(Anti-)Hero, refugee, soccer player: the case of bakery Jatta. A discourse analysis of German newspapers

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bakery Jatta migrated from The Gambia to Germany during the so-called ‘refugee crisis’. Today, he is a professional soccer player and plays for Hamburger SV. His story has been widely reported in mass media. This article explores the question ‘How did German newspapers report on Bakery Jatta?’ based on a discourse analysis of a catalogue of 270 German newspaper articles published between 2016 and 2019. The articles included in the catalogue cover five major topics: Jatta’s performance; his biography; contract and transfer; legal issues, and expressions of solidarity for or of hostility towards him. The media reporting spanned three phases, which saw Bakery Jatta’s media portrayal mutate from hero to anti-hero. Bild served as the forerunner in this transformation, with the other newspapers following the tabloid’s lead. The reporting on Bakery Jatta exemplifies, echoes and connects different discourses on the ‘refugee crisis’ and on soccer’s integrative power.