Introduction

This chapter examines the circular nature of anti-Gypsy discourse – that it allegedly reflects popular opinion, but also creates folk devils and moral panics (Cohen, 1972) that feed the negative discourse even further. A framework for analysing media representation of Gypsies and Travellers will be discussed, in order to understand the impact that discourse in newspapers, on television and in Westminster can have, and also to attempt to understand why the media reports in such a way. The chapter will focus on two case studies: (a) the ‘Stamp on the Camps’ media campaign in 2005 and (b) the television series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings in 2011. These moments in media and public discourse provide useful case studies to illustrate conceptual theories on discourse, racism and control; but also offer insights into the responses of key institutions such as political parties, media regulatory bodies, equality bodies and community groups.

The current context for analysis of media debate is shifting following the News International ‘hacking scandal’ of 2011 and the subsequent Leveson Inquiry into the scandal and the regulatory framework. The analysis in this chapter is mindful of the shifting context for media regulation, but concentrates on newspaper and television media representation of Gypsy and Traveller issues between 2004 and 2011.

Discourse in the news: a framework for ‘othering’

This linguistic construction of social reality is a powerful tool in creating categories and sorting them into ‘conflictual opposites’ (Fowler, 1991, p 6). With the example of Gypsies and Travellers, the news constructs Gypsies/Travellers and the settled community as conflictual opposites. After a while, this construction of reality sees Gypsies and Travellers as embodying the enemy of the ‘normal’ settled community.

Fowler (1991) examined values in the news and referred to 12 contextual factors formulated by Galtung and Ruge (1973).