The victims, villains and heroes of 'panic buying': News media attribution of responsibility for COVID-19 stockpiling.

ABSTRACT: Societies often respond to a crisis by attributing blame to some groups while constructing others as victims and heroes. While it has received scant sociological attention, 'panic buying' is a critical indicator of such public sentiment at the onset of a crisis, and thus a crucial site for analysis. This article traces dynamics of blame in news media representations of an extreme period of panic buying during COVID-19 in Australia. Analysis reveals that lower socio-economic and ethnically diverse consumers were blamed disproportionately. Unlike wealthier consumers who bulk-bought online, shoppers filling trollies in-store were depicted as selfish and shameful, described using dehumanising language, and portrayed as 'villains' who threatened social order. Supermarkets were cast simultaneous

SUBMITTER: Phillips T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10160820 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature