The purpose of this study is to explore how social networks, Instagram in particular, can be utilized by an autocrat in order to construct and promote the image of a charismatic leader. To do so, we conduct a topic modelling of 6854 Instagram posts made by Ramzan Kadyrov, the dictatorial head of the autonomous Chechen Republic in the Russian Federation. We then analyze the verbal framing of 24 dominant topics. The study concludes that the main rhetorical device that Kadyrov employs is a merging of personal and political themes throughout his posts. He personalizes political discussion by discussing public interest topics through the prism of his own personal life, and inserts political discourse into personal, intimate posts about his family, pastimes, and friends. The study shows that this tactic, often understood by media researchers as an oppositional device for harnessing popular support against an autocratic state, can be just as successfully employed by an autocratic leader. Kadyrov, who in his Instagram combines the tactics of a populist politician and an internet celebrity, has shaped a personality that can be best described as a “flirting populist” (Vezjak, Boris. 2018. “Dobro zmaguje: predsednik kot krščanski populist.” In Media Res (personal blog), https://vezjak.com/2018/01/02/dobro-zmagujepredsednik- kot-krscanski-populist/), which, as we suggest, is a new, online technology-enhanced type of a political figure.
This book is a much-needed contribution to journalistic studies that allows us to have a closer and more nuanced look at media systems and press cultures in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) from a non-Western perspective. The volume is of high value to anyone who is interested in the diversity that underlies the unifying term of "postcommunist media." Most of its authors rely on rich data collected throughout lengthy periods of time on the territory of Central and Eastern Europe, which allows us to see not only the current state of "Eastern" media, but its development throughout time.
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