Coding economic violence in the news discourse of the Sudanese press

This study examines the phenomenon of economic violence in terms of the relationship between economic and symbolic factors. The study focused on how economic violence is represented and coded in the news discourse by the print media during the economic crisis in Sudan between 2012-2018. From this aspect, the study aimed to identify the semiotic dimensions of economic violence. El-İntibaha newspaper and Es-Sudani newspaper, which were pro-government and had the highest circulation during the economic crisis, were selected to test the assumption of producing and reproducing economic violence discourses. In this context, 500 news from two newspapers on the economic crisis in Sudan between 2012-2018 were analyzed using the Critical Discourse Analysis method. Given that economic violence is not clearly represented in the news stories of the two newspapers because it has been coded into the news discourse structures and discourse strategies, the results confirm the basic assumptions of the study. According to the study findings, news discourse legitimized economic violence through the use of symbolic power, symbolic violence, and ideological manipulation. The results confirm that the coding of economic violence in news discourse was done by masking the act, the perpetrator and the impact of the violence. In this study, the conceptualization of 'economic violence square' has been proposed as a new contribution to the literature. 'Economic violence square' is a concept that divides economic violence into four complementary parts (Economic subjective violence, Physical/personal economic violence, Structural economic violence, and Symbolic economic violence) which simultaneously reflect the comprehensive and complex nature of violence against the self, individuals, institutions and societies.