The evolution of a media image: Newspaper attention to the Flemish far right 1987–2004

Media and the power of naming: An experimental study of racist, xenophobic and nationalist party labels

“…(2003) claimed that media show ‘no moral ambivalence’ to these parties while elite media either ‘ignore or feel morally ambivalent’ (225) towards them when populist parties are in the early growth phase, more recent research paints a more nuanced picture. As we reported above, Ellinas (2010) concluded that at least some media opposed these parties, and this was also noted in the study by Schafraad et al. (2012), according to which Belgian media treated Vlaams Blok in a ‘predominantly unfavourable’ manner during the whole period 1997–2004 (2012: 372).…”

“…Also, while the effects of media on electoral success have, strictly speaking, remained unexplored, this focus on how media promote rather than undermine electoral success for anti-immigration parties is nevertheless manifested. Thus, even though Schafraad et al. do not speculate about the effects of media on the success of the Belgian right-wing party but rather acknowledge that they could not ‘provide a solid analysis of correlations between media attention aspects and far-right voting outcomes’ (Schafraad et al., 2012: 374), their very choice of research design is illustrative. They report that their period of study (1997–2004) was one of ‘uninterrupted electoral growth’ for Vlaams Blok (Schafraad et al., 2012: 356), which means that their research design does not accommodate any variation in terms of electoral success.…”

“…Thus, even though Schafraad et al. do not speculate about the effects of media on the success of the Belgian right-wing party but rather acknowledge that they could not ‘provide a solid analysis of correlations between media attention aspects and far-right voting outcomes’ (Schafraad et al., 2012: 374), their very choice of research design is illustrative. They report that their period of study (1997–2004) was one of ‘uninterrupted electoral growth’ for Vlaams Blok (Schafraad et al., 2012: 356), which means that their research design does not accommodate any variation in terms of electoral success. Hence, even where previous research makes no explicit conclusions about the causal relationship between media and anti-immigration parties’ electoral performance, this one-sided focus is nevertheless reflected.…”

Tainted Love: How Stigmatization of a Political Party in News Media Reduces Its Electoral Support

“…Some studies suggest that these parties benefit electorally from the media visibility of their leaders (Vliegenthart, Boomgaarden, & van Spanje, 2012) and from the visibility of their policy issues in the media (Boomgaarden & Vliegenthart, 2007;Walgrave & De Swert, 2004). Other studies have investigated how the parties themselves were covered by the media (Art, 2006;Ellinas, 2010;Mazzoleni, 2003;Schafraad, d'Haenens, Scheepers, & Wester, 2012).…”

The Role of Implicit Attitudes in Populist Radical‐Right Support

“…Even though there are many differences between these parties across different countries, common ground is found in their nationalist/nativist agenda, their authoritarianism, and their populist ideology (Mudde, ; Taggart, ). These features make populist radical‐right democracy at odds with liberal democracy, at times leading to severe political responses (e.g., cordons sanitaires ; Van Spanje & Van der Brug, ), legal responses (e.g., monitoring parties, prohibiting their public meetings, and hate‐speech prosecution; Fennema, ; Van Spanje & de Vreese, ), and media responses (e.g., silencing, ridiculing, and stigmatizing; Akkerman, ; Schafraad, d'Haenens, Scheepers, & Wester, ).…”