Media Visibility and (New) Media Activity of Populist Political Actors in Poland

• In Event: Polish Communication Association Panel - (New) Media and Political Communication in Europe

Abstract

The stunning success of Paweł Kukiz in Polish presidential and parliamentary elections in 2015 and of Janusz Korwin-Mikke in the European Parliamentary elections in 2014 increased an academic interest in the role of media in a diffusion of populist messages and subsequent mobilization of potential supporters. Both politicians contested the mainstream media, being perceived by them as a part of establishment, but they provided very good examples of a significance of skillful communication via online and social media. Still, the most important source of information about politics in general, and elections in particular, in Poland is television, followed by radio and newspapers. This paper collects and compares data on traditional media coverage of P. Kukiz and J. Korwin – Mikke, as well as their social media activity. Through content analysis the paper examines a relation between the politicians' self-presentation and their image created by the journalists.

Authors

• Agnieszka Magdalena Stepinska, Adam Mickiewicz University

• Dorota Piontek, Adam Mickiewicz U

• Agnieszka Hess, Jagiellonian U