Orientalist echoes in on-line news: BBC stories of Somali piracy

Way, L (2013) Orientalist echoes in on-line news: BBC stories of Somali piracy. Journal of African Media Studies, 5 (1). pp. 19-33. ISSN 2040-199X (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

This article considers how news stories about piracy off the coast of Somalia reflect Said’s (1979) concept of Orientalism, that is, the West representing the Rest in ways beneficial to the West. Critical Discourse Analysis is applied to news stories from the international BBC news website to reveal strategies used to represent a non-Western ‘other’ in need of control by a successful West. This legitimates the West’s military presence and actions whilst challenging BBC’s claims of objectivity. An historical account of both Somalia and piracy precede this analysis. The former illustrates how Somalia’s current ‘failed state’ status is in part due to foreign involvement while the latter describes how this status has produced conditions condusive to piracy. Actions by the West together with the BBC’s Orientalist perspective does little to relieve Somalia’s hardship,suffering and ending Somalia’s multiple problems.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is the author's version of an article, the final version of which is published in the Journal of African Media Studies.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Business, Law and Criminology > Liverpool Hope Business School
Depositing User:	Andrew Taylor
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2018 14:52
Last Modified:	09 Apr 2019 09:25
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/2628

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