The Bodies of Beirut vs the precious of Paris: ow the Guardian refelcts and (Re)produces Power Relations

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2016-08-15
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en
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Within a day after the terror attacks in Beirut and Paris in November 2015, an outcry on social media concerning the difference in coverage of both attacks commenced. Starting from the question whether the critique voiced in this outcry was justified, this dissertation discusses the power relations reflected and (re)produced in the discourses on the victims, witnesses, and their relatives in the articles on the Beirut and Paris attacks of November 2015 published in the Guardian. The Critical Discourse Analysis approach of Siegfried Jäger was used to distil results, and Michel Foucault’s thoughts on power, knowledge, and the subject to interpret these results. Despite some resistance points, the Guardian often classifies the people of Beirut according to demographic features, thereby objectifying them, and focuses on the emotions of the people in Paris, thereby humanising them. If unchallenged, this may negatively influence the coverage of other terror attacks, as well as the discourses and actions around terrorism, refugees, and foreign policies. This thesis thus identifies the need for a change in coverage, moving to a coverage of both the effects of attacks on human lives and of the context, regardless of the location where the attack took place
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen