Politicking and Visual Framing on Instagram: A Look at the Portrayal of the Leadership of Canada’s Justin Trudeau

Abstract

While digital media have become a central component of the contemporary political communication mediascape, many politicians have still not fully embraced this digital shift. However, Justin Trudeau and his team understood quickly that these platforms were powerful public outreach and engagement tools. Since his election as prime minister of Canada, Trudeau has been able to exploit the image-making and framing capabilities of digital media platforms to roll out a strategic narrative about his political leadership. Building on an analysis of all posts on his Instagram account during the year following his election as prime minister of Canada, this article is taking a close look at how Trudeau turned to visual framing in his Instagram posts to generate strategic political narratives, which emphasized and reinforced seven traits of his political leadership: 1) innovative leader at the helm of a prosperous country; 2) leader dedicated to positive policies; 3) leader dedicated to national unity; 4) leader promoting and respecting minority and marginalized communities; 5) comforting and reassuring leader; 6) leader valuing international dialogue and respect; 7) relatable leader. In doing so, this research work provides insights of interest into a specific dimension of the visual political communication strategy deployed by elected official on Instagram. More importantly, this article contributes to ongoing academic work on dynamics of visual political image-making and framing on social media in Canada and abroad.