@article{f9fd28b2094e4c37ba75518a0c2f498f,
title = "{\textquoteleft}Manufactured hysteria{\textquoteright}: audience perceptions of sensationalism and moral panic in Australian news representations of asylum seekers",
abstract = "Seeking asylum is a highly polarising topic, exacerbated by news discourses that construct asylum seekers as threats to the nation. National and international news coverage has been said to incite {\textquoteleft}moral panics{\textquoteright} via the use of sensationalised depictions of asylum seekers, however, few studies have examined audience responses. This article discusses the findings of research utilising Critical Discourse Analysis alongside an Audience Reception framework to examine how 24 Western Australians perceive news coverage of asylum seekers. All participants critiqued news constructions of the issue, with many emphasising sensationalism and the incitement of fear as central concerns affecting their trust and engagement with Australian coverage. Analysed with consideration of the {\textquoteleft}moral panic{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}media panic{\textquoteright} literature, these findings demonstrate that sensationalist depictions of asylum seekers are being resisted by audiences. This inclination towards {\textquoteleft}media panics{\textquoteright} over {\textquoteleft}moral panics{\textquoteright} is discussed in terms of its implications for democracy and audience reception scholarship.",
keywords = "Australia, asylum seekers, audience reception, discourse, moral panic, news, sensationalism",
author = "Ashleigh HAW",
note = "Funding Information: Special thank you to Associate Professor Farida Fozdar and Associate Professor Rob Cover from the University of Western Australia for their valuable guidance with this project. I would also like to thank the convenors of the 2019 Annual Conference of the Australia and New Zealand Communications Association for their generous review and feedback on an earlier draft of this paper. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research discussed in this article was supported by a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship at the University of Western Australia. The authors received no additional financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this paper. Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The research discussed in this article was supported by a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship at the University of Western Australia. The authors received no additional financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this paper. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2019.",
year = "2020",
doi = "10.1177/1329878X19876093",
language = "English",
volume = "174",
pages = "125--139",
journal = "Media International Australia",
issn = "1329-878X",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
number = "1",
}