Pub Date : 2023-02-07DOI: 10.1177/19401612231154404
Francisco Brandao
The book starts with a question that should haunt scholars from the North: if they had paid more attention to earlier disinformation campaigns already in course in the Global South, would it be possible to predict—and react better to—the later “infodemic” during the Covid-19 pandemic? Although this question is impossible to answer, Disinformation in the Global South gives us a better understanding of different cultures of disinformation and Southern perspectives on how to respond to this crisis. As much as disinformation campaigns mostly perform on the local stage, we are dealing with a global phenomenon and together with the many cases in the Global South can have a better picture of the problem and possible solutions. It is a plus that this book visits countries that usually are not in Political Communication journals and conferences. Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales assembled a team of 27 scholars covering countries as diverse as Chile, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and Turkey, dedicating also chapters to Arab societies and Southeast Asia. The main thesis throughout the book is that disinformation can only be properly understood within the social, political, economic, and historical contexts where it is consumed and spread. However, to produce context-specific research in a comparative approach, it is necessary to recognize a diverse range of individual experiences with disinformation, misinformation, falsehoods, rumors, and inaccurate information. Conventionally, the field has been delimitating misinformation as false information without intent to deceive, while disinformation deliberately misleads with biased information, manipulated facts, or propaganda. By giving a more ample use of the terms “disinformation” and “misinformation,” this book exposes the limitations of these distinctions and demonstrates it is naive to use a simple binary and moralistic classification between “disinformation,” as deliberate lying, compared to “misinformation,” with nonmalicious intentions. As much as this might upset some scholars willing to build a rigid field, a research agenda embracing the Global South and different contexts brings much more valuable contributions. One result of this approach is that Book Review
{"title":"Book Review: Disinformation in the Global South by Herman Wasserman & Dani Madrid-Morales (Eds.)","authors":"Francisco Brandao","doi":"10.1177/19401612231154404","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231154404","url":null,"abstract":"The book starts with a question that should haunt scholars from the North: if they had paid more attention to earlier disinformation campaigns already in course in the Global South, would it be possible to predict—and react better to—the later “infodemic” during the Covid-19 pandemic? Although this question is impossible to answer, Disinformation in the Global South gives us a better understanding of different cultures of disinformation and Southern perspectives on how to respond to this crisis. As much as disinformation campaigns mostly perform on the local stage, we are dealing with a global phenomenon and together with the many cases in the Global South can have a better picture of the problem and possible solutions. It is a plus that this book visits countries that usually are not in Political Communication journals and conferences. Herman Wasserman and Dani Madrid-Morales assembled a team of 27 scholars covering countries as diverse as Chile, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, and Turkey, dedicating also chapters to Arab societies and Southeast Asia. The main thesis throughout the book is that disinformation can only be properly understood within the social, political, economic, and historical contexts where it is consumed and spread. However, to produce context-specific research in a comparative approach, it is necessary to recognize a diverse range of individual experiences with disinformation, misinformation, falsehoods, rumors, and inaccurate information. Conventionally, the field has been delimitating misinformation as false information without intent to deceive, while disinformation deliberately misleads with biased information, manipulated facts, or propaganda. By giving a more ample use of the terms “disinformation” and “misinformation,” this book exposes the limitations of these distinctions and demonstrates it is naive to use a simple binary and moralistic classification between “disinformation,” as deliberate lying, compared to “misinformation,” with nonmalicious intentions. As much as this might upset some scholars willing to build a rigid field, a research agenda embracing the Global South and different contexts brings much more valuable contributions. One result of this approach is that Book Review","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"458 - 460"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41771982","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 : 2023-02-06DOI: 10.1177/19401612231153107
Anfan Chen, Yingdan Lu, Kaiping Chen, Aaron Yikai Ng
The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were collected from 745 subjects in China and analyzed through path analyses, which allowed us to examine the direct association with political information consumption from government social media and the indirect association with nationalism on conspiracy beliefs. The results indicated that the use of government social media to gather political information was associated with greater beliefs in nation-variant COVID-19 conspiracies, both directly and through different mediations of nationalism. Our findings highlight the importance of examining government social media use and how nationalism can have differentiated mediation effects on beliefs in conspiracy theories.
{"title":"Pandemic Nationalism: Use of Government Social Media for Political Information and Belief in COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories in China","authors":"Anfan Chen, Yingdan Lu, Kaiping Chen, Aaron Yikai Ng","doi":"10.1177/19401612231153107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231153107","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a torrent of conspiracy theories across different social media platforms. Parallel to this conspiracy wave was a heightened sense of nationalism, which manifested through both in-group solidarity and perceived out-group threats. In this study, we examine how individuals’ use of government social media to gather political information correlated with nation-related conspiracy beliefs during the pandemic. Data were collected from 745 subjects in China and analyzed through path analyses, which allowed us to examine the direct association with political information consumption from government social media and the indirect association with nationalism on conspiracy beliefs. The results indicated that the use of government social media to gather political information was associated with greater beliefs in nation-variant COVID-19 conspiracies, both directly and through different mediations of nationalism. Our findings highlight the importance of examining government social media use and how nationalism can have differentiated mediation effects on beliefs in conspiracy theories.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48159539","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 : 2023-02-06DOI: 10.1177/19401612221148981
Sacha Altay, R. Nielsen, R. Fletcher
Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK ( N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation.
{"title":"News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation","authors":"Sacha Altay, R. Nielsen, R. Fletcher","doi":"10.1177/19401612221148981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221148981","url":null,"abstract":"Does the news media exacerbate or reduce misinformation problems? Although some news media deliberately try to counter misinformation, it has been suggested that they might also inadvertently, and sometimes purposefully, amplify it. We conducted a two-wave panel survey in Brazil, India, and the UK ( N = 4732) to investigate the effect of news and digital platform use on awareness of and belief in COVID-19 misinformation over time (January to February 2022). We find little support for the idea that the news exacerbates misinformation problems. News use broadened people's awareness of false claims but did not increase belief in false claims—in some cases, news use actually weakened false belief acquisition, depending on access mode (online or offline) and outlet type. In line with previous research, we also find that news use strengthens political knowledge gain over time, again depending on outlets used. The effect of digital platforms was inconsistent across countries, and in most cases not significant—though some, like Twitter, were associated with positive outcomes while others were associated with negative outcomes. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that news media, by reporting on false and misleading claims, ultimately leave the public more misinformed, and support the idea that news helps people become more informed and, in some cases, more resilient to misinformation.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41860232","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 : 2023-02-03DOI: 10.1177/19401612231153377
Summer Harlow, Danielle K. Brown
Decades after the development of the “protest paradigm,” scholarship continues to question the applicability of the paradigm under different circumstances, rather than pushing forward a more holistic theory that more adequately addresses the roles of producers, consumers, and media products. In this introduction to the special issue on news and protest, we argue that the relevance and any potential future advances of the protest paradigm depend on the (re)incorporation of its critical foundations, making explicit analyses of power hierarchies, and offering solutions for better journalistic coverage of protests. The articles in this special issue are linked by a recognition of the limitations of the protest paradigm and highlight emerging opportunities for moving beyond the paradigm and for considering the interplay of power structures to better understand protest news coverage. Acknowledging the media's place in and contribution to power hierarchies allows us to move beyond the paradigm's origins and contribute to a more holistic understanding of journalists’ role in the legitimization of social struggles. In doing so, we advocate for scholars to reimagine what news coverage should look like when it comes to social protests struggling against historic and systemic inequities and injustices.
{"title":"A New Protest Paradigm: Toward a Critical Approach to Protest News Analyses","authors":"Summer Harlow, Danielle K. Brown","doi":"10.1177/19401612231153377","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231153377","url":null,"abstract":"Decades after the development of the “protest paradigm,” scholarship continues to question the applicability of the paradigm under different circumstances, rather than pushing forward a more holistic theory that more adequately addresses the roles of producers, consumers, and media products. In this introduction to the special issue on news and protest, we argue that the relevance and any potential future advances of the protest paradigm depend on the (re)incorporation of its critical foundations, making explicit analyses of power hierarchies, and offering solutions for better journalistic coverage of protests. The articles in this special issue are linked by a recognition of the limitations of the protest paradigm and highlight emerging opportunities for moving beyond the paradigm and for considering the interplay of power structures to better understand protest news coverage. Acknowledging the media's place in and contribution to power hierarchies allows us to move beyond the paradigm's origins and contribute to a more holistic understanding of journalists’ role in the legitimization of social struggles. In doing so, we advocate for scholars to reimagine what news coverage should look like when it comes to social protests struggling against historic and systemic inequities and injustices.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"333 - 343"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43617936","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 : 2023-02-01DOI: 10.1177/19401612231153110
Francisco Paulo Jamil Marques
Despite the increasing number of studies examining the conflicts between the media and populist leaders, understanding how such clashes prompt shifts in journalism norms and practices remains to be thoroughly explored. Based on a literature review and the discussion of an extensive array of examples characterizing the Brazilian media setting, this article provides a qualitative assessment of how Jair Bolsonaro's rhetoric and actions have triggered a “critical incident” in our mainstream journalism. We consider four dimensions currently experiencing transformations: the media's (1) institutional responses and campaigns, (2) production of the news, (3) production of editorials, and (4) how media professionals have reacted to populist attacks. There is evidence that journalism has increasingly become a central topic in news texts. We have also cataloged changes in news production routines (e.g., the editors’ hesitancy to send reporters to cover some political events), the use of editorials to reinforce metajournalistic discourses, and shifts in how professionals make sense of their work. Our findings contribute to the broader literature by investigating how traditional borders and values of journalism are renegotiated during institutional crises. In addition, our analytical framework can be applied to other media settings experiencing similar tensions and help underpin the construction of empirical variables to understand meaningful changes in the field. Lastly, this study considers the possible effects that change in norms, routines, and practices can have on the democratic roles of journalism.
{"title":"Populism and Critical Incidents in Journalism: Has Bolsonaro Disrupted the Mainstream Press in Brazil?","authors":"Francisco Paulo Jamil Marques","doi":"10.1177/19401612231153110","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231153110","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the increasing number of studies examining the conflicts between the media and populist leaders, understanding how such clashes prompt shifts in journalism norms and practices remains to be thoroughly explored. Based on a literature review and the discussion of an extensive array of examples characterizing the Brazilian media setting, this article provides a qualitative assessment of how Jair Bolsonaro's rhetoric and actions have triggered a “critical incident” in our mainstream journalism. We consider four dimensions currently experiencing transformations: the media's (1) institutional responses and campaigns, (2) production of the news, (3) production of editorials, and (4) how media professionals have reacted to populist attacks. There is evidence that journalism has increasingly become a central topic in news texts. We have also cataloged changes in news production routines (e.g., the editors’ hesitancy to send reporters to cover some political events), the use of editorials to reinforce metajournalistic discourses, and shifts in how professionals make sense of their work. Our findings contribute to the broader literature by investigating how traditional borders and values of journalism are renegotiated during institutional crises. In addition, our analytical framework can be applied to other media settings experiencing similar tensions and help underpin the construction of empirical variables to understand meaningful changes in the field. Lastly, this study considers the possible effects that change in norms, routines, and practices can have on the democratic roles of journalism.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42029071","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 : 2023-01-31DOI: 10.1177/19401612231152689
Kaitlynn Mendes
“A feminist ear can be how you hear what is not being heard” (Ahmed 2017: 203). This quote is how Meenakshi Gigi Durham prefaces her latest book MeToo: The Impact of Rape Culture in the Media. For years, I have admired Durham’s work and the ways she too has used her feminist ears to hear what is not being heard, particularly around the topic of rape culture. In her latest book, Durham takes readers through a beautifully written, accessible, and highly considerate investigation using the #MeToo movement as an entry point to discuss rape culture, sexual violence, and crucially, its relationship with the media. The media is a key focal point because, as she notes, they “are not only the physical sites of rape culture in the workplace, they are also an active discursive site of interrogation about rape and the cultures that produce it, sustain it, and conceal it” (p. 4). In this sense, while #MeToo may have been a catalyst or even a “hook” for this book, it is in fact much more of an investigation of rape culture and the media. Completed three years after #MeToo went viral, the book is broken down into five chapters. The introduction brings readers up-to-date on the history of the 2017 #MeToo movement that went viral, but also the original MeToo movement founded over a decade earlier by African-American community organizer Tarana Burke. It also familiarizes readers with important theoretical concepts such as rape culture, rape myths, and sexual scripts. While this information may not be new to some readers, it never-the-less sets up important and useful context for the rest of the book. It is then broken down into three chapters focusing on different elements of the media, before finishing with concluding thoughts about what it will take to end rape culture and how to bring into play new models enabling this. The first chapter takes an institutional look at media organizations, exploring ways they are themselves sites of violence. Durham explores how high-powered individuals such as Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, and many more used their power within media organizations to commit acts of sexual violence and harassment at work, and the subsequent institutional processes and structures that covered them up. For example, Durham spends time discussing the common practice of using non-disclosure Book Review
{"title":"Book Review: MeToo: The Impact of Rape Culture in the Media by Meenakshi Gigi Durham","authors":"Kaitlynn Mendes","doi":"10.1177/19401612231152689","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612231152689","url":null,"abstract":"“A feminist ear can be how you hear what is not being heard” (Ahmed 2017: 203). This quote is how Meenakshi Gigi Durham prefaces her latest book MeToo: The Impact of Rape Culture in the Media. For years, I have admired Durham’s work and the ways she too has used her feminist ears to hear what is not being heard, particularly around the topic of rape culture. In her latest book, Durham takes readers through a beautifully written, accessible, and highly considerate investigation using the #MeToo movement as an entry point to discuss rape culture, sexual violence, and crucially, its relationship with the media. The media is a key focal point because, as she notes, they “are not only the physical sites of rape culture in the workplace, they are also an active discursive site of interrogation about rape and the cultures that produce it, sustain it, and conceal it” (p. 4). In this sense, while #MeToo may have been a catalyst or even a “hook” for this book, it is in fact much more of an investigation of rape culture and the media. Completed three years after #MeToo went viral, the book is broken down into five chapters. The introduction brings readers up-to-date on the history of the 2017 #MeToo movement that went viral, but also the original MeToo movement founded over a decade earlier by African-American community organizer Tarana Burke. It also familiarizes readers with important theoretical concepts such as rape culture, rape myths, and sexual scripts. While this information may not be new to some readers, it never-the-less sets up important and useful context for the rest of the book. It is then broken down into three chapters focusing on different elements of the media, before finishing with concluding thoughts about what it will take to end rape culture and how to bring into play new models enabling this. The first chapter takes an institutional look at media organizations, exploring ways they are themselves sites of violence. Durham explores how high-powered individuals such as Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, Roger Ailes, and many more used their power within media organizations to commit acts of sexual violence and harassment at work, and the subsequent institutional processes and structures that covered them up. For example, Durham spends time discussing the common practice of using non-disclosure Book Review","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"28 1","pages":"455 - 457"},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47394205","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 : 2023-01-18DOI: 10.1177/19401612221147492
Charlotte Wagnsson, Torsten Blad, A. Hoyle
The reach of illiberal international propaganda outlets rests on citizens in democratic countries as recipients and potential disseminators. However, little research has scrutinised the audiences for such platforms. Why do audiences in democratic states consume content from such outlets, and how far do they actually align with it ideologically? The present research seeks to address this gap. Building on and extending the recent research findings of a large-scale survey, interviews with Swedish media consumers were conducted between 23 March and 13 April 2022, providing a unique close-up on a group of media consumers who stated that they consumed, among other alternative media, the Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik as part of their media diet. The findings, elicited through interviews and the Q-sort method, challenge previous research that presents this audience in a one-dimensional way. First, we investigate their alignment with different political narratives, identifying three different profiles. Although only one profile generally aligned with the RT/Sputnik messaging, almost all the participants appreciate the content and share it on social media. Secondly, we examine their rationale for consumption, revealing a diverse array of motivations, and leading us to theorise four distinct consumption profiles: Distant Observers, Reluctant Consumers, Media Nihilists and Establishment Critics. We interpret these results and discuss their broader implications, before reflecting on the complexities of characterising audiences consuming authoritarian international broadcasting.
{"title":"‘Keeping an Eye on the Other Side’ RT, Sputnik, and Their Peculiar Appeal in Democratic Societies","authors":"Charlotte Wagnsson, Torsten Blad, A. Hoyle","doi":"10.1177/19401612221147492","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221147492","url":null,"abstract":"The reach of illiberal international propaganda outlets rests on citizens in democratic countries as recipients and potential disseminators. However, little research has scrutinised the audiences for such platforms. Why do audiences in democratic states consume content from such outlets, and how far do they actually align with it ideologically? The present research seeks to address this gap. Building on and extending the recent research findings of a large-scale survey, interviews with Swedish media consumers were conducted between 23 March and 13 April 2022, providing a unique close-up on a group of media consumers who stated that they consumed, among other alternative media, the Russian state-sponsored media outlets RT and Sputnik as part of their media diet. The findings, elicited through interviews and the Q-sort method, challenge previous research that presents this audience in a one-dimensional way. First, we investigate their alignment with different political narratives, identifying three different profiles. Although only one profile generally aligned with the RT/Sputnik messaging, almost all the participants appreciate the content and share it on social media. Secondly, we examine their rationale for consumption, revealing a diverse array of motivations, and leading us to theorise four distinct consumption profiles: Distant Observers, Reluctant Consumers, Media Nihilists and Establishment Critics. We interpret these results and discuss their broader implications, before reflecting on the complexities of characterising audiences consuming authoritarian international broadcasting.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48783509","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 : 2023-01-05DOI: 10.1177/19401612221149272
Kevin Pallister, E. Fitzpatrick
Do campaigns message to voters consistently across different media? And do competing candidates tend to converge over time on a single national style of campaign messaging? To address these questions, this article employs novel data from a content analysis of campaign spots and candidate tweets from the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections in Argentina. We find that the policy orientation of candidate messaging is similar across different media, with spots and tweets addressing specific issues in similar proportions. We also find that, consistent with the theory of success contagion, campaign messaging across candidates and election cycles varies along a wide range of variables as candidates have failed to converge on a similar campaigning style. Contrary to expectations drawn from prior research, we find that candidate tweets contain policy content and attacks on opponents just as often as do campaign spots.
{"title":"The Medium and the Message in Argentina's Presidential Campaigns","authors":"Kevin Pallister, E. Fitzpatrick","doi":"10.1177/19401612221149272","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221149272","url":null,"abstract":"Do campaigns message to voters consistently across different media? And do competing candidates tend to converge over time on a single national style of campaign messaging? To address these questions, this article employs novel data from a content analysis of campaign spots and candidate tweets from the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections in Argentina. We find that the policy orientation of candidate messaging is similar across different media, with spots and tweets addressing specific issues in similar proportions. We also find that, consistent with the theory of success contagion, campaign messaging across candidates and election cycles varies along a wide range of variables as candidates have failed to converge on a similar campaigning style. Contrary to expectations drawn from prior research, we find that candidate tweets contain policy content and attacks on opponents just as often as do campaign spots.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45281782","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 : 2022-12-06DOI: 10.1177/19401612221143067
Klára Smejkal, J. Macek, L. Slavík, Jan Šerek
Existing research indicates that people with populist attitudes express lower trust in media, especially in Public Service Media. It is assumed that these people are alienated because of their values: populist ideology stems from anti-pluralism whereas Public Service Media promotes pluralism. This study tests this assumption by comparing the predictors of trust in Public Service Media between the populist party sympathizers and the sympathizers of other political parties in the Czech Republic. Two main expectations were included as predictors for trust in Public Service Media, specifically that media should conform to one's worldview (i.e., the cohesive dimension of trust in media) and that media should adhere to the normative standards of journalism (i.e., the normative dimension of trust in media). Using multigroup structural equation modeling, the study analyzes data from a 2019–2020 representative survey of the adult Czech population ( N = 3,251). The results suggest that, for the populist party sympathizers, trust in Public Service Media links only to their expectation that media should conform to their worldview, while the sympathizers of other political parties expect normative standards to be maintained. This is interpreted and discussed as support for the assumption that this value-based mismatch links to the populist audience members' lower trust in Public Service Media.
{"title":"Just a “Mouthpiece of Biased Elites?” Populist Party Sympathizers and Trust in Czech Public Service Media","authors":"Klára Smejkal, J. Macek, L. Slavík, Jan Šerek","doi":"10.1177/19401612221143067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221143067","url":null,"abstract":"Existing research indicates that people with populist attitudes express lower trust in media, especially in Public Service Media. It is assumed that these people are alienated because of their values: populist ideology stems from anti-pluralism whereas Public Service Media promotes pluralism. This study tests this assumption by comparing the predictors of trust in Public Service Media between the populist party sympathizers and the sympathizers of other political parties in the Czech Republic. Two main expectations were included as predictors for trust in Public Service Media, specifically that media should conform to one's worldview (i.e., the cohesive dimension of trust in media) and that media should adhere to the normative standards of journalism (i.e., the normative dimension of trust in media). Using multigroup structural equation modeling, the study analyzes data from a 2019–2020 representative survey of the adult Czech population ( N = 3,251). The results suggest that, for the populist party sympathizers, trust in Public Service Media links only to their expectation that media should conform to their worldview, while the sympathizers of other political parties expect normative standards to be maintained. This is interpreted and discussed as support for the assumption that this value-based mismatch links to the populist audience members' lower trust in Public Service Media.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2022-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45704603","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 : 2022-12-01DOI: 10.1177/19401612221142439
Stella C. Chia, Fangcao Lu, Albert C. Gunther
This study investigated the ways in which people engaged in fact-checking in a highly divided context—the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement (AEBM) in Hong Kong. A telephone survey representative of the Hong Kong population was conducted in 2020 ( N = 1,004). The findings showed that males with greater news consumption and issue involvement were more likely to engage in fact-checking behavior. Nevertheless, the effects of fact-checking appeared mixed. We first found that fact-checking behavior reduced belief in disagreeable misinformation only for supporters of the AEBM. More robust evidence showed that frequent fact-checking behavior reinforced, rather than reduced, partisans’ belief in misinformation regarding the opponent group. A warning of the backfire effects of fact-checking on exacerbating opinion polarization and social division is issued.
{"title":"Who Fact-checks and Does It Matter? Examining the Antecedents and Consequences of Audience Fact-Checking Behaviour in Hong Kong","authors":"Stella C. Chia, Fangcao Lu, Albert C. Gunther","doi":"10.1177/19401612221142439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221142439","url":null,"abstract":"This study investigated the ways in which people engaged in fact-checking in a highly divided context—the Anti-Extradition Bill Movement (AEBM) in Hong Kong. A telephone survey representative of the Hong Kong population was conducted in 2020 ( N = 1,004). The findings showed that males with greater news consumption and issue involvement were more likely to engage in fact-checking behavior. Nevertheless, the effects of fact-checking appeared mixed. We first found that fact-checking behavior reduced belief in disagreeable misinformation only for supporters of the AEBM. More robust evidence showed that frequent fact-checking behavior reinforced, rather than reduced, partisans’ belief in misinformation regarding the opponent group. A warning of the backfire effects of fact-checking on exacerbating opinion polarization and social division is issued.","PeriodicalId":47605,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Press-Politics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65874057","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}