Favorable opportunity structures for populist communication: comparing different types of politicians and issues in social media, television and the press

Ernst, Nicole; Esser, Frank; Blassnig, Sina; Engesser, Sven

doi:10.1177/1940161218819430

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Ernst, N., Esser, F., Blassnig, S., & Engesser, S. (2019). Favorable opportunity structures for populist communication: comparing different types of politicians and issues in social media, television and the press. International Journal of Press/Politics, 24(2), 165–188. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161218819430

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore favorable opportunity structures for populist communication of politicians in Western democracies. We analyze the content and style of 2,517 statements from 103 politicians from six countries (France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States) who differ in their party affiliation (populist versus nonpopulist) and hierarchical position (backbencher vs. frontbencher). To learn more about their media strategies and chances of success, we investigate four communication channels (Fa