Local newspaper reporting humanitarian migrants’ settlement experience in an Australian country town

Abstract

This article explores local media reporting about South Sudanese humanitarian migrants moving into a Victorian rural country town in Australia. In contrast with often cited negative media reporting on migrants, the newspaper articles examined positively construct South Sudanese humanitarian migrants as Australian citizens, attempting to reduce anxiety and uncertainty about the presence of these strangers in a country town without prior experience of African migrants. The news reports, however, also hint at discursive power relations within the community; locals and newcomers exist amid the supportive work of local volunteers. News stories illuminate layered cultural power defining the new relationship yet also indicate everyday possibilities for building micro-level inter-ethnic relations.

Keywords:

• newspapers
• migrant-stranger
• newcomers-guests
• power relations
• rural migrants