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The Political Organization of Radical Right Media in the US

Fri, August 31, 2:00 to 3:30pm, Marriott, Vineyard

Abstract

The US is experiencing an increased level of false information propagated through online channels that poses a genuine threat to democracy. While numerous scholars have devoted their attention to the diffusion process of disinformation in a “clinical” approach (e.g. the role of bots and social media in promoting disinformation), few have theorized the political nature and the organizational aspect behind politically motivated disinformation campaigns on the right. In particular, how do these media differ from conventional journalism in their information formats? And under what conditions do these political sites coordinate and amplify each other’s messages to purse common political agenda? We found that in various ways these radical right media websites significantly deviate from what we previously understood as news institutions bounded by common journalistic norms, codes of conduct, and ethics. Furthermore, funded by radical right donors such as Robert Mercer and the Koch Brothers, these loosely connected various news websites constitute an online radical right sphere which exhibits distinct organizational capacities in the absence of a central organizing entity. We investigated the way in which various radical right websites cover five stories– the Pizzagate story, the murder of Seth Rich, H.R. McMaster’s firing of anti-globalists within the Whitehouse, Trump Jr.’s meeting with the Russian lawyer, and Trump’s firing of Steve Bannon—to shed light on the organizational dynamics. We found heightened moments of uniformity among these websites in times of elections and external crisis, as they cohere around, pass along, and reinforce a set of common messages. We also found heightened moments of discord and infighting in times of internal crisis within the Whitehouse, as they contradict, refute, or even attack each other. Our findings suggest that loosely connected radical right websites operate in a networked form which achieves organization through communication processes.

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