The Representation of Non-Protesters in a Student and Teacher Protest: A Critical Discourse Analysis of News Reporting in a Greek Newspaper

Abstract

This article examines a rather neglected aspect of the protest script, the news representation of drivers, pedestrians, parents of protesters and other actors - defined here as `non-protesters' - in a student and teacher protest that took place in Greece. The significance of non-protesters is that they may have a considerable impact on people who read about the protest and therefore the readers' reception of that particular protest. In addition, because of the frequent interaction of most non-protesters with protesters themselves, the former contribute to the depiction of the latter. Adhering to the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) paradigm, the analysis of the data indicates that the way non-protesters are portrayed might make readers adopt a negative stance towards the protest, and that protesters' representation is in line with the dominant discourse of protest. In conclusion, the stigmatization of protesters is likely to be more effective when actors who may significantly influence readers are also involved in the process. Although the major part of the analysis is carried out by drawing upon two well-established tools in the area of CDA (transitivity and ergativity), the article also addresses methodological issues, such as compiling a causation scale and considering justification as a mitigating device of negative actions.