In times of accelerated globalization leading to socio-economic inequities worldwide and complex flows of migration, the mass media as information providers and evaluative voices of the public have important functions for social cohesion. However, trust in the media has weakened especially since exoticizing the Other in representations of ethnic and linguistic diversity has often been the cause for criticism (Gabrielatos & Baker, 2008; Van Dijk, 2000). In my presentation, I will examine what image youth radio stations as multimedia outlets targeting diverse young people in Germany—the country with most immigrants in the EU—wish to have for their audiences. In this context, I will specifically focus on what role ordinariness and innovation in meaning making practices on radio play for journalists and how these concepts are realised in translingual and transmodal representations of ethnic and linguistic diversity in both online and on-air promotion of a German urban youth radio station. My paper is based on an ethnographic project funded by the European Union which investigates radio journalists' work in relation to encountering difference and sheds light on possible issues that lead to an unbalanced and negative portrayal of ethnic and linguistic diversity on youth radio. In my presentation, I will outline the results of my fieldwork in relation to radio image building based on observation, semi-structured interviews with journalists producing multimedia content and a multimodal critical discourse analysis of the radio station’s produced media messages.

References

Gabrielatos, C., & Baker, P. (2008). Fleeing, sneaking, flooding: A corpus analysis of discursive constructions of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK press, 1996-2005. Journal of English Linguistics, 36(1), 5–38.

Van Dijk, T. A. (2000). New(s) racism: A discourse analytical approach. In S. Cottle (Ed.), Ethnic Minorities and the Media (pp. 33–49). Open University Press.