Reporting the Road to Brexit (eBook)

Anthony Ridge-Newman is Lecturer in Digital Media at Liverpool Hope University, UK.Fernando León-Solis is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at University of the West of Scotland, UK.Hugh O’Donnell is Professor in the Glasgow School for Business and Society at Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.

Preface and Acknowledgements 5
Contents 10
Editors and Contributors 13
Abbreviations and Contractions 18
List of Tables 19
Part I Introduction 20
Chapter 1 Reporting the Road to Brexit: The EU Referendum and the Media 21
Introduction 21
EU Referendum and the Media Project 22
The Questions 23
The Importance 24
Democracy, Referendums and the News Media 24
Contextualizing and Defining the Study of Brexit 26
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 26
2016 EU Referendum and Brexit 27
European Union 28
European Integration and the UK 28
Brexit, Trump and Right-Wing Populism? 29
Scope of the Book 30
Outline of the Book 31
Part II 31
Part III 33
Part IV 34
Conclusions 35
Bibliography 36
Part II The UK and UK Territories 40
Chapter 2 Mobilizing Migration: Analysing the Role of the ‘Migrant’ in the British Press During the EU Referendum 2016 Debate 41
Introduction 41
Analysing the Migrant Discourse 43
Research Design: Contexts and Analysis 45
The Role of the Migrant in the Referendum Debate 47
Mechanisms of Mobilization 50
Hegemonic Projects 54
Conclusion 56
Bibliography 58
Chapter 3 Scotland, Wales and Press Discourses Amid the 2016 EU Referendum 63
Introduction 63
Scotland, Wales and the 2016 EU Referendum 64
The Analysis 65
Discourses of Danger 66
The Re-appropriation of Project Fear 69
Tone of the Debate 73
Conclusion 74
References 75
Chapter 4 The EU Referendum 2016 on Scottish Television 77
Introduction 77
Media Framing 78
Method 80
What Was the EU Referendum About? 81
Conclusion 86
References 87
Chapter 5 ‘A Pit We Have Dug Ourselves’: The EU Referendum and the Welsh Democratic Deficit 90
Introduction 90
Brexit and Welsh Internal Diversity 92
Welsh Media Landscape and Democratic Deficit 96
The Welsh Regional Press: The Western Mail and the Daily Post 99
Conclusion 104
Bibliography 105
Chapter 6 Whither the ‘Hand of History’?: Northern Ireland Newspaper Coverage of the 2016 EU Referendum Campaign 108
Introduction 108
History and Context 111
Fear and Fortune: David Cameron, Boris Johnson and George Osborne 112
‘Yesterday’s Men’: John Major and Tony Blair 116
Between Hope and Uncertainty: The 2016 EU Referendum Result 118
Discussion 119
Conclusion 123
References 123
Chapter 7 Polarized Politics and Personalization: British TV News Coverage of the EU Referendum 2016 125
Introduction: A ‘Brexit Whirlwind’ 125
Some Initial Reaction: The Problem of ‘Balance’ 127
From ‘Fact-Checking’ to Editorial Commentary 129
A Polarized Narrative 132
Personalized Interviews and TV Debates 134
Vox Pops as Provincial Encounters 138
References 140
Chapter 8 The 2016 EU Referendum in Gibraltar: Opinion Articles in Gibraltarian News 141
Introduction 141
Gibraltar 143
The Impact of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar 144
The Past-Future Divide 149
The EU Referendum 2016 and the Spanish Dimension 151
Conclusion 154
Bibliography 155
Part III European Single Market Countries 157
Chapter 9 Left Versus Right, or Mainstream Versus Margins? Divisions in French Media and Reactions to the ‘Brexit’ Vote 158
Introduction 158
Context 159
Mainstream French Press Reactions: An Anti-Brexit Bias? 161
Libération: Brexit as a Threat to the Utopia of a United Continent 161
‘Thank You Brits!’: The Curious Case of France’s Pro-EU Pro-Brexiters 162
Le Monde: A Newspaper Representative of France’s Post-war Pro-EU Media 163
Le Figaro and Brexit: Pragmatic Criticism or Implicit Support? 165
Far-Right and Far-Left Press Reactions 170
Valeurs Actuelles: A Far-Right Celebration of Brexit 171
Mediapart and Brexit: The Rejection of a Neoliberal and Authoritarian EU 173
Conclusion 176
Bibliography 177
Chapter 10 The 2016 EU Referendum Stories in Austrian, German, and Swiss Media: Catastrophes, Characterizations, Challenges 181
Introduction 181
The Main Characters’ Stories 184
The David Cameron Stories 184
The Boris Johnson Stories 185
The Michael Gove Stories 187
The Nigel Farage Stories 187
The Stories of Continental European Politicians 189
Stories of Causes and Responsibilities 189
Stories of Consequences 192
Predictable Consequences 192
National Consequences 192
Hard or Soft Consequences 193
Demand for Unity 193
Good Planning 194
The Need to Define Identities 194
The Need to Define and Practise Democracy 195
The Role of the State 196
The Need for New Ideas 197
The Final Consequence: Successful Evolution Requires Thoughtful Creativity 197
References 198
Chapter 11 It’s the Economy, Stupid: Coverage of the British EU Referendum in Norway 200
Introduction 200
Nationwide with a Broad Reach 201
Norway Loves Britain 202
Stay or Go—and Why? 203
Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold 205
A ‘Republican’ Stance 206
‘The World Seen from the Bank’ 209
‘A Basket of Deplorables’ 211
How the Other Half Lives 212
Little Acceptance for Xenophobia 213
Conclusions 214
Bibliography 215
Chapter 12 Spanish Media and the EU Referendum 2016: The Assault on an Enlightened Project 217
Introduction 217
The EU and Spain’s (Returning) Hour of Darkness 219
The EU and Its Foes 220
Reality-Based Rationality Versus Deceptive Emotion 221
Opportunities and Lessons: A European Catastrophe 224
The 2016 EU Referendum: A Bone of Contention 225
Conclusion 227
References 228
Chapter 13 Discursive Dimensions of the EU Referendum 2016 Press Coverage in Portugal 233
Introduction 233
Three Contenders: EU Referendum Campaign 236
Unreported Issues and Their Consequences 238
Europe: Cause and Victim of a Catastrophe 240
Abstraction vs Concreteness 243
Conclusion 244
References 246
Chapter 14 ‘Little England Beats Great Britain’: Italian Media Coverage of the EU Referendum 2016 249
Introduction 249
From Maastricht to ‘Brexit’ 250
The Rise of Populism: ‘Anti-Politics’ Made in Italy 251
The Italian Press and the EU Referendum 2016 253
The Economic Impact of ‘Brexit’ 255
‘Brexit’ and Immigration 257
Populism, Anti-Politics’ and the Brexit Voter 258
Porta a Porta Political Talk Show: The ‘English’ Myth Extended 260
Conclusion 262
Bibliography 264
Chapter 15 EU Referendum 2016 in the Greek Press 267
Introduction 267
Recalling the Greek Referendum 268
Proliferating Referendums in Crisis-Hit Europe 269
Greece’s Public Sphere in the Years of Crisis and Austerity 272
Scope, Theory and Method 273
EU Referendum 2016 in the Greek Press 276
Dimocratia: A Right-Wing Defence of ‘Brexit’, a Nationalist Defence of ‘the People’ 276
Kathimerini: An Anti-Populist Critique of Brexit, a Technocratic Defence of Europe 278
Vima: Brexit and the Fear of Populism 280
Efimerida Ton Syntakton (Efsyn): In Defence of Popular Sovereignty, Against Neoliberalism 281
Conclusion 284
References 285
Part IV Beyond European Single Market Countries 289
Chapter 16 Turkish Newspapers: How They Use ‘Brexit’ for Domestic Political Gain 290
Introduction 290
Turkish-British Relations 291
Turkish Domestic Politics 292
Turkish News Media 292
Sample of News Selected for Analysis 293
Approach to Analysis: Critical Discourse Analysis 295
Analysis of News 296
Conclusions 301
References 301
Chapter 17 Israeli Media and the EU Referendum 2016: Political or Economic Story? 304
Introduction 304
Mentions of Brexit in Israel’s Media 305
Themes in User Comments in Online Mainstream Media 307
Conclusions and Theoretical Implications 310
References 312
Chapter 18 Whose News? How the Canadian Media Covered Britain’s EU Referendum 314
Introduction: Canada’s Domestic Political Landscape 314
Canada’s Fading Media 316
Methodology 318
Coverage of the Campaign and the Vote 319
Television Coverage 325
Conclusion 326
References 327
Chapter 19 Russian Media and the EU Referendum 2016 330
Introduction 330
The Pro-Government Press on Brexit 331
The Case of Meduza 333
What Is a Whoexit? 335
Being Scared and Towing the Party Line 337
Anti-Western Ideology and Brexit Schadenfreude 338
So, Does Russia Care About Brexit? 341
Bibliography 341
Part V Conclusion 343
Chapter 20 Constructing Brexit: Crisis and International Political Communication 344
Introduction 344
Constructing Brexit 347
Crisis, Disaster and Fear 348
Part II: The UK and Competing Narratives 349
Part III: Media Euroscepticism and Heterogeneity 351
Part IV: The Domestication of Brexit 352
Contextualizing the Domestication of Brexit 353
Reporting Brexit: Reflections, Relevance and Impact 353
Brexit Reality Check: ‘Crisis’ and ‘Disaster’? 354
Euroscepticism in the News Media 354
Impact: Brexit Beyond the UK 355
Conclusions 355
Bibliography 356
Index 360