Pub Date : 2023-07-24DOI: 10.1177/19401612231187831
S. Farhat, Jad Melki
This study examines news framing of partisan media during uprisings. Through mixed methods, it studies the framing of Lebanon’s October 2019 protests, compares frames across political divides, and interprets story themes based on associations between multiple frames. First, the qualitative media framing analysis (MFA) inductively interprets issue-specific frames. Then, the quantitative content analysis deductively examines the developed issue-specific frames and the generic frames across five partisan news channels and tests the relationship between them and across the pro- and anti-protests media. Finally, multiple associated frames are grouped together into news story themes. Results from the MFA reveal six frames: solidarity, head-to-head, individualization, acknowledgment, disruption, and peace through violence frames. The study detected the frequent deployment of the solidarity, conflict, and acknowledgment frames and a significant framing difference between pro- and anti-protest channels. Pro-protest channels more often deployed the solidarity frame, while anti-protest channels more frequently used the conflict, acknowledgment, disruption, and economic consequence frames. Finally, the study developed four story themes based on associations between frames: Blame the protestors or the politicians; protestor violence begets government violence; divided they suffer; and politicians may not only be the culprits but also the solution. The resulting multiframe news themes offer nuanced meaning to generic frames that frequently appear with issue-specific frames and highlight the different roles a singular news frame can play when combined with other frames.
{"title":"Framing Revolution: Multiframe News Themes in Lebanon’s October 2019 Uprising","authors":"S. Farhat, Jad Melki","doi":"10.1177/19401612231187831","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231187831","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines news framing of partisan media during uprisings. Through mixed methods, it studies the framing of Lebanon’s October 2019 protests, compares frames across political divides, and interprets story themes based on associations between multiple frames. First, the qualitative media framing analysis (MFA) inductively interprets issue-specific frames. Then, the quantitative content analysis deductively examines the developed issue-specific frames and the generic frames across five partisan news channels and tests the relationship between them and across the pro- and anti-protests media. Finally, multiple associated frames are grouped together into news story themes. Results from the MFA reveal six frames: solidarity, head-to-head, individualization, acknowledgment, disruption, and peace through violence frames. The study detected the frequent deployment of the solidarity, conflict, and acknowledgment frames and a significant framing difference between pro- and anti-protest channels. Pro-protest channels more often deployed the solidarity frame, while anti-protest channels more frequently used the conflict, acknowledgment, disruption, and economic consequence frames. Finally, the study developed four story themes based on associations between frames: Blame the protestors or the politicians; protestor violence begets government violence; divided they suffer; and politicians may not only be the culprits but also the solution. The resulting multiframe news themes offer nuanced meaning to generic frames that frequently appear with issue-specific frames and highlight the different roles a singular news frame can play when combined with other frames.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46212087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-22DOI: 10.1177/19401612231186939
N. Usher, Sanghoon Kim-Leffingwell
Journalism has long been presumed to serve as a check on the powerful, shedding light on wrongdoing; however, as local newspapers reach market failure, extant theory predicts corruption will go unchecked. We operationalize corruption as federal prosecutions for public corruption (PPCs), defined by the US Department of Justice as crimes involving the abuse of public trust by federal, state, and local public officials. We examine changes in the local news media ecosystems: first, whether declines in local newspaper employment and circulation are associated with changes in PPCs; and second, whether efforts to supplement watchdog journalism with nonprofit journalism might mitigate associated declines in federal PPC. Our findings suggest nonprofit interventions in failing local commercial news markets may be an important safeguard for keeping public officials accountable.
{"title":"How Loud Does the Watchdog Bark? A Reconsideration of Losing Local Journalism, News Nonprofits, and Political Corruption","authors":"N. Usher, Sanghoon Kim-Leffingwell","doi":"10.1177/19401612231186939","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231186939","url":null,"abstract":"Journalism has long been presumed to serve as a check on the powerful, shedding light on wrongdoing; however, as local newspapers reach market failure, extant theory predicts corruption will go unchecked. We operationalize corruption as federal prosecutions for public corruption (PPCs), defined by the US Department of Justice as crimes involving the abuse of public trust by federal, state, and local public officials. We examine changes in the local news media ecosystems: first, whether declines in local newspaper employment and circulation are associated with changes in PPCs; and second, whether efforts to supplement watchdog journalism with nonprofit journalism might mitigate associated declines in federal PPC. Our findings suggest nonprofit interventions in failing local commercial news markets may be an important safeguard for keeping public officials accountable.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43576787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-22DOI: 10.1177/19401612231186938
T. Trillò, G. D. Starita
This paper investigates the Instagram self-presentation of Italian party leaders Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Renzi. Building on the notion that circumstances are crucial to the construction of the self through digital photography, we argue that the two leaders strategically use setting and accompaniment to navigate the demands of their populist self-presentation as “ordinary super leaders”: exceptional celebrity-like personae whose lives remain nonetheless close to those of their constituents. To make our case, we analyze a corpus of images featuring the two leaders posted on their Instagram profiles during 2020 (266 for Meloni and 158 for Renzi). Our findings suggest that Meloni and Renzi alternate and remix celebrity practices of exclusivity, exceptionalism, and everydayness in an attempt to come across as simultaneously extraordinary and ordinary, aspirational and relatable. Inspired by Meyrowitz’s “middle region politics,” we propose the notion of middle region populism to describe how populist leaders leverage the affordances of an image-centric social media platform and the vernacular of internet celebrity to curate an online presence in which they pose as exceptionally charismatic yet ordinary and relatable.
{"title":"The Middle Region Populism of Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Renzi on Instagram","authors":"T. Trillò, G. D. Starita","doi":"10.1177/19401612231186938","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231186938","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates the Instagram self-presentation of Italian party leaders Giorgia Meloni and Matteo Renzi. Building on the notion that circumstances are crucial to the construction of the self through digital photography, we argue that the two leaders strategically use setting and accompaniment to navigate the demands of their populist self-presentation as “ordinary super leaders”: exceptional celebrity-like personae whose lives remain nonetheless close to those of their constituents. To make our case, we analyze a corpus of images featuring the two leaders posted on their Instagram profiles during 2020 (266 for Meloni and 158 for Renzi). Our findings suggest that Meloni and Renzi alternate and remix celebrity practices of exclusivity, exceptionalism, and everydayness in an attempt to come across as simultaneously extraordinary and ordinary, aspirational and relatable. Inspired by Meyrowitz’s “middle region politics,” we propose the notion of middle region populism to describe how populist leaders leverage the affordances of an image-centric social media platform and the vernacular of internet celebrity to curate an online presence in which they pose as exceptionally charismatic yet ordinary and relatable.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44197332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-21DOI: 10.1177/19401612231187568
Marc Verboord, S. Janssen, Nete Nørgaard Kristensen, Franziska Marquart
The paper contributes to the study of institutional trust by making a connection to “cultural backlash” theory and analyzing more recent forms of news consumption. We examine how trust in politics, media, and science is shaped by “cultural backlash” and media use in nine European countries. We employ representative survey data collected in 2021 in Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as part of a large European research project. The results suggest that both exogenous (or “cultural”) and endogenous (or “institutional”) dimensions of cultural backlash matter for explaining institutional trust. Trust benefits from progressive–liberal values and less ideological extremism, but is hindered by discontentment with societal developments and political disengagement. Using public television is positively, and social media negatively associated with trust. While we find distinctions across institutions, there is huge consistency across countries.
{"title":"Institutional Trust and Media Use in Times of Cultural Backlash: A Cross-National Study in Nine European Countries","authors":"Marc Verboord, S. Janssen, Nete Nørgaard Kristensen, Franziska Marquart","doi":"10.1177/19401612231187568","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231187568","url":null,"abstract":"The paper contributes to the study of institutional trust by making a connection to “cultural backlash” theory and analyzing more recent forms of news consumption. We examine how trust in politics, media, and science is shaped by “cultural backlash” and media use in nine European countries. We employ representative survey data collected in 2021 in Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom as part of a large European research project. The results suggest that both exogenous (or “cultural”) and endogenous (or “institutional”) dimensions of cultural backlash matter for explaining institutional trust. Trust benefits from progressive–liberal values and less ideological extremism, but is hindered by discontentment with societal developments and political disengagement. Using public television is positively, and social media negatively associated with trust. While we find distinctions across institutions, there is huge consistency across countries.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46985949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-21DOI: 10.1177/19401612231189667
Richard Johnston
{"title":"Book Review: Inside the Local Campaign: Constituency Elections in Canada","authors":"Richard Johnston","doi":"10.1177/19401612231189667","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231189667","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47759903","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-07-06DOI: 10.1177/19401612231182618
J. V. S. Ozawa, Josephine Lukito, Taeyoung Lee, A. Varma, R. Alves
Attacks on journalists have become a growing concern in democracies around the world. Past scholarship suggests that such attacks could lead to a chilling effect of journalists self-censoring their reporting. However, there is limited empirical work that substantiates the effects of attacks on journalists. To empirically test the existence of chilling effects, this mixed-methods study uses the conditions of journalism under Jair Bolsonaro’s government in Brazil as an exploratory case study. We investigate how attacks ( N = 901) and propaganda messages ( N = 518,853) impacted news coverage ( N = 20,998) in the first two years of Bolsonaro’s government, based on time series analysis and in-depth interviews with journalists ( N = 18). Our results suggest that, despite the increase in government attacks, Brazilian journalists do not exhibit chilling effects; instead, they display what we call catalyzing effects. Our time series results showed that an increase in state propaganda leads to an increase in news coverage. Furthermore, our qualitative data affirms the concept of catalyzing effects. Findings from the interviews suggest that catalyzing effects operate as a form of resilience among journalists. Catalyzing effects do not necessarily manifest as more coverage, but as persistent coverage despite ongoing criticisms and threats (both social and physical). Our findings offer a path forward, highlighting the importance of bringing the discussion about violence and attacks against journalists back to the community of journalists experiencing this hostility. Network support, journalists said, has been crucial, which points to the need for a solidarity infrastructure that supports journalists’ constructive role in society.
{"title":"Attacks Against Journalists in Brazil: Catalyzing Effects and Resilience During Jair Bolsonaro’s Government","authors":"J. V. S. Ozawa, Josephine Lukito, Taeyoung Lee, A. Varma, R. Alves","doi":"10.1177/19401612231182618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231182618","url":null,"abstract":"Attacks on journalists have become a growing concern in democracies around the world. Past scholarship suggests that such attacks could lead to a chilling effect of journalists self-censoring their reporting. However, there is limited empirical work that substantiates the effects of attacks on journalists. To empirically test the existence of chilling effects, this mixed-methods study uses the conditions of journalism under Jair Bolsonaro’s government in Brazil as an exploratory case study. We investigate how attacks ( N = 901) and propaganda messages ( N = 518,853) impacted news coverage ( N = 20,998) in the first two years of Bolsonaro’s government, based on time series analysis and in-depth interviews with journalists ( N = 18). Our results suggest that, despite the increase in government attacks, Brazilian journalists do not exhibit chilling effects; instead, they display what we call catalyzing effects. Our time series results showed that an increase in state propaganda leads to an increase in news coverage. Furthermore, our qualitative data affirms the concept of catalyzing effects. Findings from the interviews suggest that catalyzing effects operate as a form of resilience among journalists. Catalyzing effects do not necessarily manifest as more coverage, but as persistent coverage despite ongoing criticisms and threats (both social and physical). Our findings offer a path forward, highlighting the importance of bringing the discussion about violence and attacks against journalists back to the community of journalists experiencing this hostility. Network support, journalists said, has been crucial, which points to the need for a solidarity infrastructure that supports journalists’ constructive role in society.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49536359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-16DOI: 10.1177/19401612231182619
N. Kurnia
{"title":"Book Reviews: Covering Muslims: American Newspapers in Comparative Perspective Erik Bleich & A. Maurits van der Veen","authors":"N. Kurnia","doi":"10.1177/19401612231182619","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231182619","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"1063 - 1064"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43194562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-06-14DOI: 10.1177/19401612231179120
Julia Sonnevend, Veronika Kövesdi
Populist leaders are often described as “strongmen,” receiving a somewhat two-dimensional Western press coverage that cannot explain their local popularity. Based on visual and textual analysis of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Facebook, we argue that he has a more complex social media persona. Orbán’s Facebook shows him as (1) a fighter against a variety of enemies, (2) a symbolic condensation of the nation, (3) a relatable politician with (4) a gentleness toward children and animals, and (5) a strong competence in elite political contexts. Orbán uses his charismatic authority on Facebook to draw the boundaries of the Hungarian nation, presenting himself as the iconic representation of “Hungarian-ness.” The building blocks of his image are constantly being adapted to the current political situation and to shifts in public opinion. The Orbán image is, thus, a fluid and pragmatic material with only a few core principles and its popularity remains steadfast despite the brand’s contradictions. Understanding the appeal of Orbán’s self-representation may help us better grasp populist regimes’ variation and success worldwide.
{"title":"More Than Just a Strongman: The Strategic Construction of Viktor Orbán’s Charismatic Authority on Facebook","authors":"Julia Sonnevend, Veronika Kövesdi","doi":"10.1177/19401612231179120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231179120","url":null,"abstract":"Populist leaders are often described as “strongmen,” receiving a somewhat two-dimensional Western press coverage that cannot explain their local popularity. Based on visual and textual analysis of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Facebook, we argue that he has a more complex social media persona. Orbán’s Facebook shows him as (1) a fighter against a variety of enemies, (2) a symbolic condensation of the nation, (3) a relatable politician with (4) a gentleness toward children and animals, and (5) a strong competence in elite political contexts. Orbán uses his charismatic authority on Facebook to draw the boundaries of the Hungarian nation, presenting himself as the iconic representation of “Hungarian-ness.” The building blocks of his image are constantly being adapted to the current political situation and to shifts in public opinion. The Orbán image is, thus, a fluid and pragmatic material with only a few core principles and its popularity remains steadfast despite the brand’s contradictions. Understanding the appeal of Orbán’s self-representation may help us better grasp populist regimes’ variation and success worldwide.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43696237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-30DOI: 10.1177/19401612231178755
Andrea Lorenz
This qualitative study analyzes the perceptions of US women political candidates about their local news coverage at a pivotal moment of change in both journalism and electoral politics. Through an intersectional approach, in-depth interviews with thirty-seven women who recently ran for office from 2016 to 2020 revealed findings in two areas of news research: local news declines and gender bias in political news. First, massive declines in local news capacities have trickled into local political communication, which, along with affordances of social media, point to a decline in relevance of local media to local campaigns. Second, participants perceived bias in their news coverage based on an identity intersecting with their gender, partisan affiliation, or both. Their experiences offered two potential ways forward for local news to reattain relevancy in local elections in countries of local news declines: through accountability journalism, and by diversifying staff to meet the needs of a diversifying electoral slate of candidates.
{"title":"“Minimal” and “Biased”: An Intersectional Analysis of Female Candidates’ Perceptions of Their Local News Coverage","authors":"Andrea Lorenz","doi":"10.1177/19401612231178755","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231178755","url":null,"abstract":"This qualitative study analyzes the perceptions of US women political candidates about their local news coverage at a pivotal moment of change in both journalism and electoral politics. Through an intersectional approach, in-depth interviews with thirty-seven women who recently ran for office from 2016 to 2020 revealed findings in two areas of news research: local news declines and gender bias in political news. First, massive declines in local news capacities have trickled into local political communication, which, along with affordances of social media, point to a decline in relevance of local media to local campaigns. Second, participants perceived bias in their news coverage based on an identity intersecting with their gender, partisan affiliation, or both. Their experiences offered two potential ways forward for local news to reattain relevancy in local elections in countries of local news declines: through accountability journalism, and by diversifying staff to meet the needs of a diversifying electoral slate of candidates.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45996010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-25DOI: 10.1177/19401612231172318
Sílvia Majó-Vázquez
{"title":"Book Reviews: Hate Speech and Polarization in Participatory Society by Marta Pérez-Escolar & José Manuel Noguera-Vivo (Eds.)","authors":"Sílvia Majó-Vázquez","doi":"10.1177/19401612231172318","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231172318","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"1059 - 1062"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43732509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}