Exploring the media representation of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong: a mixed-methods analysis

Hong Kong newspapers portrayed migrant domestic workers (MDWs) differently across three incidents: Manila hostage crisis, right of abode debate, and abuse of Erwiana Sulistyaningsih. We computed and modeled the emotional sentiment of 50,540 words in 23,489 sentences in 1,512 articles in 6 newspapers using various attributes (e.g., presence of “MDW”) via a multivariate outcome, multilevel analysis, and identified discursive strategies for portraying MDWs. Newspaper authors use specific grammatical structures and discursive strategies to give negative evaluations of MDWs. Authors criticized MDWs via conditionals, positioning MDWs as threatening subjects, or positioning them in subordinate clauses. These authors portrayed MDWs as threats or burdens via predication and argumentation strategies. Discriminatory views infiltrated antidiscriminatory discourse, which furthered MDWs’ othering, reinforced their negative stereotypes, and reproduced inequalities.