"Das Digitale führt zu einem tiefgreifenden gesellschaftlichen Wandel. Betroffen sind das politische System unserer parlamentarischen Parteiendemokratie, die Medien sowie das Lernen in seinen unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen. Diese revolutionären Umwälzungen bleiben nicht ohne Folgen. Denn: Über
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soziale Netzwerke und Blogs können große demokratische Potenziale mobilisiert werden. Die neuen Partizipationsmöglichkeiten des Web 2.0 haben aber auch Konsequenzen für Inhalte und Formate der politischen Bildung. Doch was folgt aus der täglichen Beschäftigung mit virtuellen Welten? Droht die „digitale Demenz“, wie ein Hirnforscher behauptet? Klicken wir uns das Hirn weg? Untersuchungen über digitale Spielwelten und medienpädagogische Empfehlungen runden den vorliegenden Band ab." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This paper sought to provide an account of the epistemic modes of Muqtada al-Sadr’s charisma production on hybrid media. It did so while engaging in a virtual ethnography of videographic content on Instagram and YouTube from Muqtada and his ostensible fan pages. The affective bond conceptual fram
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ework, derivative of the newly developed emotional entrepreneurism theory, was deployed to understand how his charisma is promoted and interpreted on hybrid media. Utilising the affective bond enabled a condensed and accessible understanding of Muqtada’s charisma that resonated with pre-existing accounts of his image. It did this by presenting al-Sadr as a symbol of legitimacy, hope, and authenticity to his followers. In accordance with the findings of this paper, Muqtada’s legitimacy symbolism was seen as both institutionally-inherited and historically-anchored. The former refers to his followers’ recognition of the legitimacy embedded within the Sadri movement’sreligio-populist ideology, and its founding fathers (Sadr Iand II). The latter connotes Muqtada’s capability to validate his inheritance of such legitimacy as a credible extension of the Sadri legacy. This was regularly demonstrated in hybrid media through the Sadri leader’s acts of reverence towards his father and his teachings, enacting anti-elitist, anti-imperial, and nationalistic policies, and acting, dressing, and speaking similarly to his father. Muqtada’s hope symbolism was understood as a recognition of his capacity to create solutions for the Sadri populus’s problem-sets. Videographic material on hybrid media reflected this through its romanticisation of his ability to challenge corrupt elites and provide structural support for his constituency." (Conclusion, page 24)
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"The article explores the phenomenon of political deification within the framework of religious populism, focusing on the leadership of Narendra Modi in India. Drawing on discourse theory, religious studies, and critical media studies, the paper examines how Modi’s image is sacralized, positioning
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him as more than a political leader – transforming him into a deity-like figure. Furthermore, by employing the concept of populist darshan, the article highlights how Modi’s visual and rhetorical strategies, amplified by digital media and mass communication technologies, construct a direct and intimate connection between him and the people. The Modi effect, characterized by the projection of an omnipresent and accessible leader, mirrors religious practices, fostering a perception of authority and reinforcing the Modi myth. This fusion of religious symbolism and political rhetoric is central to religious populism, where the boundaries between the sacred and the secular are fluid, and the leader is elevated to an exalted status. The article argues that Modi’s political deification is a powerful tool in consolidating power, offering insights into the intersection of religion, media, and populism in contemporary political life." (Abstract)
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"All over the world, satirists courageously stand up for democratic values, often under extremely difficult conditions. Through their art, they create spaces for freedom and challenge authorities. On the other hand, extremists use humour for their political purposes too: They ridicule those who diss
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ent and make fun of democratic values. It is not helpful that political debates are increasingly taking place in digital spaces that lack transparency and fair rules." (Publisher description)
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"The role of media in democratic governance is pivotal, yet its impact on democratic consolidation remains debated. This study investigates the relationship between radio activism and democratic consolidation in Ghana, focusing on the influence of political news production and communication strategi
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es by radio stations. Employing a case study design and qualitative research approach, 23 informants were selected through purposive sampling for face-to-face semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study reveal that participatory and decentralized approaches to radio broadcasting, involving collaboration between radio staff and community members, enhance the conducive environment for democratic consolidation. However, challenges such as politicization and commercialization of political news content undermine public trust in radio broadcasting. The study concludes that stakeholder engagement in political news production fosters participatory communication on radio, thus contributing to democratic consolidation." (Abstract)
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"Cet ouvrage propose de comprendre ce qui se joue dans la communication politique. Celle-ci doit laisser place à l'expression des conflits et des désaccords, ce qui permet de renégocier le pacte civil. Dans cette perspective, force est de constater que la démocratie est avant tout un espace dél
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ibératif « polémique » nourri de toutes les formes de contestation. Elle doit donc se penser comme la mise en scène d'une certaine conflictualité. La communication politique est alors le moyen pour les citoyens de la mettre en scène et par là de conférer à leurs relations une certaine stabilité. Ce qui se construit ici, au travers de la délibération publique et de la dispute, c'est bien une pluralité nouvelle qui peut transformer les acteurs-citoyens et leurs façons d'être ensemble. Moins qu'une menace, la délibération publique même et surtout conflictuelle constitue une opportunité, pour la société, d'accéder à la liberté." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"Visuals hold a special place in the field of communication. Politicians, in a move to position themselves or market their activities, use visuals that stand as a testimony to their principles. However, their importance and value in political communication are not highly reflected in academic litera
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ture. This article is built from this understudied field by looking at the role photojournalists play in framing opposition political parties in Zimbabwe. Photographs are important tools in politics as evidenced by experimental research on political communication that found that ‘a single photograph can have a clear impact on voters’ judgements regarding a candidate’s demeanour, competence, leadership ability, attractiveness, likeableness, and integrity’. This study seeks to analyse photographs that were used by photojournalists to frame the newly formed political party, amidst the power struggles within the party, and political repression from the authoritarian regime. Informed by visual framing, the study found that photojournalists framed Nelson Chamisa as youthful and vibrant while his party was seen as resembling the new dawn. However, photographs also showed that Chamisa and his party had nothing to offer as they did not have a constitution, guiding policy nor a clear ideology." (Abstract)
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"Political technology' is a Russian term for the professional engineering of politics. It has turned Russian politics into theatre and propaganda, and metastasised to take over foreign policy and weaponise history. The war against Ukraine is one outcome. In the West, spin doctors and political consu
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ltants do more than influence media or run campaigns: they have also helped build parallel universes of alternative political reality. Hungary has used political technology to dismantle democracy. The BJP in India has used it to consolidate unprecedented power. Different countries learn from each other. Some types of political technology have become notorious, like troll farms or data mining; but there is now a global wholesale industry selling a range of manipulation techniques, from astroturfing to fake parties to propaganda apps. This book shows that 'political technology' is about much more than online disinformation: it is about whole new industries of political engineering." (Publisher description)
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"Der Begriff der "alternativen Fakten" hat in den vergangenen Jahren einen raschen Aufstieg erfahren. Mit ihm verbindet sich die Sorge, dass "alternative", den Tatsachen widersprechende Deutungen bestimmter politisch relevanter Sachverhalte zugenommen haben - und dass dies auf ein Schwinden des gete
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ilten Wissens in der Gesellschaft hinweise. Doch was sind eigentlich "alternative Fakten", und wie ist ihre Verbreitung zu verstehen? Wie der Soziologe Nils C. Kumkar darlegt, gehe es hierbei nicht lediglich um fehlgeleitete Annahmen über die Welt, die durch die "richtigen" Informationen korrigiert werden könnten. Für ein Verständnis des Phänomens relevant sei vielmehr die kommunikative Funktion, die es in Prozessen der öffentlichen Meinungsbildung einnehme. Empirisch arbeitet er anhand von drei Beispielen - der Debatte um die Zuschauerzahl bei der Amtseinführung Donald Trumps, der Verbreitung von Publikationen, die den menschengemachten Klimawandel anzweifeln, sowie der Debatte um die "Querdenker" und die Corona-Maßnahmen - heraus, dass die Nutzung "alternativer Fakten" stets in vorgängige gesellschaftliche Konflikte eingebettet ist. Innerhalb dieser Konflikte erfüllten sie weniger die Funktion, glaubhafte Deutungen zu vermitteln, als die, Verwirrung zu stiften. Der Autor plädiert dafür, diese hintergründigen Konflikte in den Blick zu nehmen, um das Phänomen "alternative Fakten" besser verstehen und ihre Verbreitung bekämpfen zu können." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"(No) es la comunicación… es la política cuenta cómo los gobiernos han dejado la dirección de la política, la economía y la sociedad a la comunicación. 24 autores en 13 países del continente americano escribieron sobre el uso de la comunicación en tiempos de pandemia. Los textos señalan
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cómo, durante la pandemia, las estrategias de comunicación priorizaron “vender” los atributos y personalidades de los líderes que gobernaban por encima de construir ciudad y ciudadanos. Aunque queda claro que la comunicación es fundamental en el manejo de las crisis de gobierno es realmente la política la que dirige la estrategia pública y construye la vida colectiva de un país. No todo puede ser comunicación. En este libro se argumenta que es la política la que hace a la democracia. Creer que 'comunicar es gobernar' es un error." (Cubierta del libro)
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"This Open Access book examines the ambivalences of data power. Firstly, the ambivalences between global infrastructures and local invisibilities challenge the grand narrative of the ephemeral nature of a global data infrastructure. They make visible local working and living conditions, and the reso
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urces and arrangements required to operate and run them. Secondly, the book examines ambivalences between the state and data justice. It considers data justice in relation to state surveillance and data capitalism, and reflects on the ambivalences between an “entrepreneurial state” and a “welfare state”. Thirdly, the authors discuss ambivalences of everyday practices and collective action, in which civil society groups, communities, and movements try to position the interests of people against the “big players” in the tech industry." (Publisher description)
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"This book uses decolonisation as a lens to interrogate political communication styles, performance, and practice in Africa and the diaspora. The book interrogates the theory and practice of political communication, using decolonial research methods to begin a process of self-reflexivity and the cre
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ation of a new approach to knowledge production about African political communication. In doing so, it explores political communication approaches that might until recently have been considered subversive or dissident: forms of political communication that served to challenge imposed western norms and to empower African citizens and their histories. Centring African scholarship, the book draws on case studies from across the continent, including Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana." (Publisher description)
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"The purpose of this research is two-fold: first, to assess the effectiveness of the restrictions placed on Russian state-affiliated media by the European Union after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine; second, to unearth potential circumvention methods and their success in enabling pro-Kr
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emlin content to reach European audiences. This report breaks down into two parts: firstly, an analysis of traffic from global and European audiences to all RT websites, as well as websites associated with Rossiya Segodnya, a media group affiliated with the Kremlin that operates various outlets, including Sputnik. For this, analysts conducted website forensics and collected website traffic data to identify all RT and Rossiya Segodnya domains and to understand who is still accessing their content and how. The second study explored how RT articles that negatively depict Ukrainians seeking refuge in Europe and elsewhere were made available through various means across the EU." (About this publication)
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"Delving into the meanings, implications, contexts and effects of extreme speech and gated communities in the media landscape, the chapters analyse misleading metaphors and rhetoric via focused case studies to understand how we can overcome the risks and threats stemming from the past decade's defin
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ing communicative phenomena. The book brings together an international team of experts, enabling a broad, multidisciplinary approach that examines hate speech, dislike, polarization and enclave deliberation as cross axes that influence offline and digital conversations." (Publisher description)
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"Die Arbeit widmet sich der Dynamik öffentlicher Online-Deliberation. Basierend auf einer kritischen Auseinandersetzung mit dem klassischen Deliberationskonzept werden neben der Argumentation ausserdem Narration, Emotionsäusserungen und Humor als deliberative Kommunikationsformen diskutiert. Neben
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der Gegenargumentation werden Empathie, Konstruktivität, Reflexivität und echte Fragen als Bestandteile deliberativer Reziprozität betrachtet. Empirisch wird mittels relationaler Inhalts- und Sequenzanalyse zweier Online-Beteiligungsverfahren untersucht, inwiefern unterschiedliche Kommunikationsformen nachfolgende klassische und inklusive deliberative Reziprozität beeinflussen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"While political communication scholarship has long underscored the importance of political talk—casual conversations about news and politics that occur in everyday situations— as a way for citizens to clarify their opinions and as a precursor for political engagement, much of this literature te
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nds to depict political talk as uncomfortable and difficult for citizens. Yet, this focus on the challenging aspects of political talk has been informed predominantly by the US context. To what extent may a different picture emerge when looking across different cultural contexts? And how are these dynamics shaped by the affordances of the multi-platform social media environment? This paper explores these questions through a unique dataset of 122 qualitative interviews conducted between 2016 and 2019 with young people (ages 18–29) from five countries: Argentina, Finland, Israel, Japan, and the United States. Rather than solidifying the avoidance of controversial political talk as the key strategy at the disposal of young people, our findings point at a five-pronged typology of young people, with each type representing a different approach toward political talk. Our typology thus contributes to a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of various approaches towards political talk employed by young people across different countries and in relation to different digital media affordances." (Abstract)
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"This article aims to identify the sounds, editorial policies and values promoted by Radio Moçambique (RM) during the so-called “socialist period” (1975–1986). Given the high illiteracy rate in the country, RM became the primary medium for informing the populations of FRELIMO’s ideology –
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the ruling party within a single-party regime – and for spreading the values related to the “new Mozambican man” project. Building on Marissa Moorman’s “sonorous capitalism” concept (2008), this article explores the place of music in promoting and anticipating political and cultural changes in post-colonial Mozambique." (Abstract)
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"This paper problematizes the role of the Georgian mainstream media in the current polarized political environment. First, political actors, including the government and political parties, significantly affect the way these media organizations work. Second, mainstream media outlets behave as direct
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extensions of political actors, contributing to the divided and radicalized political atmosphere. The paper first describes the current major political and management shifts in several media companies. Then, it demonstrates specific examples of media work when TV companies simply disregard professional standards for the sake of engaging in political battles during elections. The Georgian media system certainly needs much more detailed research to construct the full picture; nevertheless, this paper sketches the current state of the polarized mainstream media that could serve as a basis for future explorations." (Abstract)
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"This article examines how social movements attempt to repair a tarnished image and win the hearts and minds of the public. It studies the Muslim Brotherhood’s political communication campaign post-July 2013. A content analysis of a census of the Brotherhood’s communiqués issued during a 5-year
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period was performed. Considering social movement theory, this case study reveals that strategic framing can be employed as a strategy to win the hearts and minds of the target audience and to repair tarnished images. It also argues that legitimacy is a critical moral resource that lies at the heart of Islamist movements’ communication campaigns." (Abstract)
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