Of lizards and ideological entrepreneurs: Alex Jones and Infowars in the relationship between populist nationalism and the post-global media ecology

Abstract

This contribution analyses the nexus between contemporary US populist nationalism and the post-global media ecology through the case of US radio show host and ‘most paranoid man in America’ Alex Jones and his Infowars. It evaluates the role of Alt Right alternative/activist media and global digital platforms in the success of Jones as ideological entrepreneur. To this end, it looks at Jones’ and Infowars' message (mostly Falls Flag conspiracy theories and pseudo-science-meets-popular-culture fantasy), persona as celebrity populist spectacle, business model, political alliances with Alt Right and Trump, audience as diverse mix of believers and ironic spectators and, most of all, media. In particular, we analyse the mix of legacy and social media and their respective role in his rise and alleged downfall. We evaluate Jones’ efforts as effective ideological entrepreneur, pushing his counter-hegemonic ideology from the fringes to the mainstream.

Deep state phobia: Narrative convergence in coronavirus conspiracism on Instagram

“…There is however one significant overlap, the “deepstate” hashtag in Figure 6, which actually moves from the core of the QAnon cluster to become a bridging node between the two metanarratives. The concept of the Deep State, to which it refers, first emerged in Turkey, a country with a long history of coups, as a term for a parallel government of bureaucrats and military officials that exert influence on the elected government later to be used in the American context by the noted conspiracy theorist and Trump supporter Alex Jones (Den Bulk and Hyzen, 2019; Gingeras, 2010). In fact, noted scholars have even gone so far as to claim that, while “continuities persist [with] similar theories of the past […] the Deep State narrative is unique to the Trump era” (Phillips and Milner, 2021: 12).…”

Public knowledge of alternative media in times of algorithmically personalized news

“…Moreover, using the alternative media label for far-right outlets has become quite established in academic literature. This applies in particular to the bulk of research studying the content, audiences, reach, and effects of right-wing media in the wake of the so-called 2015 refugee crisis in Europe (Bachl, 2018; Figenschou and Ihlebæk, 2019; Frischlich et al, 2020; Haller and Holt, 2018; Heft et al, 2020; Kalsnes and Larsson, 2021; Larsson, 2020; Müller and Schulz, 2021; Nygaard, 2019; Sandberg and Ihlebæk, 2019; Theorin, 2019; Theorin and Strömbäck, 2020) and following the 2016 elections in the United States (Faris et al, 2017; Grigoryan, 2019; Heft et al, 2020; Kaiser et al, 2020; Rauch, 2019; Starbird, 2017; Starbird et al, 2018; Van den Bulck and Hyzen, 2020; Wasilewski, 2019).…”

Soaring seas, forest fires and deadly drought: climate change conspiracies and mental health

“…Furthermore, some theorists have mastered the ability to navigate through such forums and use them to their advantage to disseminate their views to a large population. 29 An interesting quality of conspiracy theories is that the counter-evidence is shunned by theorists who claim that the refutation of their ideas by powerful figures is further evidence of truth suppression. This introduces an 'us versus them' dynamic.…”

“…Furthermore, some theorists have mastered the ability to navigate through such forums and use them to their advantage to disseminate their views to a large population. 29 …”