat coming
80. Federal gov increase patrol boat forces
81. Gov slowly act/ response on illegal arrivals
82. Immi offical confuse of soldiers’s will.
83. Gov set up television and radio service for migrants
84. Viet pirates hold soldiers 85. Australian bureau of statistic survey
south african is a big source of immigrants
86. Peacock reject hanoi demand
288
14. Navy patrol escort song be 12 15. Influx brings difficulty to fraser election 16. Candidates ignore/ lighten defence issue/
coastal forces in election debate 17. Syria refused to join rejection front 18. Refugees fled from poor and war with
cambodia 19. Candidates don’t accept refugee come in
this way 20. Oz immi officials dissuaded/ one boat put
off 21. Ministers don’t alow refugee issue
become election issue 22. Refugees sell boats after landing 23. Minister reject to send back boat 24. Immi department expand intake to reduce
boat come 25. Rhodesian kill refugee 26. Minister reject hanoi demand of sending
back pirates 27. Peacock will send back the boat song be
12 not people 28. British official offer talk to rhodesian
nationalists 29. Us will take most viet refugee 30. Gov recommend to increase refugee fund
and support 31. Council of population survey decline in
fertility rates 32. Us gov accept viet refugee in singapore 33. Indo gov conflict with dani separatists
muslim group
58. Bishop condemn rhodesian kill refugee 59. Whitlam urged conference to discuss boat
issue 60. How song be 12 made it dash to freedom 61. Persistent campaign conducted against
refugee 62. Us expect australia to step up present quota 63. labor came into refu issue much harder
than gov 64. Viet refugee in australia worried about
relative/ a bishop in viet 65. Immi department decide to accept more
viet refu 66. Liquors trade union complained influx
refugee in hostel 67. Gov set up new cities for migrants 68. Politicians politicsed refugee issue and
made voter feel persimistic about immigration
69. Whitlam changed his mind about refugee in take
70. Min peacock accused whitlam could not preside over defence policy
71. Refugee should be treated better not turning away
72. First 8 viet refugee came by flight assessed successfully
73. peacock accused whitlam racist about viet refugee
74. Gov support fund for woman refugee
87. Whitlam urged to hold regional talks 88. Min maintained firm line on humane
receiving of boat 89. Viet gov arrest archbishop nguyen
van thuan
289
34. Navy in darwin watch for another boatload
35. Ugandan bishop assist refuge 36. Minister not allow landing without
immigarion clearance 37. Meo tribesmen fight pathet lao and viet
troops 38. Immi department granted entry permit to
an ethopian 39. Candidates show no sympathetic to
refugee 40. Min tranport say yes imm min say no to
deportation
290
2001
The Sydney Morning Herald The Australian The Daily Telegraph
90. Kim is successful in debate over howard poll survey
91. Us ally attack kabul taliban 92. Im accuse un set up tricky proccessing
refugee on oz soil 93. Howard in apec clash with indo in
refugee regional processing 94. Unhcr confirm all people in sink boat
were genuine refugee but desperation take them onboard
95. Pakistani leader musharraf accuse aus of ban refugee policy
96. Victim refugee accuse unhcr slow processing take them onboard
97. Young refugee face english difficulty in year 12
98. Gov lauch border protection policy, link the deaths to labor
99. Gov spend 175 m to guard sea border and stop illegal
100. Poll confirm refugee is an issue in election
101. Mp accuse howard’s tough policy on refugee may kill his political life
102. Unity party join the election to promote their view on refugee
103. Us attack pakistank regardless of ramanda
225. Guards at villawood bash 8 detainees come to legal settlement
226. Coalition set new goal to fight smuggler
227. Defence force take refu to png from christmas deten
228. Pakistan close border to stop afghan refugee for fear of taliban
229. Israel force attack 6 towns of palestine after assassination
230. Pm blame indo for the flow of boatpeople to aust
231. Pm is a great politician not a statesman because conservatism, xenephobes and racist
232. Pm accuse kim for his use sea tragedy as political capital to attack pm
233. A refugee mother lost 3 girls at sea tragedy
234. Boat people are full on the bad condition boat
235. Iom urge aust to do more work at source of problem, the smuggler who get people on board
236. Refugee get on boat because they had no choice
237. Refugee will come to aust regardless of tragedy
382. 350 refugees drown in tragedy at sea amid election
383. Im confirm ref policy unchanged 384. Arafat condemn killer of zeevi 385. Howard’s angry as beazley
desperate slur him over boat tragedy 386. Witness tell sea tragedy like titanic 387. Im affirm to take 40 ref over 1500
newcommers 388. Kiribati country will take 500 boat
people from aus 389. Navy patrols head north to watch for
illegal vessel 390. Parties leaders use refu tragedy for
political game 391. Tragedy change the campaign to
domestic security 392. Separate family condemn howard and
smuggler 393. Indo police stop boats at gunpoint 394. Un criticise aus leaders politicise the
tragedy 395. Indo hold international talks to solve
ref boat issue 396. Labor is weak and divided in refu
solution plan 397. Navy patrols escote another full load
boat
291
104. Indo police point gun to force asylum stay onboard the sinking boat
105. Im accept genuine refugee survive from sinking boat but accuse them venturesome
106. Refugee united dream was broken after sea tragedy
107. Green aim to tax carbon polluter and conserve environment
108. Pm emphasis on international threats and refugee
109. Gov fail with offshore processing policy
110. Us led army ruin city of pakistan 111. Architect build future shack
house for refugee 112. Jew vigilantes attack palestinnian
labor in westbank 113. Leaders of australia should focus
on long term refugee policy 114. Pm look as boat sinking as
problem not human 115. Abc mc ask politically sensible
question to athlete 116. Pm expand military to war on
terrorism 117. Sheikh mufti leader accuse pm
and im to seal the fate of refugee 118. Un force indo to mount inquiry to
investigate indo police gunpoint to refugee
119. Pm design gov campaign around war on terrorism and boat people
238. Desperate kim need to change strategy to win over tough pm
239. 2/3 of election hot issue related to refugee
240. Pm launch border protection policy which use navy force for boat patrol
241. Pollster expect a third term in for gov
242. Islamic radicals seige an airbase of pakistan
243. Israel escalate in palestine towns
244. How us keep the border clear 245. Aust gov should work with
indo to inform clear message to refugee not to rick their life
246. Kim hope to boost in poll with his performance and domestic agenda
247. Aust face terrorist threat of border security after september 11
248. Smugglers are responsible for the death of refugee at sea
249. Indo police force refugee to sail on death boat
250. Gov negotiate fiji for 2 more inhabitant islands to receive refugee
251. Family sail to aust after long time waiting for process but no answer
252. Gov battle to cope with the pressure of dealing offshore with the latest influx of boatpeople
398. Children willing to risk their life to see father
399. Refugee troubled and desperate life in home countries
400. Muslim and islamic leaders accuse pm of inhuman policy
401. Us bomb civilized village in pakistan 402. Nsw councillors protest over gov
joining us army 403. Indo police caught a victim claim boat
people hijack their boat 404. Pm confirm focus on terrorism, crime
and drug 405. Pm reassured middle-income women
on baby bonus and security 406. Un open camps for refugee in
pakistan and afghan border 407. Im doubt that indo ferry sunk and
believe it was hijack 408. Navy find haijack boat adrift 409. Attorney-general condemn court
hearing of tampac wast of money 410. Police say captain and crew of hijack
boat tell lie 411. Sheik of muslim community is
powerful and controversial 412. Gov will let people on hijack boat
land 413. Labor focus on domestic issues of
education and employment 414. Indonesia and fiji warn not coporate
with aus to intercept boat
292
120. Australian financial review describe boat people as “the detritus of upheavals in the middle east”
121. Howard expand military on war to terrorism without confidence and leaves many doubts
122. Pakistan step up border patrols to stop pakistan and afghan cross border to join taliabn in afghan
123. Israel troop withdraw from west bank village after massacre
124. refugee can contribute to australia benefits
125. Pm focus on war issue too long while labor aim at domestic issues
126. Pm committed more than 23 million on refugee plan to back up his war on terrorrism
127. Director confirm a new film on life of a refugee
128. Party leaders claim credit to the deal with indonesia to solve boat but little hope from talk
129. Pm attract woman voters by the baby bonus tax break policy
130. Green senator invite a multi-party mission to pakistan and indo to assess refugee
131. european shock of australian overacting on immigration
132. Gov tough law ban family reunion and pr for refugee
253. Cocos islander fear of influx of illegals
254. Pm blame kim not having any luck with indo to solve boat crisis
255. Us bombs strike in afghan 256. Us admit bomb wrongly on
afghan civil area 257. Korean scientist negotiate with
gov for using christmas island as space laucnhing
258. Pm follow us and other big countries to close border to uninvited visitors
259. Humans in tragic deserve better from gov as in vietnam time
260. Labor raise in poll but cannot profit from the slaience of asylum issue
261. Editors reflect readership opinion than media boss opinion
262. Foxtel history channel feature ‘the ties that bind’ bring 6 figures back to their refugee ancestor
263. Smuggle will bring 1200 people sail to australia
264. Sheik of muslim aystralia condemn gov use hardline refugee policy to win few vote
265. Chief muslim cleric blame pm and call for lift the refugee quota
266. Both parties squabble over who credit for summit
267. Green support gov over labor in west australia
415. Israel leaders meet palestine counterpart discuss about evacuation
416. Afghan refugee was kill because confuse similar color of bomb and food package
417. Music therapy center encourage refugee
418. Voters don’t care who win 419. Labor discipline its candidate for
opposite view on refugee 420. Kim mistaken fury step brought him
move after in election 421. Voters remain focus on boat people
and security and support howard 422. Aus gov inhuman on boat people
treatment 423. Navy toll another boat reach reef 424. Former spokenman of denfence
accused howard on war in afghan 425. Catholic newspaper dump editor
because epressing own view on refugee and gov
426. Libs candidate conflict with party policy on refugee
427. Poll show libs have more chance 428. Former figure anger with howard link
boat pp as terror 429. Aid groups fear of afghan
humanitarian crisis 430. Navy doctor accuse gov on bad
treatment to ref offshore 431. Howard can win with economic and
security focusing
293
133. Pakistan politician accuse us ally bog down in afghan led to refugee die
134. Labor want more vote by accept lib refugee policy unconditionally
135. Ruddock favor a lib’s dad to grant him pr
136. Candidates try to lead public debate to different paths from public
137. 73% support having navy turn back boats
138. Labor run negative ad to attack lib’s baby bonus
139. Baby bonus is as wrongly as refugee policy
140. Labor is compared as dad and libs as mom
141. Death of a respectful aust once refugee intellectual
142. Pm aid 20m for png in deal of sending 1000 ref to manus
143. Muslim leader accuse im unfairly grant visa for lib member
144. Listeners like 2gb which pro howard anti refugee
145. Uk present new tough controled regulation to ref
146. Parties neglect funding to education focus on border protection spending
147. Libs win voters easily for putting refugee issue on front line
148. ¾ aus population support gov’s stand on border intergrity
268. Voter want candidates put aside bipartisan issue like refugee and debate about domestic issue
269. Taliban accuse us bombing civilians
270. Voter fade support to asylum policy when faceless illegal aliiens became pitiful refugees
271. Life of a lawyer and war crime expert
272. A refugee locked in mental hospital for 51 years
273. Town residents attack doctor who give his house for refugee
274. Drown family was fled from fear of religious persecution
275. Im defend gov regional offshore processing and warn png may be a route for smugglers
276. Authorities navy alleged refugee take conrol a boat to australia
277. Pm confirm national security linked to boatpeople is a proper resonse to terrorism
278. Biggest audience attend the asylum issue pm speech
279. Various faiths leaders united to urge gov put clone issue in debate
280. Foreign minister confirm gov position on refugee reflex elector interest
281. Pm prove to be firm on security and safe for aust
432. Gov will release video to back their claim
433. Gov refuse to have seen the video of child overboard
434. Labor confirm refugee quota unchange
435. Libs can earn another term with sound and safe issues.
436. Gov is not racist over tampa as narrow intellectual condemn
437. Howard ctircise navy not tole him in advance
438. Boat people fire boat when meet intecepted navy coastel guard
439. Reith mistake in child inccident may loose lib election
440. Expert analsye video say refugee boat in desperate situation
441. Green protestors sail on pm house 442. Politicians show negative to child
overboard inccident 443. Howard is the right man for this chaos 444. Pm ignored domestic issues over war
on terror and security 445. Boat incident make democrat and
green boost vote in nsw
294
149. Death of a successful refugee 150. Kim confirm hope on proper
coastguard to prevent boat 151. Pm warn indo not help boat and
promise aust help to build detention in indo
152. Un accuse gov break the law when refuse go out refugee return to aust
153. Kim breiftly me-too on border protection and ignore refugee topic when the country is so obsesseed by the need to repel refugee
154. National perty leader aim for health and telecom issue
155. Rural voters concern about asylum issue than metropolitan
156. Labor remain unclear about the future of pacific solution
157. Couple is happy with mordern designed house in north shore
158. Kim lose labor’s value on multinationalism aust
159. Pm reject indo about bombing in holy month
160. 150 asylum left indo for sailing to aust
161. therapy music center built in western sydney
162. Labor candidate is leftist while lib is economic rationalist
163. Labor strategists are crash and split about winning vote by changing to bipartisan security issues
282. Israel not withdraw from bethlehem as promise
283. Retired priests number increase with fear for future of popularity of christian
284. Pm prove new liberalism in aust not support multinationalism
285. Pollster show labor far after pm because swamped by asylum seeker
286. Afp arrest key figure in smuggler business while his counsel claim the arrest is wrong person
287. Prison watchdog claim detentions in aust under bad condition leading to riots
288. Captain of hijacked indo ship receive 14k to transport rich refugee
289. Relatives of victims cannot go to indo for burial because temporary visa restriction
290. Labor’s lauch campaign with desperately get voters to focus on life issues
291. Most voter don’t blame gov for sea tragedy make 353 drown although kim try to get them that direction
292. Mother voter think pm is right on refugee but not in first child tax
293. Pm concern of refugee for security issue but promise to increase total immigration intake
295
164. Former refugee named on welcome wall
165. Presenter of 2day show introduce new reality show rooted from socail life
166. Baptised girl ceremony was hold by chiristian and muslim tradition
167. Howard is manipulated of war and refugee topic
168. Tamworth voters applause pm on refugee stance but against pm in telstra deal
169. 5000 voters attend the protest agaisnt gov policy
170. Kim admonish a labor candidate for embarrasing comment on gov refugee policy and labor support
171. Vunarable voters living in caravan or refugee stay out of election
172. Rich voter lose faith to lib because tampa crisis
173. Indo with muslim culture clash with aust anti muslim culture
174. Howard use language to manipulate voter lean focusing on person not the issue
175. Most negative television ad campaign run by both parties accuse others’ dirty trick on refugee policy
176. Family face deportation after tribunal dismissal their claim
177. Aust official claim 150 boat people immobilise boat, cut fuel line and damage the engine
294. Navy blokade sailors to send email and digital image about boat people
295. Voter resoundingly endorsed gov themes of turning back boat and deploy troops in afghan
296. Im unfairly grant visa to a lib member father jump the queue
297. uk gov use tough control method on illegals
298. Unhcr criticise gov on turn back boat
299. Gov is unfair about visa application process for refugee
300. Pm exploit tampa/ refuse refugee/ creat a series of south pacific refugee colonies
301. Former politician criticize howard for refugee turn back boat
302. kim’s knowledge nation plan reflect labor traditional values
303. Kim show jobs and fair go as labor core values
304. Kim admit fight against terrorism and border protection are largely common ground
305. Fiji refuse to receive more refugees and criticise gov request
306. Taliban let un aid workers help pakistani refugee
307. Us war in afghan may last longer
296
178. Economic islamic refugee student choose religious subject in hsc test
179. Lib use boat people to sink labor regardless of tragedy
180. Survey found voters focus on local issue than refugee or afghan war
181. National party choose white candidate who not live in asian electorial area
182. Pm miss/ ignore foreign policy when dealing with refugee crisis and processing
183. Pm direct refugee become domestic issue rather than international issue
184. Writer witness of september 11 accuse gov refugee policy
185. Labor is more efficient in refugee policy
186. Former politician film with her adopted refugee child
187. Navy doctor condemn despicable treatment of boat
188. Former governor general accuse gov tough policy suppress aust compassion for refugee
189. Pm accuse labor soft on refugee and adopt lib policy
190. Catholic paper endorse an independent politician
191. Pm ignore disadvantage deficit burget and tax issue to favor refugee debate
308. Us attack afghan not focus really on taliban or bin laden
309. Politicians use war and refugee issue to push off/ spin domestic front and their disadvantages
310. Advisor for voters should wiser on choosing leader, don’t rely on adsolution or extremily/ left or right
311. News media gain numeric readers after bad news/ terrorist news
312. Majority of talkback callers support tough stance to asylum seeker
313. Libs seats are safe because strong general support for turning away asylum boat headed for australian waters
314. Hijack indonesian boat finish repair and will sail soon
315. Pm claim that he was ignored by indo president
316. Leaders of pacific have no solution for boat crisis
317. Pm category who against him as ugly elitists and claim he stance with australian ordinary
318. Pm and kim have been shoulder to shoulder on turning back boatpeople
319. Leadership is the core issue of this election
320. Socialist related groups rally against afghan war and boat treatment
321. Trouble candidates of 2 parties affect their political lives
297
192. Villagers fled of their home because taliban attack
193. Israel president pledge peace deal to palestine
194. Gov tough policy cannot prevent high number of boat coming
195. Public figures accuse candidate silencing their critics on tough ref policy
196. Chief justice of the high court defended gov in tampa legal case
197. Defence director investigate navy doctor breach the rule for comment to the media
198. Foreign minister confirm aust does not need constructive relation with indo at any price
199. Indo police prosecute a smuggler for letting boat sink
200. Pm link terrorism to boat people 201. Kim ignore boat issue in speech 202. Kim promise to bring a new gov
of hope not fear 203. Kim condemn pm on lying on
child overboard and conservative gov 204. Poll show refugee issue is
unpopular but still an election decider (media insist nhu vay)
205. Taliban slaughter afghan who fled country
206. Palestine declare state via un unilateral
207. Gov lack of vision on economic strength of aust
322. Israel delay meeting with us 323. Us gain access to afghan
strategic air base 324. Pm fail with offshore
processing because record number of boats keep coming
325. Bishop reject comment on refugee plan against lib policy
326. Kim’s issues were broken because lib attack on alp asylum bid
327. Lib blame labor, democrat and green conspire over a secret plan to junk gov asylum deal legislation
328. Witness said overboard incident never happened
329. Doctor write to media complaint navy harass, frighten and demoralise boatpeople
330. Analysists condemn pm ignor asian relations and racist on refugee to get political goal
331. Indo authorities arrest suspect for people smuggler kill 353 victim at sea tragedy
332. Pm woo migrant voters by promise multiculturalism ideology for aust
333. Voter rate pm much more highly than kim for economic managemant and security handling
334. Labor candidates travel to remote areas for campaign
298
208. Small number elitists control policies and out of touch with community feelings
209. Pm promote the dismantled white aust policy in refugee deal
210. Navy chief reaveal gov lie on child overboard
211. coalition commit to mandatory detention/ labor plan on indo relation to solve boat crisis/ democrat support refugee family reunion
212. Both candidates confirm national security become most important issue in election
213. Gov may loose in powerful swing seats
214. Pm and defence min construct a different version of child overboard
215. Both candidates united in condemn public figure criticism on their tough refugee policy
216. Gov try to overcome disadvantage of child overboard reveal and direct the public attention to economy issues
217. Both candidates agree on dandy refugee policy because broad community support
218. Both parties fight for any seat in tight south aust
219. Tampa factor in the heartland of labor may let labot loose
335. Independent candidates gain powerful as a posibility of hung parliament
336. other parites blame labor too quick to side with gov on the war and issue of refugee
337. Paramatta voter may change their mind becaue lib harsh refugee policy
338. Un aid finds ways to help afghan refugee
339. Taliban forces fire us helicopter 340. Wives have strong views on
refugee subject but they are not politicians
341. Om ignore international relations because of discrimination on refugee issue
342. Asylum seeker push aust to regional relation threats
343. Victory of pm may put aust in isolation because relation threats of refugee
344. Pm claim terrorist using boat path to get aust
345. Kim agree with pm on using navy to turn back boat
346. Aust voters overseas concern that aust more inward-looking and more insular in refugee policy
347. Lib accuse labor for push poll with phone call claim gov will increase tax
299
220. Richmond voter support vastly to lib candiate on strong stance on asylum seeker
221. Gov insist asylum issues will push their victory
222. Labor hope to deal with indo on refugee crisis if they win
223. Racists will win the vote but shame in history
224. Winner of election will face hard time because refugee issue
348. Dissident members of both parties criticise refugee plan
349. Kim rely on identical asylum policy to win vote but he could not against gov plan
350. Police hunt 4 accomplies of people smuggle arrested in indo
351. Lib warn bishop not to appear on tele for her comments on refugee intake
352. Kim require gov to public video on child overboard
353. Former libs leaders criticised racist candicates demonised refugee and morrally wrong
354. Taliban revenge refugee who fled them regime
355. Pm was wrong about call out boatpeople crisis and export the problem to poor neibourgh
356. Expert and professor feel shame about aust opinion on refugee
357. Media report election as a game and follow pm in promoting discourse of patriotism as pm weapon to win vote
358. Pm warn aust beware of terrorists in refugee clothing
359. Politician religious belief affect their decision
360. Media laws is not likely to change liberaly
361. Voters have mix reaction to parites handling boat issue
300
362. Navy refuse gov version on child overboard
363. Defence department left gov to defend themselve wrong version of child overboard
364. Witness say refugee swam for their lives not throw the child
365. Navy reveal video show the boat already sink before asylum jump to water
366. Gov in trouble as video scandal 367. National thinkers criticise pm
on heartless policy and practice 368. Kim condemn reith lie on child
story 369. Navy feel ashame about their
most difficult asignment on detering asylum
370. Indo reject court on smugglers until canberra hand over bank robber to indo
371. Witness at christmas island said navy treated asylum like animal
372. Kim keep silent when he should speak in this identical moment
373. Woman voters most concern about childcare policy was ignore in election
374. Un can not take risk to shift aid stock to afghan
375. Pm’s favourite mp is on fire in warringah
301
376. Who win the vote will maintain immigration policy as their predecessor
377. Gov ignore aborigional issue such as radical reform or apology regconition
378. Expert guess labor win because video scandal mess gov reputation
379. Kim fail because he did not defend genuine refugee from gov dishonest demonising of them
380. Artists protest against gov refugee policy by galery exhibition
381. If labor win media foreign investor will benefit
302
2013
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian The Daily Telegraph
446. Lawyer challenge gov’s png solution in high court
447. Turnbull criticise all asylum policies are cruel
448. Rudd accept challene of png 449. Aus maritime safety authority confirm 5
missing 450. Young jesuits remind alumni politicians of
core value 451. Burke send people offshore including
children 452. Former refugee accuse tony’s tpv and
stripping off ref from judical review 453. Labor did not update rudd to replace
gillard in their campaign page 454. Tony will stop boat people of getting on
boats 455. Un findings accuse aus break refugee law 456. Toll company won more work with
defence contract 457. Aus has chance to improve its role in syria
dispute 458. Labor use phone call to target marginal
seat voters 459. Jakarta gov accused tony about insulting
buy-back plan 460. Voter accuse both candidates lack vision
about oz future
492. Lawyer apply for legal challeng to gov’s png
493. Independent mp accuse green on asylum argument
494. 5 refugees escape from detention center 495. Im doubt regional talk will be successful
because iran absent 496. Indo conference less likely to provide a
regional solution 497. Libs will not support green senator in sa 498. Green preference alp candidate ahead of
independent mp 499. Gov fail with png plan politically and
practically 500. Expert claim labor spent for campaign
excess libs 501. Green ignore labor in published how to
vote card 502. Gov fail with both png plan and summit 503. Rudd ignor alp candidate in his lonely
campaign 504. Laabor feel unsecure in magrinal seats in
nsw 505. Lindsay libs candidate mistaken about lib
policy in debate 506. Labor politician positive on regional plan 507. Navy rescue the 40th boat sink off
christmas island
582. Lawyer challenge gov’s png solution in high court
583. Nsw premiere pressure police to tackle gun crime
584. Gov face lawyer and refugee at high court 585. Gov alarmed boat tragedy but still
increase fund in png solution 586. Women refugee artist start an art show 587. First lady not concern on national issues/
ref issue 588. Tony rumor pm hold talk longer and tony
focus asylum 589. Voter declaire tony victory 590. Labor boo leftist twitter users as wrong
tactic 591. Png immi officer noted struggle of png
plan 592. Church provide safe bed and food for
refugee 593. Syrian gov gas attack damascus 594. Png politicians criticise gov break their
words 595. Manus islander angry about contract in
png plan 596. Immi department still grant visa for
sexual criminal refugee 597. Manus islander conflict gov over good
life of asylum in detention
303
461. Lawyer accuses both sides’ asylum plans are unconstitutional.
462. Human right watch accuse gov play soft diplomacy on human right issue in region
463. Rudd’ ancestors were convit refugees 464. Lib candidate launch campaign to urge an
end to muslim women wearing burqa 465. Tony refuse asio and stone report and will
not release refugee out of detention 466. Aus federal police arrest 5 smuggler while
they are in detion 467. Brandis is confident with legal position of
abolish refugee’s right of judical review 468. Churches protest to help refugee 469. Panellist will host new comedian show
focus on internet sharing 470. Future pm promise to talk with indo to
stop the boat 471. Rudd loose public support because
ineffective decisions 472. Greens call gov to investigate a suicide
attemp of ref 473. Gov must use more influence aus have at
un in intervern syria 474. Both candidates urged for changing
current aus 475. Lib candidate blame refugee as reason of
traffic jam 476. Tony is confident on an easy winning
election 477. Biggest parties build hardline on refugee
and boat
508. Refugee in java criticise png plan make them choose bad options
509. Rudd rely desperately on weak, take-time and soft png plan
510. Labor accuse people smuggler threat testing png plan
511. Tony focus on 3000 boat people came after png plan
512. Alp candidate said png plan awful but necessary
513. Immigration bring saved people onshore to wait for process
514. The messy situation in arabs world middle east
515. Both candidates less take care of economic issues
516. Chirstians australian accused gay marriage policy become election issue
517. Png gov complain about number excess capacity of manus island
518. Nsw announce winner of human right award
519. Treasurer support rudd replace gillard in labor leadership dispute
520. Torres strait mayor call gov to axe png plan as refugee come to aus via strait border
521. Emergency response team guards convince hunger strike refugee to transfer to png
522. Coalition plan tough policy to boat and smugglers
523. Pm demonish foreign workers 524. Scott disagree to judicial review to
refugee
598. Refugee start dangerous sea adventure regardless of smuggler cheating
599. Asylum man charged for sexual assault 600. Png politicians conflict over png solution 601. Refugee girtl shock and brain damage
after boat sinking 602. Labor pump more money to air transfer
asylum to manus 603. Rudd fail in brisbane speech 604. Libs argue less boat arrive because
weather not png plan 605. Tony believe in general to fix with indo
about stop the boat 606. Scott will face tough ahead 607. Asylum family plead to move from studio
public house 608. Refugee stabbed to death by his flatmates 609. Police invest status of refugee killer
304
478. Voices from world leaders about decision of military action in syria
479. How aus will be after abbott win 480. High court starts to hear about the case of
ranjini. 481. Aus businessman open stop boat company
in indo 482. Tony get rid of troubled libs candidate 483. Green rely on ref plan to push vote 484. Advocate groups accuse libs candidate
cliam was false. 485. Lib candidates’ claims conflict with lib
policy 486. Rudd prepare to beat gillard not tony 487. Voters ignore rudd’s campaign 488. Only dying man vote for labor 489. Tony is the right candidate can win trust
from aus 490. The queue is not exist and ref issue is
complicated 491. Libs adopted policy from the past
525. Tony promise constitutional change to regconise first oz
526. Tony initially focus on stop the boat and tax
527. Anti-racism grafiti drawer attack libs mp office in vic
528. Green cofirm winning one more senate seat and safe pathways for refugee policy
529. Gov argue png plan works and attack scott lie about fraud deal with png
530. Palmer party allow refugee fly to aus to claim staying
531. Young voter claim parties neglec their policies
532. Police cannot arrest riots in detention center for lacks of legal act
533. Indo politicians angry of tony’s buy back plan
534. International ngos and veterans accuse israel tactic in westbank cruel and violence
535. Israel forces attack palestine refugee in westbank
536. Intellectualls and readers blame tony’s refugee plan
537. Alp announce tasmania plan to win over coalition and attack long-live seat in tasmania
538. High court battle over gov’ png plan to the level of constitutional challenge
539. Manus mp criticise gov not well-organise png plan
540. 16 year old refugee try to hang himself in christmas island
305
541. Labor face disadvantages in tasmania for first time since whitlam in 1975
542. Leftist pollies criticise gov png plan and lib refugee plan
543. Afp breakdown biggest people smuggler operation
544. Manus islander protest over png unequal deal/ contract
545. Surveyed voters response security and refugee are main concern
546. Coalition accuse alp provide undetail burget plan
547. Sri lanka can help aus to deter boats 548. Palmer blame gov’s spending on asylum
seeker newly arrival 549. Afp arrest 5 smugglers onshore and
agressively raid offshore for 3 more 550. Manus mp warn of breaking contract with
manus bussiness 551. Three people smuggler face court charge 552. Possible syrian civil war triggered
violence in neighbourhood countries 553. Not-for-profit organisation fear of new
gov cut funding 554. Libs attorney-general reclaim rights
agenda on human right sector 555. Pm promise to push small business and
local supply 556. Coaliton will provide more power to
force to act against asylum in detention 557. Immigration department deny access of
somali community to visit hang boy in hospital
306
558. Unionists support green senator in adelaide
559. Pm lose power because launching campaign late
560. Both candidate spend a lot on ad before polling day
561. Im promise png plan smoothly run 562. Pauline back to politic to show grassroot
austrlian spirit 563. Rudd immitate opposition party’s policy 564. Candidate ignore aus engage war in syria
issue in debate 565. Scott fail to give more details on how
coalition tackle refugee boat 566. Albanyese is confident with his seat in
graylide 567. Rudd’s excellence in foreign relation
cannot help him win 568. Deputy pm argue on internet speed is
nonsense 569. Julie bishop will start international visit
when power assumed 570. Senator warn to against most coaltion
plan 571. Retired labor leader accuse labor lack of
harmony 572. Uk politician argue with his brother’claim
of syria intervention 573. Alp mp warn green will be left wing on
issues 574. Candidates ignore international economic
relation while fighting on foreign investion and foreign labor visa 457
307
575. Coaliton cut strong on aid and confusing spending on stop the boat plan
576. Immigration official transfer illed toddler to shore against gfederal court order
577. Political dispute over death of an asylum seeker
578. Tony confirm spend 1 billion to lower boat people to 600 a year
579. Green senator may lose seat in south australia
580. Tony is the right man for top job 581. Coalition will cut current free legal
advice for asylum seeker
308
THEME CATEGORY
1977
The Sydney Morning Herald The Australian The Daily Telegraph
1. Health threat/ undetected/ quarantine 2. Humanity aid/ lack of fund 3. Political threat/ viet government exile 4. Sympathy/ welcome 5. Sympathy/ againts communists 6. Gov move to reduce boats 7. Countries where boats start journey 8. Song be 12 pirates/ relation threat to
vietnam 9. Increasing patrol darwin 10. Debate on boat problem 11. Sympathy/ asking for higher intake 12. Humanity aid in india 13. Debate on boat problem 14. Song be 12 pirates come/ precautions 15. Political threat for fraser cabinet 16. Security/defence policy fail to boat 17. Middle eastern’s rejection front 18. Vietnam poor and war conditions 19. Debate on quarantine and control
number 20. Dissuaded boat leave 21. Debate on song be 12/ deportation/
election issue 22. Private sale of boats
41. Russion somali conflict 42. Immigration assess apply 43. Policy speech support migrant
resource 44. Young migrant support 45. Security/ protection 46. Protest to stop illegal 47. Png dissidents 48. Quarantine danger/ health threat 49. Political threat/ govenrment in exile 50. Viet armada ready 51. Number threat/ dangers in flood 52. Refugee armada/ crisis in region 53. health risks from illegal boats 54. Song be 12/ debate about jumping
queue 55. Conflict in vietnam 56. Song be 12/ pirate ship board 57. Song be 12/ political threat 58. Rhodesian kill refugee 59. Refugee armada/ number threat 60. Sympathy/ story of song be 12 61. Sympathy/ viet flotsam not problem 62. Political pressure/ us accept more
refugee
75. Language for migrants 76. Immigration check boats 77. Number threat/ more boat 78. number threat/ back-door invasion
problem 79. Immigration/ move on assessment 80. Security/ quarantine/ threat of disease 81. Threat of disease and fear of not
genuine refugee 82. Song be 12/ soldier’s faith 83. Immigration/ multiculturalism 84. Song be 12 / piracy charge 85. South african refugee 86. Song be 12/ threat on relation 87. Refugee and hijack together 88. Relation crisis/ song be 12 89. Sympathy/ bishop arrest
309
23. Political threat/ song be 12/ reject of deportation
24. Humanity policy/ increase intake 25. Rhodesian kill refugee 26. Political threat/ rejection 27. Political threat/ complication on song
be 12 28. Rhodesian talks with britain 29. Humanity aid from us 30. Gov recommendation 31. Shortfall in births 32. Us accept viet refugee in singapore 33. Indonesian conflict dani 34. Number threat/ more boat 35. Ugandan refugee 36. Quarantine/ landing bar 37. Lao offensive 38. Ethopian refugee granted 39. Debate policy/ deport 40. Debate policy/ deport
63. Debate over refugee policy 64. Sympathy/ story of bishop 65. Immigration/ humanitarian policy 66. Health threat/ viet dirty 67. Immigration huge program 68. Immigration/ australian short mind on
multiculturalism 69. Politic tactic/ debate 70. Politic debate 71. Sympathy/ immigration policy 72. immigration crealance in progress 73. Politcal debate on racism 74. Immigration/ new scheme
310
2001
The Sydney Morning Herald The Australian The Daily Telegraph
90. Federal voting intention/ labor claw back/ alp refugee policy/ coast guard not navy
91. international/ us bombing 92. Immigration/ tampa processing debate 93. Diploma threat/ apec/ indonesia
realtion 94. Boat tragedy/350 dead/ genuine
refugee/ un claim 95. Diploma threat/ pakistani relation 96. boat tragedy/350 dead/ refugee accuse
unhcr 97. Education/ young refugee/ english
year 12 98. Boat tragedy/ 350 dead/ debate/ new
policy 99. Border protection policy/ 175m 100. Refugee is an issue in election/
poll confirm 101. Refugee issue/ mp gone overboard
on asylum will kill his political life 102. Anti-racism/ unity party 103. International/ us pakistan taliban 104. Boat tragedy/ 350 dead/ indo
police force refugee stay aboard 105. Boat tragedy/ 350 dead/
immigration policy 106. Sympathy/ boat tragedy/ 350 dead
225. Legal case/ bash in villawood detention
226. Immigration/ smuggler become new focus of gov
227. Offshore processing/ png/ new boatload found
228. International/taliban 229. International/ israel 230. Indo relation threat/ pm in apec 231. Statesmen conservatism 232. Sea tragedy/ failure of policy/ bad
labor comment 233. 353 drown/ sympathy to a lost
family 234. 353 drown/ reason of sinking boat 235. People smuggler network/ source
of problem 236. 353 drown/ tragedy at sea/
desperate refugee 237. 353 drown/ tragedy at sea/
desperate refugee 238. Bad labor tactic/ fairlure of policy 239. Refugee hot issue 240. Border security/ main cost policy 241. Poll survey/ labor lift but less
chance 242. International/ airbase siege in
pakistan
382. Boat people debate/ boat tragedy at sea/
amid election
383. Offshore processing/ mandaroty
detention/ unchanged
384. Palestine israel conflict
385. Boat people debate/ boat tragedy at sea/
argument
386. Boat tragedy at sea/ witness
387. Boat people debate/ picked solution
388. Boat people debate/ picked solution
389. Boat people debate/ security action against
illegal vessels
390. Boat people debate/ ugly politic
311
107. Election issue/ green carbon pollution tax
108. Gov election campaign launch/ national security
109. Gov offshore processing/ failure of policy
110. International/ us pakistan taliban 111. Sympathy/ refugee house 112. International/ west bank 113. sea tragedy/ 350 drown/
immitating policy 114. Sympathy/ 350 drown/ howard
conservatisim 115. The fat panel show inccident/
wrong question 116. Intellectual case/ more troop to
afghan 117. Sea tragedy/ 350 drown/
community accuse 118. Sea tragedy/ 350 drown/ un
inquiry indo 119. How war and boat crisis affect
pm’s campaign 120. Media watch/ detritus of
upheavals in the middle east 121. Intellectual case/ expanding troop 122. International/ war on terrorism 123. International/ israel withdraw
from palestine 124. Sympathy/ refugee benefits 125. Election campaign/ different
strategies
243. International/ escalation on palestine
244. Border protection/ us experience 245. Sympathy/ aust need to inform
refugee properly 246. Lift in poll/ labor hope 247. Terrorism/ threat of aust security 248. smuggler new evil 249. Indo police force refugee to sail 250. Pacific solution/ 2 more island to
jail refugee 251. 353 death/ tragedy at sea/
desperate family 252. Boatpeole crisis/ failure of policy/
influx of illegals 253. Influx of illegals/ cocos island fear 254. Refugee as big issue 255. Internation/ afghan war 256. International/ us admit mistake 257. Christmas island not for refugee
but space place 258. International closing border to
uninvited 259. Sympathy/ vietnamese compare 260. Offshore processing/ saliance
issue of gov 261. Bottom-up media endoresement 262. Australian are all refugee 263. Number threat/ fairlure of policy/
human flood 264. Sheik complaint 265. Sheik complaint
391. Boat people debate/ tragedy change
focusing to domestic issue
392. Boat tragedy at sea/ victim of smuggler
393. Boat tragedy at sea/ stop by indo police
394. Boat people debate/ ugly politic
395. Boat tragedy at sea/ regional talks
396. Boat people debate/ ugly politic
397. Number threat/ more to come
398. Lieu linh refugee tu nho den lon
399. Sympathy/ poor and troubled refugee
400. Boat tragedy at sea/ community claim
401. International event: pakistan
402. International relation/ war in afghan
403. Boat hijack/ pirates refugee
312
126. Election launch speech/ howard pledge to war
127. New film about refugee 128. Sympathy/ ethical question to both
leaders 129. Baby bonus/ another domestic
focus of gov 130. Refugee as an issue/ green policy 131. Refugee as an issue/ anti-racism 132. Refugee as an issue/ lib manifesto 133. International/ pakistan taliban us 134. Bypartisan refugee policy 135. True queue jumper/ unfair granted
visa/ im inccident 136. Poll survey/ political led policy
not public 137. Poll show public support lib refu
intake 138. Ad campaign/baby bonus negative
response ad 139. Lib 2 important policy wrongly 140. Dad in international issue and
mom in domestic 141. Figure obit 142. Offshore processing/ png deal 143. Anti-racism/muslim 144. Radio rating compare 145. International/ uk experiecne 146. Burget/fund neglect 147. Gov easy victory/ frontline refuge
issue 148. Anti-racism/ aust voter are racist 149. Obit/ a respectful refugee
266. Illegal immigarion crisis/ indo aust ministerial summit
267. West australia/ green support gov 268. Bipartisnship in refugee policy 269. International/ taliban 270. National security themes for gov
not efficient card 271. Obituary/ barista 272. Human interest/ curious life of a
refugee 273. Sympathy/ doctor’s refugee house
attacked 274. Sea tragedy/fled from religious
persecution 275. Pacific solution/ im confirm
regional problem 276. Boatpeople crisis/ hijacked
refugee 277. National security linked to refugee 278. Refugee bigest issue/ lib campaign
launch 279. Sympathy/ rally voices from
vaious faiths 280. Foreign minister debate/
dominated refugee issue 281. Propoganda election/ pm as firm
leader 282. International/ israel 283. Church future/ religion 284. Anti-multiculturalism/ new strain
of liberalism 285. Labor desperate campaign/ bad
poll result
404. Gov election theme/ security, aged care
and drug fight
405. Gov election campaign/ baby bonus and
tackle terrorism
406. War on terror/ camps for ref
407. Boat hijack/ doubt/ not sunk
408. Boat hijack/ actually sunk
409. Tampa crisis legal challenge
410. Boat hijack/ lied smuggler
411. Controversial muslim leader
412. Boat hijack/ refugee processs
413. Labor campaign launch/ education and
employment
414. Regional relation conflict over boat threat
313
150. Labor’s ‘knowledge nation’ policy speech
151. Indo relation threat 152. Tough policy/ breach international
law 153. Labor uneasy election/ kim large
hope speech 154. National party speech/ health and
telecommunication 155. racism/ politic of place/ impact of
ref issu 156. Smarter fairer land/ labor
manifesto 157. Architect/ new designed home in
north shore 158. Lib easy victory/ bipartisanship on
refugee issue 159. Indo relation/ war on terrorism 160. Number threat/ another 150 new
comers 161. Music for vunerable 162. Paramatta election/ labor leftist 163. Labor uneasy campaign 164. Sympathy/ name on wall 165. Reality show 166. Sympathy/sea tragedy/ prayer for
drown children 167. Mediatised of tampa 168. Lib campaign in tamworth 169. Rally for refugee 170. Labor troubled candidate 171. Disadvantage voters
286. Legal case/ smuggler alleged key figure in custody
287. Detention condition appalling/ riot detainees
288. From hijack to rich refugee 289. Sea tragedy/ 353 drown/ visa
restriction 290. Desperate labor campaign 291. Voters support gov’s tough stance
on refugee 292. Mother voter support gov on
refugee 293. Immigration is a threat for
security 294. Censorship of sailor personal
emails 295. Public densorsement turnback
boat 296. Im visa scandal 297. Illegal immigrants/ uk experience 298. Turn back boat/ un criticism gov 299. Im visa scandal 300. Failure of refugee policy 301. Anti-racism/ former politician
criticism 302. Labor values in knowledge nation
plan 303. Labor values in knowledge nation
plan 304. Labor campaign lauch/ common
ground on asylum 305. Relation threat/ fiji warning 306. International/ taliban
415. International/ israel palestine conflict
416. International/ afghan war
417. Sympathy/ music mean of encouraging
refugee
418. Election choice/ voters don’t care
419. Labor mixed view on refugee
420. Labor campaign/ mistaken fury step
421. Election choice/ voters focus on boat and
war
422. Sympathy/ humantarian request
423. Number threat/ more boat come
424. Sympathy/ international relation
425. Sympathy/ catholic dispute
426. Libs capaign/ troubled candidate
314
172. Wentworth voters lose faith in coalition
173. indo aust relation threat 174. Vote for issue not front man 175. Boat people the forefront issue 176. Legal case against a refugee
family 177. Immigration/ number threat/ more
boat come 178. Education/ economic islamic
refugee student 179. Labor fail with refugee 180. Refugee policy lack of public
support 181. Anti-racism/national party/ white
candidate 182. Labor is better/ gov unpopular
refugee policy 183. Refugee policy/ national interest
or foreign policy 184. Sympathy/ writer talk 185. Labor is better choice 186. Sympathy/ refugee adoption film 187. Doctor reveal child overboard 188. Sympathy/ former governor
general 189. Refugee debate/ pm strong anti
boat 190. Church and politic 191. Economy/ lack of issue 192. International/ fled of taliban 193. International/ peace deal for
palestine
307. International/ us war in afghan 308. International/ us attack 309. Election tactic of using war and
refugee issue 310. Left or right/ advisor for voter 311. Media/ bad news is good 312. Tight poll/ talkback callers 313. Refugee policy push vote 314. Hijack refugee come 315. Relation threat/ indo 316. Relation threat/ fiji 317. Australian elitism vs ordinary 318. Bipartisan on refugee 319. Most important theme of this
election/ leadership 320. Anti-racism rally vs conservative
residents 321. Lib and labor trouble candidates 322. International/ israel us 323. International/ war on terror/ us
escalation 324. Failure of policy/ record number
threat 325. Lib trouble candidate/ bishop on
refugee 326. Libs attack trouble candidate of
alp on refugee 327. Gov claim on dirty refugee
conspiracy 328. Child overboard inccident
investigation 329. Child overboard inccident
investigation/ doctor witness
427. Election choice/ poll survey/ victory on
gov
428. Sympathy/ former libs anger of howard
429. War in afghan/ international
430. Reveal of lie/ doctor attack policy
431. Howard victory/security as main issues
432. Child overboard video reveal/ debate of
throwing child
433. Child overboard video reveal
434. Refugee intake policy/ labor plan to keep
unchange
435. Election campaign/ issues made libs win
436. Policy tackle illegal/ not racism/ tampa
crisis
437. Child overboard video reveal
315
194. Number threat/ failure of policy 195. Failure of policy 196. Legal action/ tampa 197. Child overboard reveal/ navy
doctor 198. Indo relation threat 199. Legal court for smugglers 200. Refugee the terror 201. Hope not fear 202. Labor gov of hope not fear 203. Hope not fear/ labor speech 204. Poll survey/ refugee is unpopular
issue 205. International/ taliban slaughter
refugee 206. International/ palestine state
declaration 207. Gov lack of vision on economic
strength 208. Policies in hand of elitism 209. Anti-racism/ aust white policy in
pm speech 210. Child overboard reveal 211. Parites manifesto list 212. National security issue 213. Tight election/ swing seats gain
power 214. Reconstruction of child overboard
story 215. Anti-racism/ both parties united
againts critics 216. Gov changing direction to
economy
330. Anti-racism/ asian ally and demonising refugee
331. Smuggler arrest/ sea tragedy/ 353 drown
332. Multiculturalism/ pm promise 333. Pm win on economy and security 334. Labor uneasy campaign 335. Posibility of a hung parliament 336. Labor is not confident in western
australia 337. Lib may lose in paramatta for
refugee plan 338. International/ world aid in afghan 339. International/ afghan war 340. 3leaders’ wives interview one said
about refugee 341. Anti-racism/ lack international
relations 342. Relation threat/ aust more
domestic than regional 343. Relation threat/ consequence of
refugee policy 344. Pm’s card of fear/ refugee issue 345. Bipartisanship/ navy to turn back
boat 346. Voting start/ aust inward-looking/
insular aust 347. labor desperate campaign/ phone
tactic 348. Trouble candidate agianst party
refugee policy 349. Asylum crisis dominate last days
of election
438. Kill in boat intercept
439. Child overboard video reveal/ reith
responsibility
440. Child overboard video reveal/ refugee boat
at risk
441. Green protest over refugee
442. Child overboard story/ negative comment
from politician
443. Election choice/ hpward right guy
444. Election wrap/ domestic issues ignored
445. Boat threat/ democratic and green benefit
316
217. Bipartisan/ dandy refugee policy 218. South aust/ tight election 219. Labor loose in heartland/ impact
of tampa crisis 220. Richmond electorial 221. Refugee push factor in election 222. Labor rely on indo relation 223. Anti-racism/ racists win 224. Refugee hard time
350. Smugglers arrest/ police hunting suspect in aust
351. Trouble lib warn off tele 352. Child overboard inccident/ kim
required video 353. Anti-racism/ former lib leaders
criticised 354. International/ taliban revenge
refugee 355. Anti-racism/ no boatpeople crisis 356. Anti-racism/ feeling of shame for
aust 357. Media discourse on patriotism as a
game 358. Fear of refugee terrorist 359. Religious belief affect politician
decision 360. Media policy is strictly controled 361. Mix reaction of voters 362. Navy refuse gov wrong version on
child overboard 363. Defence min refuse provide child
overboard wrong version 364. Child overboard/ witness say
refugee swam for their lives 365. Child overboard/ boat sink not
throwing 366. Child overboard scnadal/ gov big
trouble 367. Child overboard/ video scandal/
expert condemn 368. Child overboard/ video scandal/
reith lie
317
369. Child overboard/ video scandal/ navy feel ashame
370. Relations threat/ indo 371. Refugee treated like animal 372. Kim cautious on scandal/ labor
wrong-footed 373. Baby bonus/ women condemn 374. International/ taliban 375. Warringah electorial/ tony abbot
on fire 376. Bipartisan/ immigration policy
will not change 377. Aborigional issue disappear in
election 378. Expert belevie in labor victory
because child overboard 379. Kim fail for his silent on refugee 380. Artist protest against refugee
policy 381. Media foreign invest
318
2013
The Sydney Morning Herald The Australian The Daily Telegraph
446. Png legal challenge 447. Png plan is cruel 448. Png plan legal challenge 449. Boat sinking/ drown refugee 450. Sympathy/ youth response 451. Png plan is cruel/ gov tough action 452. Coalition asylum plan/ libs’ tpv and ref
policy are scary/ stop the boat 453. Alp campaign/ election mistaken 454. Coalition asylum plan/ stop the boat 455. Aus break international law on refugee
policy 456. Png plan/ defence contract increase profit
for local company 457. International relation / syria conflict 458. Alp desperate campaign/ phone call to
target voters 459. Stop the boat/ buy-back plan/ indonesia
relation issue 460. Voter complain/ candidates weakness 461. Png legal challenge 462. Human right lack in aus regional foreign
policy 463. Campaign diary 464. Libs campaign/ trouble candidate 465. Libs refugee processing/ legal aspect of
asylum seeker 466. People smuggling/ arrest
492. Detainee challenge/ threat to png solution 493. Asylum debate/ independent and green 494. Security threat 495. People smuggler/regional talk 496. People smuggler/regional talk 497. Sa election/ libs and green 498. Refugee political debate / independent
and green 499. Png fail politically 500. Election cost/ labor spend more 501. Victoria election/ labor and green 502. People smuggler/regional talk 503. Desperate labor/ western sydney/ lindsay
electorial 504. Desperate labor/ unsecured in nsw seats 505. Refugee policy debate in lindsay/ libs
candidate 506. Png plan/ labor affirm 507. Tragedy at sea/ png deal 508. Png plan/ refugee processing options 509. Png plan review 510. People smuggler/ labor warning 511. Refugee political debate/ 3000 boat
people 512. Refugee political debate/ alp candidate
speech in melbourn 513. Tragedy at sea/ saved people brought to
shore
582. Desperate gov/ png solution legal challenge
583. Western nsw gun crime 584. Desperate gov/ png solution legal
challenge 585. Number threat/png solution on fire 586. Sympathy/ women refugee artists 587. Ignorance/ first lady 588. Political debate/ libs focus on asylum
policy/ desperate gov 589. Tony win election 590. Conservative labor attack leftist twitters 591. Png solution/ relation threat 592. Sympathy/ humanity church 593. Syrian damascus gas attack 594. Png solution/ png tension 595. Png solution/ png tension 596. Criminal refugee 597. Png solution/ png tension 598. Desperate asylum/ people smuggler 599. Criminal refugee 600. Png solution/ png tension 601. Sympathy/ refugee as victim of smuggler 602. Png solution/ increasing fund/ desperate
gov 603. Desperate gov/ rudd speech 604. Libs debate/ less boat because weather 605. Libs policy/ stop the boat
319
467. Libs policy/ legal aspect of asylum seeker 468. Sympathy/ protest for refugee 469. Channel ten new comedian show 470. Debate in policy on media/libs plan of
operation sovereign borders 471. Gov desperate campaign 472. Detention center inccident/ inquiry 473. International relation/ syria conflict 474. Theme of campaign: change/ ‘a new way’
and ‘choose real change’ 475. Libs campaign/ trouble candidate 476. Libs campaign/ easy victory 477. Immigration as election issue 478. International relation/ syria conflict 479. Libs campaign/ easy victory 480. Png legal challenge/ court hearing 481. Stop the boat/ aus businessman open stop
boat company in indo 482. Libs campaign/ trouble candidate 483. Green rely on asylum policy 484. Libs campaign/ trouble candidate 485. Libs campaign/ trouble candidate 486. Gov desperate campaign 487. Gov desperate campaign/ rudd speech 488. Gov desperate campaign 489. Libs campaign/ easy victory 490. Sympathy/ lack humanitarian 491. Libs campaign/ libs adopted policy
514. International/ arabs world 515. Election campaign/ economy 516. Election campaign/ gay marrigage issue 517. Png plan/ png relation/ fear of capacity 518. Human right award 519. Labor leadership dispute 520. Png plan/ torres strait warning 521. Png plan/ christmas island detention/
hunger strike 522. Immigration election issue/ coalition
tough operation sovereign border 523. Visa 457/ foreign worker 524. Immigration election issue/ coalition
tough operation sovereign border/ holes 525. First australian/ coalition promising 526. Tony lauching speech/ affirmation on
carbon tax and stop the boat 527. Anti-racism/ grafiti protest libs 528. Green gain 1 more senate seat 529. Png debate/ truthfullness of successful
plan 530. Palmer lauch campaign/ tax and adopted
old refugee plan 531. Young voters request 532. Nauru violence riots/ legal access for
police 533. Abbott buy back plan/ relation with indo/
diploma threat 534. International event/ westbank 535. International event/ westbank 536. Sympathy/ aus international law breaking 537. Labor desperate election capaign/
tasmania tactic
606. Libs policy/ stop the boat not convincing 607. Bad housing magaement/ poor asylum
family 608. Community security/ refugee stabb case 609. Community security/ refugee stabb case
320
538. Png solution/ constitutional challenge 539. Png plan/ on hold until election end 540. Png plan/ chisrtmas island protest/
teenager hang 541. Labot desperate election/ fail in tasmania 542. Anti-racism/ leftist pollies in parliament
against refugee plan 543. People smuggler/ biggest breakdown 544. Png plan/ manus islander rally 545. Png plan/ voter survey/ security as
priciple concern 546. Debate on burget/ coalition more details 547. Stop the boat/ solution rely on srilanka 548. Png plan/ palmer critical 549. Png plan/ people smuggler/ afp
investigation 550. Png plan/ png relation threat 551. Png plan/ smuggler arrest 552. International/ syria 553. Humanitarian program/ fund 554. Humanitarian/ rights agenda 555. Alp election launch/ pm return to labor
value issues 556. Png plan/ coalition provide polive power 557. Png plan/ asylum protest/ hang boy 558. Election in adelaide/ green 559. Labor desparate campaign/ bipartisan
policies 560. Election campaign/ ad spending 561. Png plan/ im confirm succesfull 562. Anti-racism/ pauline hansion 563. Labor desperate campaign 564. Diplomat on syria
321
565. Refugee issue/ debate/ scott 566. Election/ deputy pm 567. Labor desperate campaign/ diplomat
issues 568. Labor desperate campaign/ internet speed 569. Libs easy victory/ diplomatic 570. Libs easy victory/ senator blockade 571. Former leader accuse labor 572. International/ uk and syria 573. Election/ green left 574. Election issues/ asylum seeker visa 457 575. Election/ burget reveal 576. Png plan/ illed toddler 577. Refugee debate/ death of asylum seeker 578. Stop the boat/ 1 billion spend 579. Election in adelaide/ green lose 580. Libs victory/ tony the right man 581. Immigration issues/ cut legal advice
322
RESULTS
1977 Main theme of the stories
The SMH The
Australian The DT Total
Main theme of the article: Threat
Health threat (undetected IRAS/ quarantine) 2 0 1 3
66.70% 0.00% 33.30% 100.00%
Economy threat (cost of humanitarian aid/ lack of fund to spend on the patrol boat)
1 1 0 2
50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Foreign relation threat (Viet government in exile/ Relations with Hanoi) 4 2 2 8
50.00% 25.00% 25.00% 100.00%
Number threat (flood of boats/ Viet Armada) 1 4 1 6
16.70% 66.70% 16.70% 100.00%
Security threat (not genuine refugees/ pirates / illegal/ without authority) 3 0 2 5
60.00% 0.00% 40.00% 100.00%
Election threat (influx brings the difficulty to election) 1 0 1 2
323
50.00% 0.00% 50.00% 100.00%
Community threat (protest against IRAS/ community complaints IRAS behaviour)
0 2 0 2
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Main theme of the article: Sympathy
Sympathy aid program (Humanitarian refugee/ interview refuge/ granted visa)
2 3 0 5
40.00% 60.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Sympathy conflict (support Vietnamese refugees because of against communism)
1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Sympathy belief (Religious groups asking for higher intake/ Christine assist IRAS)
2 0 0 2
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Sympathy facts (refugee fled poor and war/ bad condition in IRAS home country)
2 3 1 6
33.30% 50.00% 16.70% 100.00%
Sympathy ideology (support IRAS, migration and multiculturalism) 0 4 2 6
0.00% 66.70% 33.30% 100.00%
Government moves to reduce boats (do not accept IRAS come this way) 2 1 1 4
324
Main theme of article: Policy/ Election
50.00% 25.00% 25.00% 100.00%
Working with other countries about IRAS issue (Vietnam/ South Africa/ US/ Singapore/ Malaysia/ Thai)
3 2 1 6
50.00% 33.30% 16.70% 100.00%
Firm line on the sea (Increasing patrol boat and aircraft/ coastal surveillance)
1 1 1 3
33.30% 33.30% 33.30% 100.00%
Lack of worthy IRAS policy to deal with boat problem/ Government slow action
2 0 1 3
66.70% 0.00% 33.30% 100.00%
Candidates use boats in debate topic/ campaign conducted toward the IRAS boat arrivals
3 4 0 7
42.90% 57.10% 0.00% 100.00%
Government candidates ignore boat issue/ do not allow IRAS as an election issue
2 0 0 2
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Oppositional Labour candidates focus boat issue/ stress on IRAS as an election issue
0 2 1 3
0.00% 66.70% 33.30% 100.00%
325
Government expand intake and support to reduce boats come in a dangerous way
2 1 0 3
66.70% 33.30% 0.00% 100.00%
Bipartisan in IRAS policy/ Oppositional party changing mind/ follow government
0 1 0 1
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other election or campaign focus 1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other Main theme of article
Other international refugee issues 0 1 0 1
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other international focus 5 2 0 7
71.40% 28.60% 0.00% 100.00%
326
2001 Main theme of the stories
The SMH The
Australian The DT Total
Main theme of the articles:
Threats
Foreign relations threat/ Australia isolated image on the world and region for Pacific Solution banning refugee policy/ export problem to emerging countries (UN/ APEC/ Indonesia/ Pakistan/ Fiji)
6 8 2 16
37.50% 50.00% 12.50% 100.00%
Security threat/ IRAS linked with people smugglers/ IRAS fight, protest or escape detention centre/ rich refugees pay for smugglers/ IRAS hijack a boat from people smugglers/ hijack boat landed/ take control boat/ IRAS fireboats, cut fuel line, damage the engine when meeting Navy coastal guard
0 5 4 9
0.00% 55.60% 44.40% 100.00%
National security threat/ terrorists may come to Australia within IRAS boats/ IRAS linked with terrors
2 5 1 8
25.00% 62.50% 12.50% 100.00%
Number threat/ boatload kept coming/ the flow of boats/ Influx others are still venturesome regardless of tragedy/ reckless IRAS
3 3 2 8
37.50% 37.50% 25.00% 100.00%
Election threat for Government/ child overboard scandal/ witness said child overboard claim never happen/ government shame of lie/ Navy conflict
3 6 5 14
327
Government/ Reith mistake may lose Lib/ Labour may win/ Green and other parties boost votes/ government try to ignore the scandal
21.40% 42.90% 35.70% 100.00%
Economic threat/ cost too much/ neglect funding for education spending on border protection/ PM neglecting disadvantage deficit budget to favour IRAS debates
4 0 0 4
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Assimilation threat/ young IRAS face English difficulty at year 12/ town attack doctor
1 1 1 3
33.30% 33.30% 33.30% 100.00%
Other threats 1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Main theme of the articles:
Tragedy at sea
Boatload sunk at sea/ high number drown/ too many IRAS on lousy condition boats
1 1 3 5
20.00% 20.00% 60.00% 100.00%
IRAS sad story of a dangerous journey on the sea/ separate family/ dream broken/ witness tell Titanic style story
1 1 1 3
33.30% 33.30% 33.30% 100.00%
IRAS accusation of UNHCR for slow processing and smugglers who took them on a dangerous trip
1 0 1 2
328
50.00% 0.00% 50.00% 100.00%
Desperate IRAS had no choice/ IRAS lousy life in home countries/ camps full of desperate
0 4 2 6
0.00% 66.70% 33.30% 100.00%
Vulnerable IRAS/ Indonesian police force IRAS kept sailing at gunpoint/ guard bash IRAS in the detention centre
1 2 1 4
25.00% 50.00% 25.00% 100.00%
Information control/ Navy block sailors send images or emails about boats, and IRAS/ accuse Navy doctor breach the rule
1 1 0 2
50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Legal aid fail for refugee: tribunal refuse/ family deportation 1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other tragedy Main theme 0 1 0 1
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Main theme of the articles:
Policy/ Election
Government insist IRAS as push factor/ security as election front line issue/ strong stance against IRAS (stress on boat crisis as domestic security issue, not international immigration/ 175 millions for Navy patrols to stop illegals/ launching border protection policy/ link IRAS with war and terrorism/ follow US and UK/ temporary visa restriction
7 4 4 15
46.70% 26.70% 26.70% 100.00%
329
Labour desperately direct voters to life issues/ Labor core values/ and unstable on the poll survey with weak IRAS policy (to replace Navy by coast guard/ weak and divided in IRAS policy/ cannot work with Indo/ blame PM for death at sea but fail
5 7 4 16
31.20% 43.80% 25.00% 100.00%
The legalisation of Pacific Solution/ Tampa legal case/ PM does not accept IRAS processed on Australia soil/ mandatory detention unchanged/ Aust pick 40 over 1500/ Kiribati take 500/ PM take genuine refugee survivor to Manus/ Tampa court waste of money/ create south pacific refugee colonies
4 3 4 11
36.40% 27.30% 36.40% 100.00%
Failure of policy/ ineffective offshore plan/ full in detention centers/ dissident MP protest/ trouble candidates/ community accusation/ imitating policy/ injustice policy: im granted visa for libs relative/ policy break law/ no solution for boat crisis/ voter have mix reaction
14 14 2 30
46.70% 46.70% 6.70% 100.00%
Bipartisan in IRAS policy/ Oppositional party changing mind and following government/ Child overboard scandal/ labour victory with cautious/ silence in child overboard scandal/ labour more efficient but familiar ground
8 8 1 17
47.10% 47.10% 5.90% 100.00%
Sound and safe policy/ Poll confirm IRAS as an issue/ 2/3 election hot issues linked to IRAS, and 73% support turn back boats/ PM and Liberals win/ PM is right man/ biggest audience attend/ rural more concern than metropolitan
6 12 5 23
330
26.10% 52.20% 21.70% 100.00%
Candidates use boats in the debate as a political game/ campaign conducted against IRAS / Conservatism, xenophobia and racism dominated election/ National party choose white candidates
14 14 4 32
43.80% 43.80% 12.50% 100.00%
Government focus on the source of problems: people smugglers/ investigation/ arrest suspects
1 6 0 7
14.30% 85.70% 0.00% 100.00%
Clash of ideology: Leftist vs rationalist/ extremist in IRAS debate/ liberalism anti boats vs support multiculturalism/ anti Muslim vs pro Muslim/ elitist vs ordinary
2 4 1 7
28.60% 57.10% 14.30% 100.00%
Other election or policy debate focus 14 12 4 30
46.70% 40.00% 13.30% 100.00%
Main theme of the articles: Sympathy
Sympathy protests/ anti-racism protest against tough offshore policy/ advocates rally/ artists protest
1 2 1 4
25.00% 50.00% 25.00% 100.00%
Sympathy facts/ Breaking myths of asylum seekers/ asylum seekers are genuine refugees, not opportunities/ inhuman policy/ voter fade support PM
1 2 0 3
33.30% 66.70% 0.00% 100.00%
331
Sympathy projects/ architects design refugee house/ music therapy centre/film on a life of refugees
5 1 1 7
71.40% 14.30% 14.30% 100.00%
Sympathy witnesses/ IRAS treated like animal/ doctor condemn/ Foxtel history channel new program/ former figure anger/ respectful refugee obit
5 3 2 10
50.00% 30.00% 20.00% 100.00%
Sympathy thought/ IRAS can benefit Australia/ ethical question to leaders/ PM, not a diplomat/ compare to Vietnam time
3 3 1 7
42.90% 42.90% 14.30% 100.00%
Sympathy policy/ Green offer multi-party mission to Pakistan and Indonesia/ unity part
2 1 0 3
66.70% 33.30% 0.00% 100.00%
Other Main theme of the articles
Other domestic focus 4 3 0 7
57.10% 42.90% 0.00% 100.00%
Other international refugee issues 4 4 2 10
40.00% 40.00% 20.00% 100.00%
Other international focus 9 16 5 30
30.00% 53.30% 16.70% 100.00%
332
2013 Main theme of the stories
The SMH The Australian
The DT Total
Main theme of the articles: Legislation
Legalisation of IRAS plan/ lawyer challenge PM/ PM accept challenge/ unconstitutional policy/ high court hearing/ high court battle/ Right agenda on human right sector/ Attorney General claim
5 3 2 10
50.00% 30.00% 20.00% 100.00%
Criminal case/ civil case of IRAS/ court hearing Rajini case/ court charge for people smugglers/ ill toddler
0 2 0 2
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Temporary Protection Visa 2 0 0 2
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Tony has cut legal advise/ cut free legal advice for IRAS 0 1 0 1
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
The legal position of abolishing refugees' right of judicial review/ Scott disagree
1 1 0 2
50.00% 50.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Police cannot arrest riots in a detention centre for lacking legal act/ Tony promise to give police more power in detention
0 2 0 2
333
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other legal focus 0 1 0 1
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Main theme of the articles: Policy/ Election
Lib imitating policy/ IRAS as fighting point of Oppositional Coalition/ stress on IRAS as election issue/ Turn back boat/ stop the boat/ Howard style IRAS policy/ adopted policy/ Tony refuse ASIO/ cut funding on aid organisations
2 3 2 7
28.60% 42.90% 28.60% 100.00%
Weak and soft Government PNG policy/ IRAS as Government weak point/ Labor candidates ignore boat issue/ do not allow IRAS as election issue/ 3000 boat people came after PNG plan/ bring IRAS onshore for process/ IM bring ill toddle to shore against a court order
0 5 2 7
0.00% 71.40% 28.60% 100.00%
Rudd lonely campaign / Labor leadership dispute/ desperate Government/ imitate Libs policy/ retired labor leader accuse
6 10 1 17
35.30% 58.80% 5.90% 100.00%
Foreign relations linked with IRAS/ summit not successful/ regional solution fail/ Sri Lanka/ Julie Bishop
0 5 0 5
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Defence linked with IRAS/ toll company/ Australian role in Syria/ Aust force to join military in Syria/ operation sovereign borders
4 1 0 5
334
80.00% 20.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Voters main concern on IRAS and support Coalition tough IRAS policy/ against IRAS/ Tony confident, easy victory/ stop boat company in Indo
4 2 1 7
57.10% 28.60% 14.30% 100.00%
Candidates use boats in debate as political game/ campaign conducted against IRAS / Conservatism, xenophobia and racism dominated election/ IRAS as reason of traffic jam/ Green rely on IRAS policy to push vote/ Libs IRAS plan was push factor not active/ Scott fail in IRAS policy details/ Pauline join/ death of an asylum seeker stab by his mate
8 9 1 18
44.40% 50.00% 5.60% 100.00%
PNG plan is cruel/ Malcolm Turnbull/ children in offshore detention/ plan awful but necessary/ fraud deal with PNG/ deny access to visit hang boy in a hospital
2 5 0 7
28.60% 71.40% 0.00% 100.00%
Right vs Left perspective in politic/ Leftist pollies accuse both parties' IRAS policy/ Leftist twitters/ Green left-wing on issues
0 2 1 3
0.00% 66.70% 33.30% 100.00%
Other policy/ election campaign focus 1 12 0 13
7.70% 92.30% 0.00% 100.00%
335
Main theme of the articles: Threats
Number threat/ 5 missing at boat sunk/ navy rescue 40th boat sunk/ start journey more to come/ full detention centre in Manus
1 2 2 5
20.00% 40.00% 40.00% 100.00%
Criminal threat/ gun crime in NSW/ people smugglers arrested/ smuggler test PNG plan/ grant visa for criminal sexual IRAS/ sexual assault/refugee stab to death/ refugee killer/ biggest people smuggler operation
1 3 5 9
11.10% 33.30% 55.60% 100.00%
Relation threat/ Indo accuse Tony's buyback plan/ PNG accuse Gov break the words/ Manus islanders angry/ contract in PNG plan/ Torres Strait Islands/ arrest five more smugglers/ Manus MP
2 5 4 11
18.20% 45.50% 36.40% 100.00%
Economic threat/ increase fund for PNG plan/ pump money for air transfer IRAS to islands/ studio public house is poor condition/ Gov undetailed budget plan/ Palmer blame Gov spending/ Tony confusing spend on Stop the boat/ 1 billion to reduce to 600 IRAS per year
0 3 1 4
0.00% 75.00% 25.00% 100.00%
Security threat/ 5 escape from detention center/ suicide attempt/ hunger strike
0 3 0 3
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other threat focus 0 0 1 1
336
0.00% 0.00% 100.00% 100.00%
Main theme of the articles: Sympathy
Sympathy project/ Religious groups assist IRAS/ women refugee artists
0 1 2 3
0.00% 33.30% 66.70% 100.00%
Sympathy protest/ advocates against IRAS plans/ anti racism graffiti/ advocates accuse Scott
1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Sympathy thought/ Jesuits alumni/ Rudd ancestor/ queue is not exist 3 1 0 4
75.00% 25.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Sympathy witness/ winner of human right award/girl brain/ family IRAS house
0 1 2 3
0.00% 33.30% 66.70% 100.00%
Sympathy policy/ Green find safe pathways for refugee/ Palmer party/ Senator warn to against most Libs policy
1 2 0 3
33.30% 66.70% 0.00% 100.00%
Other Main theme of the articles
Other domestic focus 1 0 0 1
100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other international refugee issues 0 1 0 1
337
0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 100.00%
Other international focus 1 4 1 6
16.70% 66.70% 16.70% 100.00%
338
Appendix H: Analysis of main actor quotes and attitudes
Main actor of the story
1977
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THE AUSTRALIAN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
1. OZ OFFICIALS CHIEF SECRETORY OF NORTHERN TERITORY
2. SPOKEMAN OF WORLD VISON GROUP
3. IM MAC KELLAR 4. RESIDENT 5. NO 6. NO 7. NO 8. NO 9. IM MAC KELLAR 10. WHITLAM/ CANDIDATE 11. NO 12. NO 13. NO 14. NO 15. NGUYEN HOANG CUONG REFUGEE/
FORMER PROFESSOR 16. RSL STATE PRESIDENT 17. NO 18. NO
41. NO 42. SENATOR MULVIHILL 43. PM FRASER 44. NO 45. DIRECTOR OF BOAT COMPANY/
DEFENCE SPOKEMAN/ NAVY 46. MAC KELLAR 47. PNG MIN OF DEFENCE 48. MAYOR OF DARWIN 49. LABOR ACTING IMMI SPOKEMAN 50. MAC KELLAR/ IMMI OFFICIAL/
PRESIDENT OF WORKER FED 51. MAC KELLAR 52. OZ OFFICIAL IN BANGKOK/ THAI
OFFICIAL 53. MAC KELLAR 54. BOB HAWKE/ DEPUTY PM/ VIET
SPOKEMAN/ WHITLAM 55. PENTAGON SOURCE 56. DEPUTY PM/ VIET REFUGEE/ TLC
SECRETARY
75. MAC KELLAR 76. VIET REFUGEE 77. NO 78. NO 79. NO 80. MAYOR OF DARWIN 81. NO 82. GOV SPOKEMAN 83. NO 84. DEPUTY PM/ TLC SECRETARY 85. DOCTOR OF ANU 86. PHAN KE DINH/ FOREIGN AFFAIR
OFFICIAL 87. NO 88. PEACOCK 89. SISTER OF ARCHBISHOP
339
19. PM FRASER/WHITLAM/HAWKE 20. NO 21. DEPUTY PM/MINISTERS PEACOCK/
MACKELLAR 22. CUSTOM SPOKEMAN 23. PEACOCK FOREIGN MINISTER 24. NO 25. NO 26. NO 27. PEACOCK/WHITLAM/ HAWKE 28. BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY 29. NO 30. NO 31. COUNCIL OF POPULATION AND IM 32. NO 33. INDONESIAN OFFICIALS 34. NO 35. NO 36. MINISTER OF TRANSPORT 37. INTELLIGENCE SOURCE/THAI
OFFICIAL/ WITNESS 38. ETHOPIAN REFUGEE 39. NO 40. MACKELLAR/NIXON
57. PM FRASER/ MIN PEACOCK/ VIET OFFICIAL DINH
58. RHODESIAN PM/ BISHOP DEPUTY SECRETARY/ BISHOP
59. IMMI OFFICIAL/ OZ EMBASY FIRST SECRETARY IN BANGKOK/ MIN PEACOCK/ MIN HAWKE
60. NO 61. JAPANESE HEAD OF MOST SENIOR
CORPORATIONS/ FEDERAL COUNCIL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF ARBORIGIONAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDERS.
62. PM FRASER/ LABOR SPOKEMAN ON IMMI
63. NO 64. SISTER OF BISHOP 65. UNHCR/ EXPERT OF ASIAN STUDY 66. LIQUOR TRADES UNION/
MANAGER OF HOSTEL 67. CITY PLAN AUTHOR 68. NO 69. WHITLAM 70. PEACOCK 71. NO 72. NO 73. PEACOCK 74. VICTORIA PREMIER
340
2001
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THE AUSTRALIAN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
90. POLLTERS 91. US FOREIGN/ INFORMATION
MINISTRY OFFICIAL 92. IM/ ASSISTANCE UNHCR
COMMISSIONER 93. US PRESIDENT 94. UNHCR SPKOEMAN/ REFUGEE 95. PAKISTANI LEADER 96. 7 REFUGEES 97. ASSOCIATION OF TEACHER OF
ENGLISH 98. KIM/ HOWARD/ RUDDOCK/ UNHCR 99. HOWARD 100. NO 101. POLITICIAN/ MP 102. THANG NGO/ POLITICIAN 103. Pakistan leader/ INDO FOREIG
MINISTER/ US DEFENCE SECRETARY
104. REF/ INDO POLCIE 105. IM/ HOWARD/ KIM 106. 2 REF 107. SENATOR/ EXPERT/ FARMER
FEDERATION OFFICIAL 108. HOWARD 109. KIM/ HOWARD
225. NO 226. SPOKEMAN FOR IM/ KIM/ IM 227. CHIRSTMAS ISLAND
RESIDENT/ IM RUDDOCK 228. SPOKEMAN FOR UNHCR 229. PALESTINE AUTHORITY 230. NO 231. NO 232. KIM/ PM/ IM 233. 4 REFUGEES 234. REFUGEES 235. IOM/ UNHCR 236. REFUGEE/ SPOKEMAN OF
MANDEAN COMMUNITY 237. REFUGEE 238. KIM 239. NO 240. PM 241. STRATEGIST/ LIB
CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR 242. TOWN DEPUTY POLICE
INSPECTOR/ ISLAMIC OFFICIAL 243. SPOKEMAN OF US STATE
DEPARTMENT/ SHARON OFFICIAL 244. US LIEUTENANT/ CAPTAIN 245. NO
382. ORGANISATION FOR MIGRANT/ HOWARD/ BEAZLEY
383. NO 384. ARAFAT/ PFLP SPOKEMAN/
SHARON/ ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTER/ ISRAEL ARMY CHIEF
385. HOWARD/ BEAZLY 386. IOM CHIEF IN INDO/KLAN AND
OTHER SURVIVORS 387. RUDDOCK IM/ INDO OFFICIALS 388. PRESIDENT OF KIRIBATI 389. NO 390. PM/ KIM 391. NO 392. REFUGEES 393. REFUGEE/ FOREIGN AFFAIR
MINISTER DOWNER/ INDO MINISTER/ SPOKEMAN OF INDO NATIONAL POLICE
394. UNHCR COMMISONER/ HOWARD/ DEPUTY PM/ RUDDOCK IM
395. INDO MINISTER/ OZ FOREIGN MINISTER/ OPPOSITION FOREIGN MINISTER
396. SENATORS 397. NO
341
110. UN SPOKEPERSON/ UNHCR OFICIALS
111. ARCHITECH 112. US PRESIDENT 113. IM RUDDOCK 114. ABC JOURNALIST/ HOWARD 115. ATHLETE/ JOURNALIST 116. PM 117. MUFTI OF AUSTRALIA 118. UNHCR/ CHIEF DETECTIVE/
MINISTER FOR DEFENCE/ ASYLUM 119. NO 120. EDITOR/ MINISTER FOR
SPORT/ PM 121. NO 122. SPOKEMAN OF FERIEGN
MINISTRY PAKISTAN 123. WITNESS 124. NO 125. NO 126. NO 127. DIRECTOR/ FILM MAKER 128. NO 129. PM 130. SENATOR BROWN 131. JOURNALIST 132. PM 133. PAKISTAN PRESIDENT/ US
MINISTER 134. NO
246. NEWSPOLL CHIEF/ STRATEGIST
247. NO 248. REFUGEE 249. INDO MINISTER/ REFUGEE 250. NO 251. REFUGEE 252. NO 253. COCOS RESIDENT 254. PM 255. UN OFFICIAL 256. SPKOEWOMAN OF
PENTAGON/ US REAR ADMIRAL 257. KOREAN SCIENTIST/
EXPERT 258. PM/ INTERNATIONAL
FIGURE 259. NO 260. NO 261. MURDOCH/ HYWOOD
PUBLISHER 262. SINGER 263. NO 264. REFUGEE/ DIPLOMAT 265. LEADER SHEIK/ REFUGEE/
UN EXPERT 266. PM/ KIM/ FOREIGN
MINISTER 267. SENATOR 268. MOTHER VOTER
398. REFUGEE/ SPOKEMAN OF ISLAMIC COMMUNITY
399. NO 400. SHEIK/ ISLAMIC LEADER/ IM
RUDDOCK 401. NO 402. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT 403. INDO DEPUTY POLICE CHEF
COMMISSIONER/ RUDDOCK IM 404. PM/ KIM 405. NO 406. UNHCR OFFICIAL 407. IM RUDDOCK 408. INDO POLICE CHIEF/ IM RUDDOCK 409. JUSTICE 410. UNHCR OFFICAL/ FEMALE
REFUGEE 411. SHEIK/ SUPPORTER/ LABOR
SOURCE/ SHEIK DAUGHTER/ SENATOR/ SPEAKER OF FEDERATION PARLIAMENT
412. IM RUDDOCK 413. NO 414. IM RUDDOCK/ INDO NAVY CHIEF/
FIJI PRESIDENT 415. US STATE DEPARTMENT 416. US GENERAL/ VOA RADIO IN
PERSIAN AND PASHTO 417. NO 418. VOTERS AS CARPENTERS 419. KIM/ INDEPENDENT MP
342
135. IM/ MINISTER STAFF/ LIB MEMBER
136. POLLSTER 137. NO 138. NO 139. NO 140. NO 141. NO 142. PM 143. MUSLIM LEADER 144. NO 145. UK HOME SECRETARY 146. NO 147. NO 148. FORMER PM 149. FRIEND OF GIBSON 150. KIM 151. INDO ADMIRAL/ PM/
PROFESSOR 152. VICE PRESIDENT OF
LEBANESE COMMUNITY/ UN SPOKEWOMAN/ IM RUDDOCK
153. KIM 154. PARTY LEADER 155. NO 156. POLITIC COMMENTATORS 157. ARCHITECH/ COUPLE 158. PM 159. INDO PRESIDENT/ INDO
FOREIGN MIN/ OPPOSITION
269. US REAR ADMIRAL/ TALIBAN SPOKEMAN/ REFUGEE
270. KIM 271. BARISTA/ JUSTICE 272. NURSE/ SOCIAL WORKER/ A
FRIEND REFUGEE 273. DOCTOR/ RESIDENT/
WORKERS 274. REFUGEES 275. IM 276. NO 277. PM 278. NO 279. ARCHBISHOP 280. FM/ LABOR FM 281. LIBERAL INSIDER 282. ARAFAT/ SPOKEMAN OF
ISRAEM PM 283. NO 284. PM 285. PM 286. DEFENCE COUNSEL/
PROSECUTOR 287. INSPECTOR 288. REFUGEE/ PM OF VANIATU/
SECRETARY OF PACIFIC ISLAND FORUM
289. NO 290. KIM 291. VOTERS 292. VOTER
420. TREASURER COSTELLO 421. VOTERS 422. RESIDENT AS A BUILDER 423. NO 424. FORMER DEFENCE SPOKEMAN 425. EDITOR/ CHURCH 426. BISHOP/ PM/ KIM 427. POLLSTER 428. NATIONAL FIGURE 429. SPOKEMAN OF UNHCR 430. NAVY DOCTOR/ IM RUDDOCK 431. NO 432. PM/ IM RUDDOCK/ KIM 433. REITH DEFENSE MINISTER 434. KIM 435. OTHER NEWSPAPERS 436. OTHER NEWSPAPERS/ IAN MAC
PHEE FORMER MINISTER 437. VICE ADMIRAL/ PM/ KIM/ TOP
SECRET DOCUMENT 438. COMMODORE/ HOWARD/ KIM 439. HOWARD/ ADMIRAL 440. EXPERT AT NATIONAL MARITIME
MUSEUM 441. NO 442. IM/ PM/ KIM/ REITH/ NAVY CHIEF
VICE ADMIRAL 443. NO 444. NO 445. NO
343
FOREIGN AFFAIR SPOKEMAN/ FOREIGN MIN
160. HEAD OF INDO NAVY/ POLICE
161. CHILD/ PROFESOR 162. LABOR MP/ LIB MP/ SENATE
CANDIDATE/ COUNCILOR 163. KIM ADVISOR/ LABOR
FIGURE 164. REFUGEES 165. PRESENTER 166. SHEIKH/ FATHER/
SPOKEMAN FOR MAN OF 3 DIED 167. POLLSTER 168. PM 169. NUN/ GREEN CANDIDATE/
VOTER/ PAX SPKOEMAN 170. POLITICIAN/ DEPUTY PM/
PM/ KIM 171. PROBLEMATIC VOTER/
SOCIAL MOTHER 172. VOTER/ LABOR CANDIDATE 173. NO 174. NO 175. LIB MP/ KIM/ LIB MP/ 176. NO 177. NO 178. STUDENT OF ECONOMIC
REFUGEE BACKGROUND 179. LIB MP 180. VOTERS
293. IM/ PM 294. GOV OFFICIAL/ DEFENSE
MINISTER 295. IM 296. IM 297. UK POLITICIANS 298. UNHCR COMISSIONER 299. IM 300. NO 301. FRASER 302. KIM 303. KIM/ PM 304. NSW PREMIER/ POLITICIAN
OF NT 305. FIJI LEADERS 306. AMBASADOR/ UN STAFF 307. ANALYST 308. SCHOLAR/ MUSLIM
INTELLECTUAL/ PRESIDENT US 309. WHITE HOUSE MEDIA
SERVICE/ NEWS SERVICES/ POLITICIAN/ LIBERAL STAFF/ KIM/ PM
310. NEWSPAPERS 311. JOURNALISTS/ EDITORS 312. VOTERS 313. KIM/ TREASURER 314. INDO ADMIRAL 315. PM
344
181. LIB POLITICIAN/ PRESIDENT OF CHINESE FORUM/ BRISBANE LORD MAYOR/ ASIAN AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN/ FEMALE CANDIDATE
182. LIB POLITICIAN 183. PM 184. WRITER 185. KIM 186. FORMER POLITICIAN 187. NAVY DOCTOR/ DEFENCE
MINISTER PETER REITH 188. FORMER GOVERNOR/
ARBORIGIONAL LEADER 189. PM/ KIM/ 3 POLITICIANS 190. POLITICIAN/ EDITOR 191. ECONOMIST/ EXPERT 192. ELDERLY/ REFUGEE IN
CAMP 193. ISRAEL PRESIDENT 194. PM 195. CHURCH LEADERS/
EXPERTS/ ORGANISATION LEADERS
196. CHIEF JUSTICE 197. DEFENCE DIRECTOR/ NAVY
DOCTOR 198. INDO POLITICIAN/ FOREIGN
MINISTER 199. INDO POLICE COLONEL 200. PM/ DEFENCE MIN 201. KIM
316. FIJI LEADER/ PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM/ PNG FOREIGN MINISTER/ PNG NEWSPAPERS
317. PM/ OTHER NEWSPAPERS 318. NO 319. NO 320. PROTESTER/ RESIDENTS
AGAINST PROTESTERS 321. NO 322. ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTER/
ARAFAT/ AUST DEPUTY DEFENCE MINISTER
323. US DEFENCE SECRETARY 324. BISHOP/ PM/ DEFENCE
MINISTER 325. JOURNALIST/ EDITOR 326. KIM 327. LIB FEDERAL DIRECTOR 328. RESIDENTS OF CHRISTMAS
ISLAND/ DEFENCE MINISTER/ SPOKEMAN OF DENFENCE MINISTER/ PM/ IMMIGRATION MINISTER
329. DOCTOR/ DOCTOR WIFE/ DEFENCE DEPARTMENT SPOKEMAN
330. EXPERT/ ANALYST/ FORMER BUREAUCRATS
331. INDO OFFICAL/ FORMER BEUROCRAT/ PM
332. PM/ KIM
345
202. KIM 203. KIM 204. NO 205. REFUGEES/ USA PRESIDENT 206. PALESTINE MINISTER/
NEGOTIATOR 207. NO 208. NO 209. HISTORIAN/ PM 210. NAVY CHIEF/ DEFENCE MIN/
KIM 211. NO 212. KIM/ PM 213. NO 214. PM/ DEFENCE MIN 215. KIM/ FORMER ALP
POLITICIAN/ FORMER FRASER GOV MIN/ FORMER GOVERNOR GENERAL/ PM
216. PM 217. NO 218. NO 219. PROFESSOR 220. LIB CANDIDATE/ LABOR
CANDIDATE 221. PM 222. NO 223. PM 224. KIM
333. NO 334. NO 335. NO 336. NO 337. VOTERS 338. NEWS SERVICES/ TALIBAN
AMBASADOR/ UNHCR SPOKEMAN 339. TALIBAN MILITARY
SOURCE/ TALIBAN AMBASSADOR 340. PM WIFE/ KIM WIFE/
NATIONAL PARTY LEADER WIFE 341. NO 342. NO 343. NO 344. PM/ KIM 345. NO 346. LOBBYIST/ LIB CAMPAIGN
DIRECTOR IN BRITAIN 347. LIB PARTY DIRECTOR 348. LIB CRITICS/ LABOR MP 349. NO 350. NO 351. BISHOP 352. PM/ DEFENCE MINISTER/
KIM 353. 2 FORMER LIB MINISTERS 354. REFUGEES 355. NO 356. FORMER POLITICIANS AND
AMBASSADORS 357. NO
346
358. PM/ OTHER NEWS SOURCES/ OTHER JOURNALISTS
359. NATIONAL PARTY LEADER/ COMMUNICATION MINISTER/ MPS
360. JOURNALISTS/ EDITORS 361. VOTERS 362. NAVY CHIEF/ PM/ DEFENCE
MINISTER/ SPOKEMAN OF IM/ KIM 363. PM/ VICE ADMIRAL 364. WITNESS 365. FORMER NAVY CAPTAIN/
DEFENCE MINISTER 366. IM/ PM/ NAVY REPORT/
DEFENCES MINISTER/ DEPUTY PM/ VICE ADMIRAL
367. PHILOSOPHERS IN MELBOURNE UNIVERSITY
368. KIM/ DEFENCE MINISTER 369. SENIOR NAVAL FIGURE/
NAVAL DOCTOR/ RETIRED NAVY CHIEF ADMIRAL/ HEAD OF AUST DEFENCE ASSOCIATION
370. INDO MINISTER 371. WITNESS/ ISLANDER/
SPOKEMAN OF DEFENCE 372. KIM 373. VOTERS/ NURSE/ MOTEHR/
TEACHER 374. UNICEFF OFFICIAL 375. TONY/ RESIDENT/ LABOR
CANDIDATE
347
376. NO 377. NO 378. UNI SYD EXPERT 379. NO 380. NO 381. NO
348
2013
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD THE AUSTRALIAN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
446. ATTORNEY-GENERAL 447. TURNBULL/ TONY/ RUDD 448. RUDD 449. NO 450. HENRY STUDENT 451. BURKE/ CHILOUT ADVOCATES/
IMMIGRATION SPOKEMAN OF LIBS (SCOTT)
452. NO 453. ALP SPOKEWOMAN 454. SCOTT 455. UN PRESS RELEASE/ PROFESSOR/
SPOKEMAN OF TAMIL COUNCIL 456. NO 457. NO 458. NO 459. INDO SENIOR OFFICIAL 460. GRAHAM SHOW PRESENTER 461. SOLICITOR 462. BISHOP/ BOB CARR 463. PALMER 464. FORMER LIVERPOOL POLICE
COMMANDER/ LIBS MEMBER/ MARNAGER OF LIVE MORGAT CENTER
465. COALITION/ SENATOR/ GREENS 466. NO
492. LAWYER/ ATTORNEY-GENERAL/ HIGH COURT APPLICATION
493. NO 494. NO 495. BURKE 496. NO 497. SENATORS/ LIBS MP/ LIBS MP SON 498. INDEPENDENT MP 499. NO 500. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FUSION/
OMD CHIEF EXECUTIVE 501. VIC ALP SECRETARY/ ALP
NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT/ SENIOR VIC LABOR SOURCE/ GREEN CO-CONVENER
502. IM/ RUDD/ SCOTT/ BARRISTER 503. LABOR CANDIDATE 504. SENIOR LABOR SOURCE/ POLL
SOURCE 505. LIBS CANDIDATE/ ALP
CANDIDATE 506. PM/ LABOR POLICE/ INDO
PRESIDENT/ INDO POLITICIANS 507. AMSA STATEMENT 508. REFUGEE 509. NO 510. RUDD/ ATTORNEY-GENERAL/ IM
582. COURT APPLICATION/ BARRISTER/ ATTORNEY GENERAL
583. SCIPIONIE COMISIONER/ LIBS SOURCE/ NSW GOV SOURCE
584. KEVIN RUDD PM 585. PM/ AMSA SPKOEWOMAN/
OPPOSITION IM SCOTT MORRISON/ IM BURKE
586. ART DIRECTOR 587. PM’S WIFE 588. TONY 589. ABBOTT/ PM 590. TWITTER USERS/ JOURALISTS/
BOOK CRITIC/ COLUMNISTS 591. PNG IMMI OFFICIAL/ SCOTT
MORRISON 592. REVEREND/ REFUGEE 593. NURSE/ SYRIAN MINISTER/
JOURNALIST/ WHITE HOUSE/ UN TEAM 594. PNG VICE MINISTER 595. PNG MP/ IM BURKE/ SCOTT 596. NO 597. ELDER VILLAGER/ MANUS
GOVERNOR/ MANUS MP/ MEMBER OF CLAN
598. NO
349
467. BRANDIS LIBS 468. REVEREND/ FATHER 469. TOM GLEESON COMEDIAN 470. IM BURKE/ TONY 471. NO 472. SENATOR 473. US PRESIDENT/ BOB CARR 474. TONY/ GREEN/ JOE ECONOMIC/
DEPUTY PM/ JOURNALIST/ VOTER 475. FIONA SCOTT/ ABBOTT 476. JOURNALIST/ TONY 477. NO 478. POLITICIANS 479. NO 480. LAWYER 481. ALAN THE BUSINESSMAN 482. TONY/ SENATOR LIBS 483. NO 484. SCOTT FIONA/ PAULA POWER
ADVOCATE 485. TONY 486. NO 487. NO 488. MR. INGREY VOTER 489. TONY/ HOWARD 490. NO 491. NO
511. ABBOTT 512. LABOR CANDIDATE 513. NO 514. NO 515. COALITION INDUSTRY
SPOKEWOMAN/ TONY/ AUSTRADE/ RUDD 516. NO 517. PNG CHIEF MIGRATION OFFICER/
IM/ OZ ACTING SECRETARY FOR FOREIGN AFAIR
518. AWARDEE/ MUNDINE ARBIGIRINAL LEADER
519. TREASURER 520. NO 521. IMMIGRATION SPOKEMAN 522. SCOTT/ PROFESSOR/
SPOKEWOMAN FOR ATTORNEY-GENERAL 523. NO 524. CHIEF JUSTICE/ SCOTT 525. TONY/ LEADER OF
ARBORIGIONAL/ LEADER OF INDIGENOUS 526. TONY
527. MP LIB 528. SENATOR/ GREEN MP/ ADVOCATE 529. PNG OFFICIAL/ PNG MINISTER/
SCOTT/ BURKE 530. PALMER 531. LIBS CANDIDATE OF BRADFIELD/
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF OURSAY/ DIRECTOR OF NEWSPOLL/ ALP CAMPAIGN SOURCE
599. NO 600. PNG MP 601. GIRL’S MOTHER/ FAMILY FRIEND 602. IM BURKE/ SCOTT 603. PM RUDD 604. SCOTT/ BURKE 605. MAJOR GENERAL/ TONY 606. SCOTT 607. COMMUNITY SERVICE MINISTER/
KHALIL 608. NO 609. POLICE ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT/
SCOTT/ BURKE
350
532. NAURU ACTING PRESIDENT/ IM BURKE/ NAURUAN SOURCE
533. HEAD OF INDO FOREIGN AFFAIR / INDO EXPERT
534. ACTIVISTS/ NGOS/ REFUGEE/ FORMER ISRAEL SOLDIER/ SPOKEMAN OF HEBRON COMMUNITY/ AMERICAN JEWS ACTIVISTS
535. ISRAEL POLICE SPOKEWOMEN 536. READERS/ LAWYERS/ FORMER
GREEN LEADER/ POLITICAL EDITOR/ PROFESSOR/ EXPERT
537. MP/ DEPUTY PM/ IM/ INDEPENDENT MP
538. SOLICITOR/ ATTORNEY-GENERAL/ PROFFESSOR
539. MP PNG/ MANUS CLAN LEADERS 540. NO 541. LABOR MP/ LIBS CANDIDATE/
VOTER 542. MP/ LEFTIST JOURNALIST/
WHITLAM/ BOB HAWKE 543. NO 544. MP MANUS/ SPOKEWOMAN OF
DIAC/ OPPOSITION FOREIGN AFFAIR JULIE BISHOP/ PNG ACTING POLICE COMMISSIONER/ PM
545. ANGLICARE AUS DOCTOR 546. COALTION SPKOEMAN/ ALP
TREASURER 547. VICE ADMAIRAL SRI LANKA
351
548. JOURNALIST/ PALMER 549. AFP ASSITANT COMMISIONER 550. MP MANUS 551. NO 552. TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER/
SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER 553. NO 554. BRANDIS 555. PM/ SPOKEMAN FOR JULIA/
COALITION CAMPAIGN SPOKEMAN/ CHRISTOPHER PYNE
556. SCOTT/ ABERTZ MP 557. LAWYER/ PRESIDENT OF SOMALI
COMMUNITY/ SOMALI STUDENT 558. UNIONIST/ GREEN SENATOR 559. RUDD 560. DIRECTOR OF EBIQUITY 561. IM/ ASYLUM SEEKER/ POLICE
OFFICER 562. HANSON 563. NO 564. NO 565. SCOTT/ BURKE 566. ALBANESE/ SUPPORT VOTER/
SECRET SOURCE WITHIN COALITION/ GILLARD SUPPORTER
567. NO 568. VOTER 569. NO 570. FINANCE SPOKEMAN 571. FORMER LABOR LEADER
352
572. UK POLITICIANS 573. MP 574. TONY/ MINISTER/ TREASURER 575. HOCKEY/ PM/ FINANCE EXPERT/
ECONOMIST 576. NO 577. SCOTT/ INSPECTOR/ BURKE 578. BURKE/ SCOTT 579. SENATOR 580. NO 581. NO
353
RESULTS
1977 2001 2013 Total in three years
SMH Aust DT Total 1977
SMH Aust DT Total 2001
SMH Aust DT Total 2013
SMH Aust DT Total
No Actor 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 4 PM Fraser 3 2 0 5 3 2 0 5 Whitlam 1 2 1 4 1 2 1 4 PM Howard 2
2 20
6 48
22
20
6 48
Beazley 10
12
2 24
10
12
2 24
PM Rudd 4 8 1 13
4 8 1 13
Abbott 3 7 2 12
3 7 2 12
Other parties' leaders
5 2 1 8 2 5 0 7 7 7 1 15
Government candidates
2 6 2 10
0 1 0 1 2 7 2 11
Oppositional party's candidates
0 1 0 1 6 2 1 9 4 7 1 12
10
10
2 22
Other candidates
0 3 0 3 0 3 0 3
Federal Government
8 9 6 23
9 9 7 25
6 14
4 24
23
32
17 72
Un-named political source
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
MPs 2 3 0 5 9 3 2 14
2 6 0 8 13
12
2 27
354
Senate - committee
0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2
High Court and other justice
2 0 0 2 1 2 1 4 3 2 1 6
Immigration officials
3 4 4 11
3 2 3 8 1 5 1 7 7 11
8 26
Military Force 3 0 0 3 2 10
7 19
2 3 1 6 7 13
8 28
State government
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 3
Local government
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
Other government actors
1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 2 1 1 4
National figure 2 2 0 4 2 2 0 4 International
figure 7 3 1 1
1 15
17
7 39
1 4 1 6 23
24
9 56
Ex-government official
2 2 2 6 0 1 0 1 2 3 2 7
Political experts 0 5 1 6 0 1 0 1 0 6 1 7 Non political
experts 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2
Campaign related actors
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
Regional figures 1 2 0 3 2 8 1 11
1 8 5 14
4 18
6 28
Other political figures
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
Business or Professional
0 1 0 1 4 0 1 5 2 0 1 3 6 1 2 9
Labour unions/ workers
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2
Church/ Religious
1 1 0 2 1 2 0 3 1 0 1 2 3 3 1 7
355
Humanities 2 0 0 2 3 5 3 11
3 2 0 5 8 7 3 18
Lawyers 2 1 1 4 2 1 1 4 Ethnic
community 2 2 1 5 2 2 1 5
IRAS 7 4 2 13
9 10
6 25
2 2 4 8 18
16
12 46
Journalist 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 4 Media actors 1 5 1 7 1 5 1 7 Public/ residents 5 9 4 1
8 5 5 1 1
1 10
14
5 29
Specific voter bloc
10
10
1 21
2 5 0 7 12
15
1 28
Participants/ Witness
1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1
Pollster 0 0 1 1 4 3 2 9 4 3 3 10 Criminals/
People smugglers 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2
Total 40 34 15 89 135 157 64 356 46 90 28 164 221 281 107 609
356
Evaluation of the politician and authority quotes and paraphrasing
The SMH
The Australian
The Daily Telegraph
Total
1977 No main actor mentioned 0 0 0 0 Extremely critical 5 8 2 15 Critical 14 9 4 27 Slightly critical 6 1 3 10 Balanced 2 0 1 3 Slightly affirmative 0 2 3 5 Affirmative 11 13 2 26 No evaluative content 2 1 0 3 40 34 15 89 2001 No main actor mentioned 0 1 1 2 Extremely critical 9 16 8 33 Critical 59 75 30 164 Slightly critical 17 22 4 43 Balanced 4 3 4 11 Slightly affirmative 9 4 2 15 Affirmative 36 31 15 82 No evaluative content 1 5 0 6 135 157 64 356 2013 No main actor mentioned 0 0 0 0 Extremely critical 3 3 3 9 Critical 18 52 15 85 Slightly critical 5 10 4 19 Balanced 4 1 0 5 Slightly affirmative 4 1 0 5 Affirmative 10 21 4 35 No evaluative content 2 2 2 6 46 90 28 164 Total No main actor mentioned 0 1 1 2 Extremely critical 17 27 13 57 Critical 91 136 49 276 Slightly critical 28 33 11 72 Balanced 10 4 5 19 Slightly affirmative 13 7 5 25 Affirmative 57 65 21 143 No evaluative content 5 8 2 15 221 281 107 609