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Publications (10 of 13) Show all publications
Breazu, P. & Machin, D. (2022). ‘It’s still them’: concealed racism against Roma in Romanian television news. Social Identities, 28(1), 90-107
Open this publication in new window or tab >>‘It’s still them’: concealed racism against Roma in Romanian television news
2022 (English)In: Social Identities, ISSN 1350-4630, E-ISSN 1363-0296, Vol. 28, no 1, p. 90-107Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Research shows that news media around the world carry negative representations of ethnic minorities which incite violence, hatred or lead to more marginalisation and social exclusion [Bhatia, M., Poynting, S., & Tufail, W. (2018). Media, crime and racism. Springer; Elias, A., Mansouri, F., & Paradies, Y. (2021). Media, public discourse and racism. In A. Elias, F. Mansouri, & Y. Paradies (Eds.), Racism in Australia today (pp. 211–240). Palgrave Macmillan]. It is also the case that overt racism has become less tolerated in society and, therefore, racist discourses now tend to take more subtle forms, often disguised as reasonable concerns about threats to national culture, economic burdens or disruptions of social order [Bonilla-Silva, E. (2006). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in the United States. Rowman & Littlefield]. This is very much the case regarding the Roma. Yet, less research has been carried out on the way that the affordances of television – juxtaposition of images, captions, sound and voice-overs, editing, and resequencing – may have very specific ways to conceal racism. In this paper, using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we examine the representation of the Roma in a Romanian television news report, in the case of a highly mundane story – a failure to pay electricity bills. We show how television news with its affordances can camouflage racism, and distract from the extreme poverty and social exclusion that Romani people experience in contemporary Europe. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2022
Keywords
Roma, racism, media representation, multimodal critical discourse analysis
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-94562 (URN)10.1080/13504630.2021.1976134 (DOI)000695989000001 ()2-s2.0-85114852935 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2021-09-23 Created: 2021-09-23 Last updated: 2025-02-17Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. & Machin, D. (2022). Using humor to disguise racism in television news: The case of the Roma. Humor: An International Journal of Humor Research, 35(1), 73-92
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Using humor to disguise racism in television news: The case of the Roma
2022 (English)In: Humor: An International Journal of Humor Research, ISSN 0933-1719, E-ISSN 1613-3722, Vol. 35, no 1, p. 73-92Article in journal, Editorial material (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

It has been argued that more research is needed on the role of humor in the expression of racism. One reason is that, in the ‘post racial’ society, overt racism has become publicly unacceptable and, therefore, tends to appear in more concealed forms. In this paper, as part of a larger project on media representations of the Roma, we look at the role of humor in a Romanian television news clip reporting on the financial rewards of begging. We draw on the critical scholarship in humor research and carry out a multimodal critical discourse analysis of a news report selected from a larger corpus. We argue that through humor a recontextualisation of the Roma’s situation takes place, transforming their actual situation of poverty and social marginalisation into a humorous account of cultural failure, incompetence, stupidity and calculated money grabbing. We show that humor is one way by which culture becomes represented as embodied by ethnic minorities.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Walter de Gruyter, 2022
Keywords
humor, multimodal critical discourse analysis, racism, ridicule, television news
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies; Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-95572 (URN)10.1515/humor-2021-0104 (DOI)000738348100003 ()2-s2.0-85120047013 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2021-11-24 Created: 2021-11-24 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. & Machin, D. (2020). How television news disguises its racist representations: The case of Romanian Antena 1 reporting on the Roma. Ethnicities, 20(5), 823-843
Open this publication in new window or tab >>How television news disguises its racist representations: The case of Romanian Antena 1 reporting on the Roma
2020 (English)In: Ethnicities, ISSN 1468-7968, E-ISSN 1741-2706, Vol. 20, no 5, p. 823-843Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Research shows that news media around the world tend to represent ethnic minorities in ways which nurture distorted views and invite negative attitudes. Scholars have also emphasised that, in contemporary societies, a political climate has emerged which has made overt racism unacceptable and social taboos leading to racist statements are increasingly being managed and disguised in order to avoid direct accusations. In this paper we use Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) to carry out an in-depth analysis of a Romanian television news report-selected from a larger corpus-which addressed the situation of the Roma migrants in Norway. We show how this medium, with editing techniques, voice-overs, sound effects and captions, has its own subtleties for communicating racism in ways that are less obvious at a casual viewing. The case we analyse reports on a Norwegian/EU project to build a factory in Romania, so that Roma migrants can return home to work rather than live and beg on the streets of Oslo.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2020
Keywords
Roma migrants, ethnic minorities, television news, begging, racism, multimodal critical discourse analysis, media representation
National Category
Media and Communications
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-83859 (URN)10.1177/1468796820932588 (DOI)000542280200001 ()2-s2.0-85086672858 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2020-06-29 Created: 2020-06-29 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. (2020). Representing the Roma in Romanian Media: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis. (Doctoral dissertation). Örebro: Örebro University
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Representing the Roma in Romanian Media: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis
2020 (English)Doctoral thesis, monograph (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

In this thesis, I addressed the representation of the Roma in Romanian newspapers, television news, and social media. I focused on Romania, a country with the largest Roma population in Europe, and where the Roma have historically experienced centuries of discrimination and social exclusion. I conducted an in-depth Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) to reveal what kind of discourses are used to represent this minority group, after Romania joined the European Union. The analysis in this thesis confirms the well-documented discourses in reference to Roma as criminal, uneducated, dirty, immoral, and as resisting assimilation into wider society. In addition, this research shows how these discourses have been incorporated into newer forms specific to the current political climate across Europe, increasingly dominated by right-wing populist politics, where minority groups, such as the Roma have become easy targets for politicians to justify their political failures and are scapegoated for lack of jobs, declining economic prosperity, instability, fears of immigration and of the loss of national autonomy and traditions. The detailed MCDA analysis allowed me to show how racism can be communicated in a variety of ways, not so much in relation to biological differences but in terms of culture, behaviour, traditions and national values. The multimodal approach was instrumental in showing how different media, with their different affordances have their specific way of avoiding overt racism while nevertheless the ideology remains. We see how the combination of different modes help to communicate the civil nature of violent actions, such as camp evictions, or the representation of poverty as a choice, rather than embedded in the social structures. Moreover we see on social media how ‘simple fun’, in the form of humour and ridicule, is loaded with extreme forms of racism that even call for ethnic cleansing.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Örebro: Örebro University, 2020. p. 239
Series
Örebro Studies in Media and Communication, ISSN 1651-4785 ; 27
Keywords
Roma, Multimodal Critical Discourse analysis, racism, rightwing populism, Romanian media
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-80265 (URN)978-91-7529-327-1 (ISBN)
Public defence
2020-04-17, Örebro universitet, Forumhuset, Hörsal F, Fakultetsgatan 1, Örebro, 13:00 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2020-02-28 Created: 2020-02-28 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. & Eriksson, G. (2020). Romaphobia in Romanian press: The lifting of work restrictions for Romanian migrants in the European Union. Discourse & Communication, 15(2), 139-162
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Romaphobia in Romanian press: The lifting of work restrictions for Romanian migrants in the European Union
2020 (English)In: Discourse & Communication, ISSN 1750-4813, E-ISSN 1750-4821, Vol. 15, no 2, p. 139-162Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The lifting of work restrictions for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens in the EU, in January 2014, encountered much resistance both in European political discourse and the media, as these migrants became demonised and presented as social and economic threats. In this article, we show how the Romanian press dealt with such discriminatory discourses against the Romanian migrants. We conduct a thorough Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) of news items published in Romanian press, prior to the lifting of work restrictions, and we argue that the Roma emerged as the perfect scapegoats that could explain the deviant and unruly behaviours ascribed by some western media to ‘Romanians’. We also show how racism toward the Roma, referred here as Romaphobia, invokes non-racial practices and instead builds on a reverse victimhood narrative. Such discourses relate in a broader sense to well-established discursive practices in Romanian context but also to the political climate across Europe which is marked by increased intolerance toward the Roma. It is the mixture of stereotypical discourses and populist rhetoric that makes racism towards the Roma appear naturalised and increasingly more difficult to challenge.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2020
Keywords
media representation, racism, Roma, recontextualisation, multimodal critical discourse analysis
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-88160 (URN)10.1177/1750481320982153 (DOI)000608761000001 ()2-s2.0-85097914810 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2020-12-21 Created: 2020-12-21 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. & Machin, D. (2019). Racism toward the Roma through the affordances of Facebook: bonding, laughter and spite. Discourse & Society, 30(4), 376-394
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Racism toward the Roma through the affordances of Facebook: bonding, laughter and spite
2019 (English)In: Discourse & Society, ISSN 0957-9265, E-ISSN 1460-3624, Vol. 30, no 4, p. 376-394Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

This article carries out a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) of a Romanian Facebook page where comments are made in response to a shared news-clip showing a Roma wedding which clearly invites ridicule. It has been documented that there are well-established discourses representing the Roma as criminal, uneducated, dirty, immoral, and as resisting assimilation into wider society. This Facebook page offers the opportunity to explore which discourses are used in 1500 posts to represent the Roma. We show that the affordances of Facebook open-up the mixing of humor, venting of frustration, extreme racism and sexual violence as those posting entertain each other, create bonds and overtly call out the Roma and others who are believed to be part of a conspiracy against ordinary Romanians. We argue that these newer patterns of representing the Roma are related to the rise of extreme right-wing populist ideology across Europe and beyond. An ideology where direct, simple and violent solutions are required.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2019
Keywords
Facebook, humor, multimodal critical discourse analysis, racism, ridicule, right-wing populism, Roma, social media
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Linguistics; Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-74274 (URN)10.1177/0957926519837396 (DOI)000470836700003 ()2-s2.0-85063957825 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2019-05-14 Created: 2019-05-14 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. & Machin, D. (2018). A critical multimodal analysis of the Romanian press coverage of camp evictions and deportations of the Roma migrants from France. Discourse & Communication, 12(4), 339-356
Open this publication in new window or tab >>A critical multimodal analysis of the Romanian press coverage of camp evictions and deportations of the Roma migrants from France
2018 (English)In: Discourse & Communication, ISSN 1750-4813, E-ISSN 1750-4821, Vol. 12, no 4, p. 339-356Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this article, we carry out a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) of a sample from a larger corpus of Romanian news articles that covered the controversial camp evictions and repatriation of Romanian Roma migrants from France that began in 2010 and continue to the time of writing in 2017. These French government policies have been highly criticized both within France and by international political and aid organizations. However, the analysis shows how these brutal, anti-humanitarian events became recontextualized in the Romanian Press to represent the French government’s actions as peaceful and consensual. In addition, the demonization of the Roma in the press serves as a strategy to continuously disassociate them from their Romanian counterparts. While there is a long history of discrimination against the Roma in Romania, these particular recontextualizations can be understood in the context of the Romanian government’s need to gloss over its failure to comply with the Schengen accession requirements and acquire full European Union (EU) membership.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Sage Publications, 2018
Keywords
Camp evictions, Critical Discourse Analysis, France, Roma, Schengen
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-65703 (URN)10.1177/1750481318757774 (DOI)000439352300001 ()2-s2.0-85043332579 (Scopus ID)
Available from: 2018-03-12 Created: 2018-03-12 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Eriksson, G. & Breazu, P. (2018). Imagining the Romanies: A study on the multimodal representation of the Roma in Romanian media. In: : . Paper presented at International Communication Association (ICA 2018), Pre-conference: Examining the Construction of Roma Identity, Voice, and Representation, Prague, Czech Republic, May 24-28, 2018.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Imagining the Romanies: A study on the multimodal representation of the Roma in Romanian media
2018 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Refereed)
National Category
Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-68959 (URN)
Conference
International Communication Association (ICA 2018), Pre-conference: Examining the Construction of Roma Identity, Voice, and Representation, Prague, Czech Republic, May 24-28, 2018
Available from: 2018-09-18 Created: 2018-09-18 Last updated: 2025-02-07Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. (2018). Re-contextualizing Modern Slavery: Old Problems in the New World. In: : . Paper presented at 2nd International Forum on Modern Slavery, sponsored by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of England, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 5-7, 2018.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Re-contextualizing Modern Slavery: Old Problems in the New World
2018 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Refereed)
National Category
Other Humanities not elsewhere specified Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-69065 (URN)
Conference
2nd International Forum on Modern Slavery, sponsored by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Church of England, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 5-7, 2018
Available from: 2018-09-26 Created: 2018-09-26 Last updated: 2025-01-31Bibliographically approved
Breazu, P. (2017). Representing the Romanies in Romanian and Bulgarian Media: A comparative study. In: : . Paper presented at 2017 Annual Meeting of the Gypsy Lore Society and Conference on Romani Studies, GLS, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, August 30 - September 1, 2017.
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Representing the Romanies in Romanian and Bulgarian Media: A comparative study
2017 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
National Category
Other Humanities Media and Communications
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies; Linguistics
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-69063 (URN)
Conference
2017 Annual Meeting of the Gypsy Lore Society and Conference on Romani Studies, GLS, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus, August 30 - September 1, 2017
Available from: 2018-09-26 Created: 2018-09-26 Last updated: 2025-01-31Bibliographically approved
Organisations
Identifiers
ORCID iD: ORCID iD iconorcid.org/0000-0002-0679-9605

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