How Right-Wing Extremists Use and Perceive News Media

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 696-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Baugut ◽  
Katharina Neumann
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Key Informants ◽  
Third Person ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Extremist Groups ◽  
Right Wing Extremism ◽  
Hostile Media

We investigate how right-wing extremists use, perceive, and try to provoke news media coverage. Findings from qualitative interviews with former leaders of right-wing extremist groups in Germany, who served as key informants, show that reports on right-wing extremism are used and trigger feelings of being personally affected. Consequently, right-wing extremists show hostile-media and third-person perceptions. These perceptions influence both emotions and behaviors among right-wing extremists, for example, they cause right-wing leaders to strategically monitor news media to exploit them for political goals. Our findings are presented along with a model and are accompanied by a discussion of the implications for responsible journalism.

How right-wing populists instrumentalize news media: Deliberate provocations, scandalizing media coverage, and public awareness for the Alternative for Germany (AfD)

2022 ◽  
pp. 194016122110726
Author(s):  
Marcus Maurer ◽  
Pablo Jost ◽  
Marlene Schaaf ◽  
Michael Sülflow ◽  
Simon Kruschinski
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Output Analysis ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
Database Research ◽  
Alternative For Germany ◽  
Western Democracies

The rise of right-wing populist parties in Western democracies is often attributed to populists’ ability to instrumentalize news media by making deliberate provocations (e.g., verbal attacks on migrants or politicians from other parties) that generate media coverage and public awareness. To explain the success of populists’ deliberate provocations, we drew from research on populism and scandal theory to develop a theoretical framework that we tested in three studies examining the rise of German right-wing populist party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) between January 2015 and December 2018. In Study 1, an input–output analysis of 17 deliberate provocations by AfD politicians in German news media revealed much more coverage about their attacks on migrants than about their attacks on political elites, although all were covered in predominantly scandalizing ways. Next, Study 2, involving media database research and an analysis of Google Trends data, showed that the provocations had increased overall media coverage about the AfD and influenced public awareness of the party

A Specter of Nationalism

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitzan Shoshan
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
East Berlin ◽  
National Question ◽  
Extremist Groups ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

This book examines the affective management of German nationalism, or what it calls “the management of hate,” in Germany after reunification, taking as its point of departure the daily realities of young right-wing extremist groups in the East Berlin district of Treptow-Köpenick. It explores the governance of right-wing extremism within a project of German nationhood and how the troubled enterprise of the country's national question proceeds under the sign of broader contemporary processes. Topics include the ways that young right-wing extremists articulate their relations to cultural and ethnicized difference; the juridical production of the so-called “political delinquency”; how the management of hate seeks to inoculate and fortify broader affective publics against illicit forms of nationalism; and “national vision.” This chapter reviews the relevant historical background and provides an overview of some of the crucial theoretical frameworks that guide the study as well as the fieldwork and research methods.

Public and Elite Perceptions of News Media in Politics

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yariv Tsfati
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Political World ◽  
Third Person ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Hostile Media

This chapter provides an overview of the research on individual’s perceptions about and attitudes toward the news media. It discusses research on trust in media, hostile media perceptions, and perceptions of media influence, also known as third person perceptions. All three perceptions are shaped by both cognitive and self-enhancement mechanisms and all have important political consequences. The chapter argues that perceptions about the news media among the elite have largely been ignored by scholars but are consequential in shaping the political world. When politicians perceive that media are powerful, they react by initiating coverage and cooperating with the requests of journalists. When a certain issue is expected to receive substantial media attention, politicians react by initiating legislation or discussion about that topic. Thus, politicians’ perceptions of media the may be at the heart of a decades-long process of mediatization of politics.

The news expectation predicament: Comparing and explaining what audiences expect from the roles and reporting practices of reporters on right-wing extremism

Journalism ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146488492199630
Author(s):  
Philip Baugut ◽  
Sebastian Scherr
Keyword(s):  
Media Coverage ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Professional Role ◽  
Democratic Society ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
German Population ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

News about right-wing extremism pertains to the media’s information and watchdog functions in democratic societies. Since audience orientation is important to the journalistic profession, it is important to know what different news audiences expect of journalists regarding their professional role and their reporting practices when it comes to media coverage of right-wing extremism. To bridge this research gap, by employing a quota sample representative of the general German population ( n = 1314) and an independent sample of Muslims living in Germany ( n = 248), we demonstrated that Muslims expect a more active role from journalists and even accept controversial reporting practices to combat right-wing extremism. More left-leaning individuals were found to expect more controversial reporting unless they were afraid of right-wing extremism. Among these more left individuals, fear of terrorism seems to activate the argument that a democratic society should not give up its core principles, including the professional autonomy of its journalists and ethical reporting practices.

scholarly journals Agenda‐Setting, Priming, and Framing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Moy ◽  
David Tewksbury ◽  
Eike Mark Rinke
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Content ◽  
And Behaviors

Today's news media exert a host of influences over individuals' attitudes, cognitions, and behaviors. This entry provides an overview of three widely studied theories and mechanisms of influence: agenda‐setting, which occurs when increased media coverage of an issue leads to increased perceptions of salience of that issue; priming, the process by which the salience of an idea becomes the basis for judgment and evaluation; and framing, a set of processes by which news content is created and shapes individuals' perceptions and behaviors. [Publication of this chapter on SocArXiv courtesy of John Wiley and Sons, Inc.]

Public and Elite Perceptions of News Media in Politics

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yariv Tsfati
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
Political World ◽  
Third Person ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Hostile Media

This chapter provides an overview of the research on individual’s perceptions about and attitudes toward the news media. It discusses research on trust in media, hostile media perceptions, and perceptions of media influence, also known as third person perceptions. All three perceptions are shaped by both cognitive and self-enhancement mechanisms and all have important political consequences. The chapter argues that perceptions about the news media among the elite have largely been ignored by scholars but are consequential in shaping the political world. When politicians perceive that media are powerful, they react by initiating coverage and cooperating with the requests of journalists. When a certain issue is expected to receive substantial media attention, politicians react by initiating legislation or discussion about that topic. Thus, politicians’ perceptions of media the may be at the heart of a decades-long process of mediatization of politics.

Finding Perceptions of Partisan News Media Bias in an Unlikely Place

2020 ◽  
pp. 194016122096808
Author(s):  
Karolin Soontjens ◽  
Patrick F. A. van Erkel
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Partisan Bias ◽  
Know How ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Political Preferences ◽  
News Outlet ◽  
Hostile Media

When citizens perceive news coverage as ideologically slanted, their crucial trust in the (traditional) news media decreases. Research on the so-called hostile media phenomenon indeed shows that an alarming number of people consider news coverage as disadvantaging their own political preferences and favoring opposing (partisan) views. However, most of this research is conducted in an experimental setting, and we do not know how this works in the real world, where citizens predominantly consume news from media outlets they trust and perceive as ideologically like-minded. By questioning Belgian citizens about their perceptions of partisan bias in their preferred news outlet, this study shows that the hostile media phenomenon also holds in a least likely context; even content produced by “friendly” news sources is seen as ideologically slanted, potentially contributing to citizens’ general distrust in the news media. Moreover, we find that especially right-wing citizens and strong partisans believe their news outlet disadvantages their preferred party.

Welcome to the Party

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadijah Costley White
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Tea Party ◽  
Audience Appeal

This chapter lays out the Tea Party’s history as a mass-mediated construction in the context of journalism, political communication, and social movement studies. It argues that the news coverage of the Tea Party primarily chronicled its meaning, appeal, motivations, influence, and circulation—an emphasis on its persona more than its policies. In particular, the news media tracked the Tea Party as a brand, highlighting its profits, marketability, brand leaders, and audience appeal. The Tea Party became a brand through news media coverage; in defining it as a brand, the Tea Party was a story, message, and cognitive shortcut that built a lasting relationship with citizen-consumers through strong emotional connections, self-expression, consumption, and differentiation.

Aspects of the New Right-Wing Extremism

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 422-423
Author(s):  
Kathleen Webb Tunney
Keyword(s):  
New Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

scholarly journals Associations between News Media Coverage of the 11 September Attacks and Depression in Employees of New York City Area Businesses

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Betty Pfefferbaum ◽  
Jayme M. Palka ◽  
Carol S. North
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
News Media ◽  
York City ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mass Trauma ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
General Populations ◽  
Disaster Trauma

Research has examined the association between contact with media coverage of mass trauma events and various psychological outcomes, including depression. Disaster-related depression research is complicated by the relatively high prevalence of the major depressive disorder in general populations even without trauma exposure. The extant research is inconclusive regarding associations between disaster media contact and depression outcomes, in part, because most studies have not distinguished diagnostic and symptomatic outcomes, differentiated postdisaster incidence from prevalence, or considered disaster trauma exposures. This study examined these associations in a volunteer sample of 254 employees of New York City businesses after the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks. Structured interviews and questionnaires were administered 35 months after the attacks. Poisson and logistic regression analyses revealed that post-9/11 news contact significantly predicted the number of postdisaster persistent/recurrent and incident depressive symptoms in the full sample and in the indirect and unexposed groups. The findings suggest that clinical and public health approaches should be particularly alert to potential adverse postdisaster depression outcomes related to media consumption in disaster trauma-unexposed or indirectly-exposed groups.

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