Contemporary Western discourse about intimacy and love is dominated by the compulsory assumption of monogamy (Barker & Langdridge, 2010; Ferrer, 2018; Schippers, 2016). People who engage in non-monogamous attachments face significant stigma and rejection, and such relationships are widely believed to be immature, emotionally stunted and riddled by conflict (Moors et al., 2021; Séguin, 2019).

Scholars and activists have often pointed out the importance of the media in reproducing this stigma (Klesse, 2016; Séguin, 2019). Antalffy (2011) suggested specifically that an emphasis on sexual practices and deviance is one of the key features of sensationalistic news coverage of non-monogamy, in sharp contrast with the emphasis that the polyamorous community places on love over sex (Klesse, 2011). But despite the increased visibility of nonmonogamous relationships in entertainment and news media (Adams & Rambukkana, 2018; Barker & Langdridge, 2010, p. 749; Hurson, 2016, p. 14; Moors, 2017, p. 677), there are yet no systematic examinations of how journalistic coverage sensationalises and sexualises polyamorous experiences.

In this paper, I focus on the patterns of mention, characterisation and description of sexuality in news discussions of polyamory. Using the Factiva database (Dow Jones & Company, 2024), I retrieved all articles from newspaper sources containing the word ‘polyamory’ or related terms, a total of 9228 documents covering the period 1994–2023. Taking a corpus-assisted discourse analyses approach, I identified the distinctive vocabulary that characterises this reporting, and retrieved terms denoting sexual practices and identities. Results suggest that sexuality forms a very significant part of media reporting about polyamory, and tends to be associated with sexual minorities and non-normative practices such as BDSM.