Social Semiotics and Journalistic Discourses on Economics and Inequality

This chapter continues the review of research and discussion of key features of economic news and how economic ideas and practices are shaped by the media. The focus falls on communication channels and the various ways in which language is used to construct certain perceptions of society and the economy. In particular, it introduces social semiotics and critical discourse analysis as theories in the field of communication studies and linguistics. In tandem, these provide rich concepts and analytical tools to explore the communicative and meaning-making patterns that journalists, editors, and news agencies use when describing particular social or economic concepts. This chapter also addresses related issues such as journalistic blind spots and silences in public discourse. It provides an overview of social semiotic theory, followed by a discussion on some of the relevant key concepts. It then moves on to discuss discourse analysis and journalism, focusing on the text. Next the attention turns to journalistic texts, discourses and ideologies and the role they play in wider society. Here, we will contend that journalism cannot be seen as simply an objective and dispassionate observer but rather a part of the wider system of semiosis, that is the dialectical relationship between discourse and society often represented by ‘common sense’ ideas on how the world works, ideas that may go on to influence both macro and micro decision-making in the economic and wider world. Finally, the authors address the role of journalism in economic processes alongside journalistic representation of economics and economic processes.