Liquid Prosperity: The Czech State and LG.Philips Displays
Liquid Prosperity: The Czech State and LG.Philips Displays

Summary/Abstract: The article presents a discourse analysis of media coverage of an unsuccessful foreign investor, the case of LG.Philips Displays Holding v. the Czech state. We analyze media coverage of the case from 2000 when the investor decided to start production in the Czech Republic until 2006 when the investor went bankrupt. Our method of analysis is based on Foucault’s understanding of discourse and his theoretical conceptualization of discourse analysis. It emphasizes the structural rather than the linguistic level of discourse and also draws on Gerbner’s message system analysis and de Gruyter’s method of tracking discourse. We analyzed almost 700 articles published in two Czech print dailies and two weeklies and found a significant bias in the Czech print media since a very strong politicization of the case was typical of its media coverage. The discourse of party politics emerged in connection with the government’s investment incentive policy. The arrival of Philips was presented as a result of successful government policy while other important factors were underestimated. Moreover, media uncritically replicated the government’s official discourse. This applies particularly to the first years when party political themes and an uncritical view of the investor forced out the economic/analytical discourse. The media rarely took into account risks associated with foreign investment or the decline of the traditional (CRT) TV screen market. In addition, the media stereotypically labelled actors involved in disputes with LG.Philips Displays.

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