CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Schlagnitweit, Lilly Maria |
|---|---|
| Title | Eroding Truth and Trust: The Far-Right Counter-Public's Pandemic Media Criticism |
| Summary | Contemporary far-right actors attribute great weight to media and information wars in their striving for political influence. The Covid-19 pandemic has presented them with a new field to do so. Analysing discourses and structures of a German far-right online media platform, this thesis explores how far-right media producers relate and react to mainstream media in the context of the pandemic, aiming at a better understanding of how this contributes to the solidification and radicalization of different publics. The discussion of mainstream media content on alternative media presents a point of intersection of different arenas in a fragmented public sphere. Drawing from theory about publics and counter-publics, this research project illuminates how far-right media lay claim to being the voice of the people and the voice of truth. By tracing the way far-right media position themselves in relation to society and the general media landscape and criticise established media, it brings into focus capacities of the far-right counter-public beyond identity formation and agenda setting. Thus, my thesis concentrates on how the public sphere is constructed, questioned and negotiated on the level of truths and facticity. I argue that, ostensibly relying in their argumentation and media criticism on pitting facts and versions of reality against another, far-right media attack the authority and integrity of the mainstream media, and thus contribute to the production of mistrust and a distinct set of beliefs, masked as facts. Embedded in further reaching controversies sprouting in the Covid-19 pandemic, this presents them with an opportunity to expand their sphere of influence, by establishing ties to other Covid-denying publics feeding into and drawing from the same truth market. |
| Supervisor | Geva, Dorit; Naumescu, Vlad |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/schlagnitweit_lilly.pdf |
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