Who is the ‘Villain of the Piece’?

Abstract

This article presents an overview of the role of the media in nationalism and identity-shaping in post-crisis societies experiencing conflict, focusing on the impact of the recent economic crisis on diversity in political news reporting. The research is based on a time series analysis (2000–2019) of diversity in traditional and online political news reporting, framed by a thematic analysis of journalists’ interviews. Cyprus is used as a case-study, as an example of a ‘divided’ country. Findings suggest that news diversity in societies experiencing conflict significantly reduced after the economic crisis in traditional media but increased in online media. At the same time, representations of nationalism in the news media seem to be taking alternative directions. The study challenges the way(s) in which media history is read in post-crisis societies experiencing conflict where the media play a significant role in assessing notions of togetherness as opposed to images of separatism.