Mediatization and Populism: critical reflections on key concepts and recent trends James Stanyer

Politics and the populist turn Buzzword; zeitgeist Populists/ populism on the rise? Austrian Freedom Party (Austria), Vlaams Belang (Belgium), Front National (France), True Finns (Finland) Sweden Democrats (Sweden), Progress Party (Norway), Golden Dawn (Greece), Lega Nord (Italy), UKIP (UK) and Trump (USA) Syriza (Greece), Podemos (Spain), Party of Democratic Socialism (Germany)

Electoral success of populist and totalitarian parties in 33 European democracies 2016 (% share in last national election)

High profile leaders Recognisable, ‘charismatic’, divisive Skilled communicators, old and new media Political celebrities

Structure and Focus Defining terms/ concepts Avoiding naive universalism – comparative research Is populism/ populist political communication a product of our media age? What role does the media play in the growth and spread of populist communication? How useful is the concept mediatization for helping us understand developments?

Populism and populist political communication ‘Conceptual slipperiness’ (Taggart, 2000:1) Ionescu and Gellner (1969:1): ‘… it is elusive and protean. It bobs up everywhere, but in many contradictory shapes’. Conceptual disagreement – who is or is not populist Understand populism NOT as an identity of political actors but a characteristic of political communication

Actor-centred approach Communication-centred approach Starting point for the analysis Identifying the characteristics of populist political actors Identifying the characteristics of populist communication Main focus Actors defined as populist Communication defined as populist Empirical object of study All relevant political communicators Perspective on populism Populism an ideology decoupled from how political actors communicate How political actors communicate

Populism as an ideology and communication style Populism as a thin ideology (Mudde, 2004) Thin ideology based around popular sovereignty (the will of the people/volonté générale) (Mudde, 2004; Hawkins, 2009; Kriesi, 2014). Attached to other thicker ideologies – left/right Manifest in a communication style A style which has certain features/ characteristics

People vs the Elite Hawkins proposes that populism is: ‘a Manichean discourse that identifies Good with a unified will of the people and Evil with a conspiring elite’ (2009:1042) Canovan ‘appeal to the people, against the established structure of power and the dominate ideas and values of the society’ (1999:3) Cas Mudde ‘an ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogenous and antagonistic groups, “the pure people” versus “the corrupt elite” ’ (2004:543)

Rooduijn (2017) (i) a focus on the antagonistic relationship and dynamics between the people (perceived as good and pure) and the elite (perceived as corrupt and malicious) (ii) populism ‘conceived of as being a substantive message – or a set of ideas’ (Rooduijn, 2017:4) that manifest itself in the communication of political actors.

People vs out-groups Some suggest a third part: the exclusion of ‘out groups’ (Canovan 1981; Taggart 2000; Mudde 2004; Rooduijn et al., 2014) ‘the exclusion of out-groups’ is a feature of populist radical right-wing parties Internal and external outgroups Additional factors such as charismatic leadership and the inclusion of crude language but not constitutive Emotional bond?

Jaggers and Walgrave (2007) Populism as Political Communication Style

Explaining the rise of populist communication External demand-side conditions Real-world events such as the economic crisis, austerity policies, globalization and rising immigration, disenchangment with the political class or the political system External supply-side conditions Media environment, digital media offering venues to bypass traditional media, disseminate populist messages, offer conspiracy theories, and organizing people Internal supply-side conditions Populist political actors have become more polished, better funded, better organized and more skilled at exploiting people’s fears, antagonisms between groups and people’s disillusionment with established politics.

Defining Mediatization A temporal process – a multi-dimensional meta-process akin to globalization or commercialization Institutionalist and social constructivist accounts Institutionalist accounts: non-media institutions have to adapt to ‘media’s rules, aims, production logics, and constraints’ (Mazzoleni and Schulz, 1999:249)

Logic of the political sphere is ‘yielding to the supremacy of the logics and imperatives of the media in contemporary society’ (Mazzoleni, 2014, 43) ‘a conversion and adaptation of the traditional stylistic features of political communication to typical media formats’ (Mazzoleni, 2014, 43) ‘media formats, content, grammar and rhythm so pervasive that no social actors requiring interaction with the public or influence on public opinion can ignore the media or afford not to adapt to its logic’ (Mazzoleni, 2014, 43)

Mediatization and populism Mazzoleni, 2008, 2014; Moffitt & Tormey, 2014 Media not the cause then what? Populist leaders and parties subject to the same media logic as other politicians Media crucial for the dissemination of populist messages BUT…. Politicians adapt, innovate, seek new media opportunities, Media react

Populist leaders and social media

Donald Trump and Twitter

The people America first, make America great again

Attacking political establishment Obama, Clinton

Attacking media elites

Trump – attacking out groups

Media Populism Not just about politicians Political actors using the media as a communication channel – (Esser et al., 2017; Krämer, 2014, Stanyer, 2007) ‘Media Populism’ – populism by media outlets (Esser et al., 2017; Krämer, 2014, Stanyer, 2007) Populist citizen journalism (Esser et al., 2017)

Media as conduit for populist communication News values – newsworthy actors Ratings – market driven competition Sensitive/ controversial issues Often unintentional Media ownership Opinion v newspaper (Esser et al., 2017; Krämer, 2014, Stanyer, 2007)

Populist media Content designed and developed by the media themselves Can be seen in particular in the tabloid press and talk radio in some countries (and online) Anti-establishment stance (beyond holding to account) Hostility towards political elites Cynicism, mockery (Esser et al., 2017; Krämer, 2014, Stanyer, 2007)

Opinion Media Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones – talk radio, cable TV

Tabloid media

Populist pundits/ and media stars Online provocateurs Alt Right media US Networks

Russian Narodniki (Taggart, 2000:46ff), Is populism/ populist political communication a product of our media age? Russian Narodniki (Taggart, 2000:46ff), In the American People’s Party during the nineteenth century (Taggart, 2000) Latin America in the 1940s and 50s Poujadism 1950s France Qualunquismo, post war Italy

What role does the media play in the growth and spread of populist communication? Media environment – opportunity structures Media issue agendas Priming Frames and framing Discourse normalization Combination of factors, political, economic, social

How useful is the concept mediatization for helping us understand developments? Concept utility and value added More than just adaptation to media logic Media environment Dynamics of populist discourse Changing media environment

Responding to populist communication How best to tackle exclusionary discourses/ ‘othering’ Challenge or ignore? Challenging claims to represent the people Challenging hate speech Resisting the normalization of discord and division New York fashion week 2017 One Mexican born designer from LRS Studio, declared 'f*** your wall' and 'no ban, no wall' on the back of models' white underwear. 

Inspiring Winners Since 1909 Thank you! Inspiring Winners Since 1909

Select references Esser, F., Stepinska, A., Hopmann, N. (2017) Aalberg, T., Esser, F., Reinemann, C., Stromback, J. and de Vreese, C. (Eds.) Populist Political Communication in Europe. London: Routledge Esser, F., & Strömbäck, J. (Eds.). (2014). Mediatization of politics. Understanding the transformation of western democracies. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Hawkins, K. A. (2009). Is Chavez Populist? Measuring Populist Discourse in Comparative Perspective. Comparative Political Studies 42(8): 1040–1067 Jagers, J. & Walgrave, S. (2007). Populism as political communication style: An empirical study of political parties’ discourse in Belgium. European Journal of Political Research 46: 319–345 Kriesi, H. (2014). The Populist Challenge. West European Politics, 37(2), 361-378

Moffitt, B., & Tormey, S. (2014). Rethinking Populism: Politics, Mediatisation and Political Style. Political Studies: 62, 381–397 Mudde, C. (2004). The populist Zeitgeist. Government and Opposition 39: 541–563. —— (2007). Populist radical right parties in Europe. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Rooduijn, M. (2017). What unites the voter bases of populist parties? Comparing the electorates of 15 populist parties. European Political Science Review, page 1 of 18. European Consortium for Political Research doi:10.1017/S1755773917000145

Stanyer, J. (2007) Modern Political Communication. Cambridge UK: Polity Strömbäck, J. (2008). Four phases of mediatization: An analysis of the mediatization of politics. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 13(3), 228–246. Strömbäck, J., & Esser, F. (2014a). Mediatization of politics. Towards a theoretical framework. In F. Esser & J. Strömbäck (Eds.), Mediatization of politics. Understanding the transformation of Western democracies (pp. 3–28). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Taggart, P. (2000). Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press.