Article Information
Original Research Article | Open Access | Peer Reviewed
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Light in the Darkest Places: Analyzing News Coverage of a U.S. Immigrant Detention Center
Stephanie M. Madison
Mikel W. Cole
Susan Cridland-Hughes
Abstract
Immigrants remain one of the most disempowered groups within the United States. Drawing on critical media
literacy research that focuses on power dynamics and positioning, this article addresses ways the news media
reports on immigrants and immigrant detention centers. We conducted a critical content analysis of 180
articles on one specific location, Stewart Detention Center (SDC), to demonstrate variability in newspaper
reporting on several levels, including frequency, geographic location, and context. Our first research question
explored changes in reporting over time, and our second research question considered differences in
reporting by geographic level. Our third research question examined differences in reporting on SDC and the
national discourse during the first Trump administration. This type of research is particularly important
when reporting primarily comes from the outside, overshadowing the voices of people experiencing
detention. We consider implications for critical media literacy as an impetus for societal change.
Mikel W. Cole
Susan Cridland-Hughes
Full Text: PDF |
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30845/ijhss.vol15p1
Article History:
Received: 30 January 2025 | Accepted: 12 February
2025 | Published: 23 March 2025
Reviewer(s):
Professor Dr. Komanduri S. Murty, Department of Behavioral & Social Sciences, Fort Valley State University, United States; ORCID iD:
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2402-3285.
Email: [email protected] Dr. Moses Siboi Okonda, Department of Social Sciences, Kaimosi Friends University, Kenya.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected] Dr. Moses Siboi Okonda, Department of Social Sciences, Kaimosi Friends University, Kenya.
Email: [email protected]
Address for Correspondence:
Stephanie M. Madison, Department of Education and Human Development,
Clemson University, 101 Gantt Circle, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
[email protected]
[email protected]
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