Exploring Populism in Times of Crisis: An Analysis of Disinformation in the European Context during the US Elections

Autor: Concha Pérez-Curiel, Rubén Rivas-de-Roca
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journalism and Media, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 144-156 (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2673-5172
DOI: 10.3390/journalmedia3010012
Popis: Electoral contests around the world are suffering from an increasing distrust triggered by the dissemination of conspiracy theories. Extant research on political communication has largely studied this phenomenon, but, in some cases, it has neglected the relationship between social and legacy media in the breakthrough of a radicalized populism. Based on a wide literature review of liberal democracy and the roots of populism, this study addresses the right-wing populist communicative actions as one of the causes of the fragmentation of the democratic system, defining a journalistic and fact-checking standard to promote a well-informed society. Specifically, our research focus is to illustrate the impact of populist rhetoric on the traditional media system through a multiple-case study applied in European countries affected by right-wing populist discourse following the last United States elections (2020). The results show a connection among the strategies (game frames) used on Twitter, being less clear in the number of retweets and the presence on the front pages of newspapers. These data serve as a guide to build a journalistic indicator, arguing that high-quality information could be the key for democratic systems to minimize populist rhetoric and tackle the disinformation that endangers their future.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals