Debating Migration: the Brexit referendum in newspaper opinion pieces

On the 23rd June 2016, the UK public voted to Leave the EU in a close contest, with 51.89% advocating Leave and 48.11% optioning to Remain. In the aftermath of the vote, a rise in hate-crime was revealed signalling the fractious political climate at the time. Therefore, this paper reviews the discursive contribution of the UK online newsprint media during the EU referendum - with an emphasis on how migration-related arguments featured at different stages of the campaign. Political deliberations are supported by the media, who publish argumentative pieces in support of a certain outcome. Focusing on the comment pages of The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Mirror, this study provides an overview of how each campaign developed migration-arguments to support a Remain/Leave vote. This paper will demonstrate how the Discourse-Historical Approach to Critical Discourse Analysis can be used in conjunction with argumentation theory to examine how the representations of the circumstances surrounding an argument support a conclusion. Due to the influential capacity of the media, examination of what representational and argumentative strategies were relied upon will provide an insight into how the media contributed towards the public debate of the EU referendum and describe how migrants were objectified for political success.