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

Looking over the channel: The balance of media coverage about the “refugee crisis” in Germany and the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Maurer ◽  
Jörg Haßler ◽  
Simon Kruschinski ◽  
Pablo Jost
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Television News ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Value Theory ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
British Government ◽  
News Value ◽  
The Uk

Abstract This study compares the balance of newspaper and television news coverage about migration in two countries that were differently affected by the so-called “refugee crisis” in 2015 in terms of the geopolitical involvement and numbers of migrants being admitted. Based on a broad consensus among political elites, Germany left its borders open and received about one million migrants mainly from Syria during 2015. In contrast, the conservative British government was heavily attacked by oppositional parties for closing Britain’s borders and, thus, restricting immigration. These different initial situations led to remarkable differences between the news coverage in both countries. In line with news value theory, German media outlets reported much more on migration than did their British counterparts. In line with indexing theory, German news coverage consonantly reflected the consensual view of German political elites, while British news media reported along their general editorial lines.

scholarly journals Kräfteverhältnisse in der Eurokrise

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (180) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Georgi ◽  
John Kannankulam
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
New Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
The Social ◽  
Alternative For Germany

John Kannankulam and Fabian Georgi show, that the dominant authoritarian neoliberal fraction of the german Federal Government made a change of course in summer 2012. It quits with some ordoliberal principles and stops resistance against the mutualization of debt and expansive monetary policy. The alliance of a national-conservative and an ordoliberal fraction broke up. The contradiction within the (neo-)liberals and conservatives result in a foundation of a new right-wing party, the AfD, Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany). Anyway new conflicts arise and the Great Coalition of Merkel’s CDU and the Social Democrats hold on its hard-line (against greece): austerity. John Kannankulam and Fabian Georgi reconstruct the dynamics on the basis of four phases in which the authoritarian-neoliberal fraction prevail.

scholarly journals Framing Analysis of Typo News Reports on Job Creation Through Online News Media

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 83-89
Author(s):  
Deska Rinanti Hayyattun Nuffuss ◽  
Sri Rohaningsih
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Online News ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
The Government

The ratification of the Job Creation Law in early November 2020 created a lot of polemics in the society, this leads the news in the online media to have their own views in reviewing typos related to the content in the Job Creation Act. This study aims to unravel the results of media framing from a certain topic by reviewing news coverage by two different online news channels in the same upload period on November 3rd, 2020. The news reconstruction of journalists' points of view creates a gap between empirical truth and public awareness so readers can follow the media thought. The framing analysis was carried out on two news channels, namely CNBC Indonesia and Nasional Tempo, which reported typos in the writing of the Job Creation Law from a different point of view. The method used in this study is from Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki framing analysis model using four structures, namely Syntax, Script, Thematic, and Rhetorical. The results of this study indicate that media coverage of CNBC Indonesia tends to be in line with the government, while the Tempo National media constructs news coverage with a more critical tone. Additionally, other factors in the form of ownership and interests could also affect news framing. This is based on the fact that there is a trend of media conglomeration in Indonesia which can have certain implications for the news content.

The ‘Alternative for Germany’: The rise of right-wing populism at the heart of Europe

Politics ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 295-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Lees
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Party System ◽  
German Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Strong Performance ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Alternative For Germany

This article charts the rise of the ‘Alternative for Germany’ ( Alternative für Deutschland or AfD) from its inception in late 2012 to its unexpectedly strong performance in the 2017 Federal election. In terms of the ‘inward’ aspect of Euroscepticism, the article considers the impact of the emergence of successively more hardline leaderships in 2015 and 2017, which led to a shift beyond opposition to aspects of the European integration process to a more profound critique of German society and politics. In terms of the ‘outward’ aspect, it assesses the significance of these developments in the wider debates around Euroscepticism and populism. The article concludes that the AfD’s Euroscepticism is now nested within an ideological profile that increasingly conforms to the template of an orthodox European right-wing populist party. It argues that the widely unanticipated level of electoral support for the AfD in the 2017 Federal elections and its status as the main opposition party in the Bundestag is a systemic shock and potential critical juncture in the development of the German party system and the contestation of European integration in the Federal Republic.

scholarly journals CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN THE GERMAN POLITICAL DISCOURSE AS A REFLECTION OF MIGRATION PROCESSES (BASED ON OFFICIAL STATEMENTS OF THE PARTY “ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY”)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 8-18
Author(s):  
T. S. Medvedeva ◽  
V. E. Kazakova
Keyword(s):  
Federal Government ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Migration Policies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Right ◽  
Alternative For Germany

The paper considers the metaphorical models as a way of conceptual-metaphorical representation of migration policies pursued by the German federal government in the texts of official statements of the right-wing opposition party “Alternative for Germany” (AfD). The study aims at analyzing the functioning of conceptual metaphors in the German political discourse focused on migration processes. The study is based on the texts of AfD’s official statements within the 2016th and the 2019th years posted on the website https://www.afd.de/ The overall number of the analyzed texts is 70. The theory of political metaphor is currently one of the most urgent and dynamic fields of linguistics. In our opinion, the metaphorization of migration processes is understudied and needs addressing the topic. As a result of the research, the conclusion is made that the metaphor serves as one of the most important and effective ways of manipulation aimed at controlling the public awareness and contributing to shaping political viewpoints that benefit the addresser. Throughout the study we analyzed the basic metaphorical models used to describe migration processes in Germany; a classification of predominant metaphors based on the sources of metaphorical expansion was worked out. Besides, we tried to trace the dynamics of using the metaphorical models within the four-year period. In 2016 as well as in 2019 nature-morphic, anthropomorphic, sociomorphic models were widely used in the official statements of the AfD party. However, the number of the metaphors in the texts dated 2016 is half as much as in 2019 (184 versus 120). In both periods of time the sociomorphic model proved to be the most popular but it is much more frequent in 2019. However, in the texts dated 2016 it comprises additional concepts of religion and hospitality. The nature-morphic metaphor is twice more frequent in 2016. The percent of anthropomorphic and cognitive metaphors in both periods of time remains unaltered.

scholarly journals Crime in Germany as Portrayed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD)

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-738
Author(s):  
Thomas Hestermann ◽  
Elisa Hoven
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Press Releases ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
Criminal Offenses ◽  
Alternative For Germany ◽  
Populist Party

AbstractCriminal offenses ignite the political debate. Questions about the causes, development, and combating of crime touch on widespread fears; those who make them their subject can be sure of public attention. This Article looks at 242 press releases of the German right-wing populist party, the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland; AfD) from 2018 dealing with criminal offenses. It examines which crime phenomena the reports describe, which perpetrator and victim images they project, and how crime and immigration are depicted as related threats.

scholarly journals Killing them softly? Two complementary studies on visibility and framing of new parties in the news

Journalism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 146488492091931
Author(s):  
Joost van Spanje ◽  
Rachid Azrout
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Online News ◽  
New Parties ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
The Media ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
Western Democracies

Democratic systems need some degree of openness to new ideas and to new competitors. New parties depend on news media to survive. Which new parties receive news media coverage, and what kind of coverage do these parties receive? This article brings in the media into the literature of new parties. Based on two original datasets compiled for this study, the news media coverage of dozens of parties in a variety of offline and online news media sources since 1947 is analyzed to address the two research questions. In terms of visibility, new parties receive more attention when already represented in parliament and when mobilizing on the main axis of political contestation. In terms of framing, new parties are hardly ever trivialized, stigmatized, or criminalized. Compared to established parties, new parties are more trivialized, just as little criminalized, and even less stigmatized. Our findings put complaints about the media by new party leaders into perspective, and let political and media practitioners reflect on their practices, inform debates about interactions between news media and new voices. They may also open new lines of research about political transformations that we witness in Western democracies today.

Elite News Coverage of Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Boykoff ◽  
Gesa Luedecke
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
News Media ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

During the past three decades, elite news media have become influential translators of climate change linking science, policy, and the citizenry. Historical trends in public discourse—shaped in significant part by elite media—demonstrate news media’s critical role in shaping public perception and the level of concern towards climate change. Media representations of climate change and global warming are embedded in social, cultural, political, and economic dimensions that influence individual-level processes such as everyday journalistic practices. Media have a strong influence on policy decision-making, attitudes, perspectives, intentions, and behavioral change, but those connections can be challenging to pinpoint; consequently, examinations of elite news coverage of climate change, particularly in recent decades, have sought to gain a stronger understanding of these complex and dynamic webs of interactions. In so doing, research has more effectively traced how media have taken on varied roles in the climate change debate, from watch dogs to lap dogs to guard dogs in the public sphere. Within these areas of research, psychological aspects of media influence have been relatively underemphasized. However, interdisciplinary and problem-focused research investigations of elite media coverage stand to advance considerations of public awareness, discourse, and engagement. Elite news media critically contribute to public discourse and policy priorities through their “mediating” and interpretative influences. Therefore, a review of examinations of these dynamics illuminate the bridging role of elite news coverage of climate change between formal science and policy, and everyday citizens in the public sphere.

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.

scholarly journals Between Opportunism and Limitation: the resurgence of populism and the right-wing populist ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD)

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93
Author(s):  
Veith Selk ◽  
Jared Sonnicksen
Keyword(s):  
Federal Republic ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
Alternative Für Deutschland ◽  
The Right ◽  
Alternative For Germany ◽  
Populist Party

The article provides first an overview of the strands of current research on populism and the German newcomer party, the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Building upon this, it will be demonstrated how the AfD constitutes a right-wing populist party, but also how its ideology connects to ideational-historical currents that have been influential in the Federal Republic of Germany. Finally, we elaborate the underlying thesis that the AfD comprises a party that is oriented primarily toward re-adjusting and re-setting borders. Accordingly, the party manages to successfully politicize the cleavage between supporters of more openness and supporters of stronger delimitation.

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