Reporting the unsayable: Scandalous talk by right-wing populist politicians and the challenge for journalism - Université de Bretagne Occidentale
Journal Articles Journalism Year : 2021

Reporting the unsayable: Scandalous talk by right-wing populist politicians and the challenge for journalism

Marianna Patrona
  • Function : Author
Mats Ekström
  • Function : Author

Abstract

This paper focuses on the moral work of journalism as displayed and enacted in the reporting practices used in news coverage of scandalous talk by right-wing populist (RWP) politicians. Using a qualitative discourse-analytic approach, we analyze a set of cases of journalistic framing of RWP talk recently circulating in Sweden, Greece, France and the UK, and examine ways in which anti-democratic or racist talk is represented within print, online and broadcast news media. We show how the complex dynamics of different kinds of discursive framing of scandalous talk construct boundaries between right and wrong which contribute to processes of normalising populist discourses and agendas. Moreover, we call attention to the challenge that this poses for contemporary journalism both within public service and commercial networks, as reporting on right-wing populism involves a balancing act between disparate constraints and exigencies of journalism.
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Dates and versions

hal-03474307 , version 1 (10-12-2021)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03474307 , version 1

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Joanna Thornborrow, Marianna Patrona, Mats Ekström. Reporting the unsayable: Scandalous talk by right-wing populist politicians and the challenge for journalism. Journalism, 2021. ⟨hal-03474307⟩
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