The representation of majorities and minorities in the British Press: a content analytic approach

Antonis Gardikiotis, Robin Martin, Miles Hewstone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

A content analysis examined the way majorities and minorities are represented in the British press. An analysis of the headlines of five British newspapers, over a period of five years, revealed that the words ‘majority’ and ‘minority’ appeared 658 times. Majority headlines were most frequent (66% ), more likely to emphasize the numerical size of the majority, to link majority status with political groups, to be described with positive evaluations, and to cover political issues. By contrast, minority headlines were less frequent (34%), more likely to link minority status with ethnic groups and to other social issues, and less likely to be described with positive evaluations. The implications of examining how real-life majorities and minorities are represented for our understanding of experimental research are discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)637-646
Number of pages10
JournalEuropean Journal of Social Psychology
Volume34
Issue number5
Early online date16 Apr 2004
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2004

Keywords

  • majorities
  • minorities
  • British press
  • British newspapers
  • majority headlines
  • political groups
  • positive evaluations
  • political issues
  • minority headlines
  • ethnic groups
  • social issues
  • negative evaluations

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