Ideology in the Multimodal Discourse of Television Documentaries on Irish Travellers’ and Gypsies’ Communities in the UK

Abstract

Relying upon a Critical Discourse Analysis approach to the media, this paper explores the way in which, in a sample of documentaries broadcast on public and commercial television, the minority community of travellers and gypsies is represented. Starting from the premise that what is reported in factual films of this type is always a mediated and interpreted vision of reality, the paper highlights different aspects of the film narrative from the voice of the main narrator who orchestrates the various segments in the films, to the questions asked by the reporter. A brief mention of the images at the opening of the films completes the analysis and indicates that in some cases, rather than divulging information about these barely known groups, journalists produce a film that entertains and/or shocks the viewers.