The politics of protest in newspaper campaigns: Dissent, populism and the rhetoric of authenticity

Abstract

Abstract:Newspaper campaigns embody newspaper' most emphatic claims to speak for 'the people', and as such are generally regarded as populist. However, they can be oppositional, engaging in dissent of one sort or another, and often assume a certain amount of political engagement with that dissent on the part of the audience. This article examines the potential of newspaper camapigns to facilitate the political engagement of citizens through the politics of protest. It draws on qualitative analysis of seven campaigns that ran in the Scottish press between 2000 and 2005, and semistructured interviews with relevant journalists. The distinction between legitimate protest and manipulative populism is made in terms of: (a) the rhetoric and strategies of political representation, participation and influence and (b) the construction of political legitimacy in terms of the public interest and the moral authority of the 'victim'. It is argued that populist impulses dominate, driving a tendency to use discourses of emotional authenticity and offence to legitimise demands for a plebiscitary response to popular of 'victim' preference and to close down controversy and debate, with the principal objective marketing the newspaper as an influential community champion.

‘Moving life stories tell us just why politics matters’: Personal narratives in tabloid anti-austerity campaigns

“…In as far as newspapers do politically organise their readers and other publics it tends to be in a very hierarchical way using petitions and marches to lend force to their claims to speak for a substantial public (Birks, 2011). If it is important to support grassroots mobilization in solidarity rather than lead protest to bolster the newspaper's own prestige, the newspaper's role is rather limited where the grassroots is weak.…”

“…How, though, could newspapers overcome the problem that those affected by welfare reform are so marginalised, othered and isolated by dominant stereotypes and assessments of public resentment that they are more often fearful than angered, other than by resisting and countering those stereotypes? In as far as newspapers do politically organise their readers and other publics it tends to be in a very hierarchical way using petitions and marches to lend force to their claims to speak for a substantial public (Birks, 2011). If it is important to support grassroots mobilisation in solidarity rather than lead protest to bolster the newspaper's own prestige, the newspaper's role is rather limited where the grassroots is weak.…”

“…However, as part of this they are also used to establish the 'deservingness' of the victims, which brings a danger of pandering to the prejudices of the audience (MacDonald, 2000). It is no coincidence that 'a significant number of Pulitzer Prize-winning stories drew on accounts of dead or sick children as a way of illustrating broader themes' (Wahl-Jorgensen, 2013b: 140), as was the case in post-devolution Scottish press campaigns on drug dealing, hospital closure and asylum detention (Birks, 2011) and more recently in relation to the Syrian refugee crisis. The vulnerability of children and their lack of agency make them 'good victims' (Langer, 1992).…”

“…The vulnerability of children and their lack of agency make them 'good victims' (Langer, 1992). Langer (1992) argues that the construction of 'good victims' in popular news media requires that they find themselves in unexpected and preferably serious circumstances that are 'suffered and not chosen' (p. 116), against which they are helpless (see also Birks, 2011). Moreover, Ettema and Glasser (1998) found similar discourse in 'serious' investigative journalism, where 'innocence has to be painstakingly made real through narrative ' (p. 115).…”