{"title":"An epistemic proxy war? Popular communication, epistemic contestations and violent conflict in Ethiopia","authors":"Matti Pohjonen","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2074998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2074998","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper highlights an understudied perspective on post-truth ideas in online popular communication through an examination of online popular communication during the Ethiopian conflict (or the Tigray War). It argues, in particular, that the epistemic contestations characteristic of the hybrid media environment needs to always be understood as double-layered: contemporary digital media functions both as a site where such contestations can be researched but, at the same time, the theories and frameworks of knowledge we use to articulate the debates need to be also critically contested theories originating from the West not necessarily valid in other parts of the world without critical examination. To specify the theoretical arguments made, the paper will use a mixed-method analysis that combines digital ethnographic research with a large-scale analysis of visual imagery shared on Twitter to understand popular communication and propaganda during the conflict/war.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"236 - 252"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48572571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Arthur D. Soto-Vásquez, M. O. Vilceanu, Kristine C. Johnson
{"title":"“Just hanging with my friends”: U.S. Latina/o/x perspectives on parasocial relationships in podcast listening during COVID-19","authors":"Arthur D. Soto-Vásquez, M. O. Vilceanu, Kristine C. Johnson","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2071902","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2071902","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT There is a need to delve into major subgroups among U.S. Latina/o/xs and identify emerging patterns in their understanding and consumption of new media. This study used six small-group interviews to explore the fluidity of parasocial dynamics with podcasts among young Latina/o/x podcast listeners experiencing the COVID-19 lockdown. Recent literature has focused on the parasocial nature of dynamics, relationships, and emotional connections listeners develop with their favorite podcasts. While we found that there are unique circumstances of listening among young Latina/o/x listeners, such as living with family and working during school, their podcast interests are driven by identification with hosts, age, and gender more than ethnic parameters. The conceptual acronym EASY (Engaged Experience, Accessible Authenticity, Socialization in Solitude, and Youth and YouTube) was developed to interpret pandemic listening among Latina/o/x podcast users.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"324 - 337"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48651532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Televising popular feminism","authors":"Sarah Kornfield, Elizabeth Bassett","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2071900","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2071900","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Recently, televisual programs such as TV Land’s Younger (2015), Freeform’s The Bold Type (2017), The CW’s Charmed reboot (2018), and Netflix’s Sex Education (2019) joined consumer culture’s era of popular feminism by hailing audiences through feminist appeals. Pilot episodes sell series to network executives and viewers – establishing series’ central tensions. Thus, we analyze how feminism operates in these series’ pilots, attending to their narrative premises and televisual styles. Situating this analysis within the frameworks of postfeminism, girl power, and popular feminism, we trace an overlapping continuum of feminist iterations, from individualized feminism on Younger to corporate feminism on The Bold Type and then collective feminism on Charmed’s reboot and an everyday feminism on Sex Education. Analyzing this television cycle, we argue that while imperfect, these pilots’ iterations of popular feminism represent a transformation from postfeminist entertainment toward politically engaged feminism.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"15 - 28"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49420949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“This attack is intended to destroy Poland”: bio-power, conspiratorial knowledge, and the 2020 Women’s Strike in Poland","authors":"Kinga Polynczuk-Alenius","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2047972","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2047972","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article analyzes how conspiratorial knowledge and bio-power were entangled in the Polish government’s discourse to undermine the 2020 Women’s Strike protests against the curbing of access to legal abortion. Theoretically, it uses Foucault's “bio-power” to conceptualize both the assault on reproductive rights and the securitization of ensuing protests based on “conspiratorial knowledge,” which uses conspiracy theories as a heuristic device to understand social changes. Empirically, discourse analysis is deployed to interrogate a video-recorded speech by Jarosław Kaczyński, the country’s de facto leader, posted on YouTube in response to the protests. First, the article exposes how the protests are recast as a conspiracy bent on the legal, biological, and moral destruction of the Polish nation. Second, it examines how a small sample of remediations of the video by oppositional media and women’s rights activists refutes the conspiratorial knowledge it promulgated. Throughout, the article also identifies the “(quasi-)cognitive” and “affective” forms of epistemic capital.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"222 - 235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49220175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Circulation of conspiracy theories in the attention factory","authors":"Katja Valaskivi","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2045996","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2045996","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The article argues that the hybrid media environment contributes to contemporary epistemic contestations. Framing the argument with the historical and social scientific contexts of our present media landscape it discusses the logic governing the content confusion that permeates this landscape in relation to the construction of world views and social reality. Then, it examines the notion of an attention factory. By way of an example of how the attention factory works and how conspiracy theories are circulated, the QAnon phenomenon is presented. Finally, the article considers whether and how aspects of today’s media environment can be considered responsible or a contributory factor to the high public exposure and visibility of conspiracy theories. The article concludes with a brief discussion of some factors that are deterring the spread of conspiracy theories.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"162 - 177"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46061128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introduction: epistemic contestations in the hybrid media environment","authors":"Katja Valaskivi, D. G. Robertson","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2057998","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2057998","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT “Post-truth era” and “fake news” have been the talk of the day for around 10 years now. In our understanding, these terms are used to refer to the contestations of epistemic hierarchies in Western liberal democracies experiencing political shifts toward populist political style and polarization. The contestation takes many forms but is mainly expressed through digital media technologies and related social practices that contribute to the epistemic instability. In this introductory article for the special issue of Epistemic contestations in the hybrid media environment, we argue that the experienced “epistemic crisis” is not only a crisis of epistemic hierarchies and worldviews but also a crisis of knowledge production within epistemic institutions, including the academia. The aim of the special issue is to explore how a multiplicity of competing epistemologies interact and compete in the “post-truth” marketplace of ideas in online popular communication.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"153 - 161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47091842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How conspiracy theorists argue: epistemic capital in the QAnon social media sphere","authors":"D. G. Robertson, Amarnath Amarasingam","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2050238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2050238","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT What is the role of different epistemic modes in how authority is established in right-leaning conspiratorial narratives? This paper sets out to answer this question through a mixed methods analysis. The first section sets out a model for the analysis of epistemic contestations, using six epistemic modes. This is then applied to a data set of Telegram posts in which key terms are used to identify these epistemic modes. Two questions were then asked of the data. First, how is power related to different kinds of knowledge claims in the far-right conspiratorial milieu? Second, what is the role of these different epistemic modes in how authority is established in right-leaning conspiratorial narratives? How does the epistemology of QAnon influence how they argue? We found that while a broader set of epistemic modes could be identified, there were contestations internally also, particularly around moments of “failed prophecy,” and the role of Christianity and esoteric spiritualities.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"193 - 207"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46532831","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The rise of “gaslighting”: debates about disinformation on Twitter and 4chan, and the possibility of a “good echo chamber”","authors":"T. Shane, Tom Willaert, M. Tuters","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2044042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2044042","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Public concern about “gaslighting” has increased significantly in recent years, both in sociology and the public imagination. As well as describing abuse in romantic relationships, the term has provided a lens for popular understanding of “post-truth” politics. Given that metaphors influence how problems are conceptualized and responded to, we ask how “gaslighting” shapes popular responses to disinformation on Twitter and the conspiracy-rich 4chan. We find that discussions of gaslighting increased significantly on both platforms between 2020–2021, and spiked during the week of the United States 2020 election. We also show that the metaphor can powerfully contest disinformation, while at the same time spread self-sealing and self-fulfilling anxieties about deception that are resistant to disagreement. In light of these findings, we consider how a well designed and well intentioned “good echo chamber” might constitute a technique of resistance to online disinformation.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"178 - 192"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41692322","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Essential","authors":"Vicki Mayer","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2044043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2044043","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A reflection on my uncomfortable laugh on hearing the news that film workers would be considered “essential workers” during the COVID-19 lockdown, I argue that all cultural workers might be considered essential at this time.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"20 1","pages":"253 - 259"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"59911601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Creating virtual homes during COVID-19: #HomemadeDisney and theme park fandom’s response to crisis","authors":"Carissa Baker","doi":"10.1080/15405702.2022.2044041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2022.2044041","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Theme parks are sites of popular imagination and cultural touchstones. What the COVID-19 pandemic taught is that they are also compelling when closed. This article focuses on fannish activities exemplified by imaginative posts and sweding videos from #HomemadeDisney and others during the period when global Disney theme parks were closed. This hashtag became a virtual communal space, the site of anxiety and brand loyalty but also invention and creation. Through a textual analysis of these posts, it is possible to grasp participatory culture’s role in contemporary life, the value of affinity groups, the power of social media in brand co-creation, the shifting of fan invention techniques, and the role of influential consumers in inspiring others through creative communication. #Homemade projects exemplified the process of creating virtual homes even as so many remained quarantined in physical homes, with the theme park part of the concept of home.","PeriodicalId":45584,"journal":{"name":"Popular Communication","volume":"95 5","pages":"260 - 273"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2022-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41245060","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}