Journalismus und Rassismus in einer postmigrantischen Gesellschaft. Diversität als Herausforderung an die Berichterstattung über die rechtsterroristischen Morde in Hanau

This article examines how the far-right terrorist attack in Hanau on February 19, 2020, was covered by national weekly and daily newspapers (Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) as well as in local reporting (Hanauer Anzeiger). The central question is to what extent this media coverage reflects the social reality of a post-migrant society. Drawing on current research in journalism studies and interdisciplinary debates on diversity, the article develops criteria for a “diversity-conscious” approach to reporting. A discourse analysis, based on the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD), was conducted on 675 articles published between February 19, 2020, and February 29, 2024. The findings are structured around the following questions: How is racism addressed, and to what extent is its social and political embeddedness discussed? Does the reporting succeed in providing an acknowledging, non-hierarchical representation of those affected without reproducing “othering”? And finally, how does the press contribute to the “assertion of plural existence”—by constructing notions of belonging to a “diverse we” or, conversely, by reinforcing social exclusions?