The National Post’s Campaign Against Anti-poverty Advocates: A War in Words with Real Casualties

Authors

  • Robert Harding School of Social WorkUniversity of the Fraser Valley

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48336/IJMLLX6391

Keywords:

critical discourse analysis, poverty, National Post, opinion-editorial pieces, anti-poverty advocates

Abstract

Using methods of critical discourse analysis, I studied all opinion pieces and editorials about poverty published in the National Post during the first three months of 2014. The dominant discourse that emerged was one of war on anti-poverty advocates. In support of this discourse, discursive rhetorical strategies were mobilized, including oppositions such as deserving vs. undeserving poor, differential treatment of sources and credentials, over-lexicalization, and derogation. As the flagship publication of Postmedia Network Canada, the country’s largest English-language newspaper chain, the National Post not only sets the tone for its sister publications, it is also strongly positioned to influence public discourse about poverty and how to alleviate it. The prescription to poverty promoted in the op-ed pages of this national newspaper—that governments slash services and programs for the poor and allow market forces to run their course—is targeted at politicians, policy makers, and the general public. During the first quarter of 2014, National Post op-ed pieces consistently vilified anti-poverty advocates and discredited the initiatives they promoted, such as implementing guaranteed annual income programs, raising tax rates for wealthy individuals and corporations, and increasing minimum wages and welfare rates.

Author Biography

Robert Harding, School of Social WorkUniversity of the Fraser Valley

Robert Harding is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and Human Services at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada. His research focuses on media discourse on Indigenous self-governance, as well as on poverty and other social issues. His work has been published in numerous journals, including Discourse and Society, Canadian Journal of Communication, Canadian Social Work Review, and Canadian Journal of Native Studies.

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Published

2019-01-02