Constructing Germany's Image in the British Press: An Empirical Analysis of Stereotypical Reporting on Germany

Abstract

Germany's image in the UK has always been of intense interest to academics and politicians alike, but even more so since the end of the Second World War. A nation's image, usually constructed in great part by and through the media, can become, over time, part of a national political culture. For this reason we seek in the following article to analyse the reporting on Germany and the Germans of four UK national newspapers over time. Whilst many commentators would have little trouble in agreeing that print media reportage on Germany can be stereotypical, little actual empirical data exists against which to check such assumptions. We offer such an empirical analysis, discovering no less than eight core stereotypes employed in reports on Germany. Furthermore, we point out that using stereotypes to describe the world is both normal and not always negative. By differentiating between stereotypes in relation to Germany, their use by particular newspapers, the area of society they focus on, their tone and finally their frequency, this article adds to the few empirical studies that exist on an increasingly important topic: how our media presents other nations.