Discourses of Legitimation in the News: The Case of the Economic Crisis in Greece

Examining the news coverage of the economic crisis in Greece, this book develops a framework for identifying discourses of legitimation of actors, political decisions, and policies in the news.

This study departs from the assumption that news is a privileged terrain where discursive struggles (over power) are represented and take place. Incorporating systematic analysis of news texts and journalistic practices, the model contextualises the analysis in its specific socio-political environment and examines legitimising discourse through the prism of the news. Ultimately the book recognises the active role played by journalists and media in legitimating economic crisis related policies and decisions, and how they help dominant actors establish and legitimate their authority, which in turn helps journalists legitimate their own role and authority.

A concise, focused book that applies a strong theoretical and methodological framework, Discourse of Legitimation in the News is a strong contribution to the field for researchers and postgraduate students.

Vaia Doudaki works as a senior researcher at Charles University in Prague. In the past, she worked as an associate professor at Uppsala University, and as a lecturer and assistant professor at the Cyprus University of Technology. Her research is situated in the fields of alternative media studies, journalism studies, and discourse studies. Her latest book (co-edited with Nico Carpentier) is Cyprus and its Conflicts. Representations, materialities and cultures (2018).

Angeliki Boubouka is a professional journalist and an independent media researcher. She has been practicing journalism for print and online media in Greece, since 1993. She has also worked as a research associate for the Department of Communication and Internet Studies at Cyprus University of Technology. Her work on the news framing of the economic crisis in Greece and in Cyprus has been published in Journalism and in European Journal of Communication.