Political Talk Research Articles

What Explains the Spread of Misinformation in Online Personal Messaging Networks? Exploring the Role of Conflict Avoidance

Online personal messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are now hugely popular around the world. Yet their role in the spread and social correction of misinformation remains under-researched. We carried out in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the UK public (N = 102) to explore how social relationships and technological design interact and foster norms regulating how people respond when their everyday social ties share misinformation on these platforms. Conceptualizing messaging as hybrid public-interpersonal communication, we develop a framework that situates online political talk in the context of everyday social interaction. We show that, among our participants, a norm of conflict avoidance is particularly powerful on these platforms and makes people reluctant to speak out. Conflict avoidance should therefore be taken seriously as a contributor to the diffusion of misinformation in everyday life. Policymakers and other stakeholders, including news organizations, should explore new, tailored ways to empower citizens to challenge misinformation in these important online spaces, where automated and algorithmic interventions are impossible.

The Psychological Effects of Political Talk Shows on Youth

Examining the determinants of cultivation theory in today's society on the political attitudes of viewers is the foremost consideration of this research. Scholarly journals' investigations indicate that political talk shows have the influence to cultivate political knowledge among the viewers. This article studied consumption patterns and the psychological effects of political talk shows on males and females. It investigated how the political discourse of media cultivates political behaviour. For the purpose of the investigation, a survey method technique was employed to take the responses from 200 respondents, 100 from each segment males and females. Results revealed consumption patterns of political talk shows that cultivate negative psychological effects on viewers.

Deliberative democracy and the digital public sphere: Asymmetrical fragmentation as a political not a technological problem

Deliberative democracy and the digital public sphere: Asymmetrical fragmentation as a political not a technological problem

Potential verbal attacks in a television political talk show: A case of a host’s questioning

This study examined potential verbal attacks in questioning delivered by a host of a political talk show in Indonesia. It aims at describing a realization of the potential verbal attacks in questioning and identifying the patterns which provides the resource persons with an awareness of the verbal attacks delivered by the host to appropriately respond to them. The data were taken from the host questioning items from a political talk show dialogue ‘Mata Najwa’ in five different political topics entitled ‘Adu Kuat di Demokrat’, ‘Berebut Tahta di Tengah Wabah’, ‘Beres-Beres Kursi Menkes’, ‘Gaduh Tiga Periode’, and ‘Kritik Tanpa Intrik’. The research applied a qualitative method with a descriptive design by employing Elgin’s definition and verbal attack pattern, presuppositions, and the context in questioning referring to the information triggered by certain linguistic constructions of the participant's speech event. The results indicated that the host's questioning behavior during the political talk show potentially tends to result in verbal attacks. The realization of potential verbal attacks resulted in the form of interrogative sentences initiated by wh-question words, modalities, conjunctions, and auxiliary words and affirmative (statement) as a question that was getting more complex depending on the depth of information and presuppositions hidden in the host questioning. The complexity of the attack patterns used by the host affects the strategy used to break, reject, or attack the opinion or argument by countering, judging and criticizing, and denying the resource person's responses.

Is Online Textual Political Expression Associated With Political Knowledge?

Prior research has reliably shown a positive relationship between political talk and political knowledge. This study sought to build upon this research by assessing the association between internet-based textual political expression and political knowledge. Notably, while online textual political expression is closely linked to traditional conceptualizations of political talk, it is also different in several key ways. Accordingly, this study drew upon research and theorization in the areas of political talk, online expression, and communication self-effects to explore the association between political commentary frequency on Facebook and performance on a political knowledge quiz. Moreover, we investigated the degree to which expression-apparent elaborative thinking levels were differentially associated with political knowledge. The results indicated that Facebook-based textual political expression was, as predicted, positively associated with political knowledge. Therein, we found that textual political expression indicative of high levels of elaboration was much more strongly associated with political knowledge levels than textual political expression that was indicative of comparatively lower levels of elaboration. Finally, exploratory analyses suggested that highly elaborative textual political expression was at least as strongly related to political knowledge as traditional media consumption variables.

The Influence of Social Media on Online Political Participation among College Students: Mediation of Political Talks

ABSTRACT This study explores and discusses the impact of political talks as a mediator of social media use on online political participation. It uses a survey method to collect data on college students in West Java concerning the 2019 Indonesian presidential election, and a total of 1,050 students filled out the questionnaires. The results showed that online political talk served as a mediator instead of face-to-face political talks. Furthermore, politics and social media use positively affected online political participation. Concerning the implication of this study, social media can be a means of political discussion to increase participation among youth, especially college students.

Do people like to discuss politics? A study of citizens’ political talk culture

AbstractAs deliberative democracy is gaining practical momentum, the question arises whether citizens’ attitudes toward everyday political talk are congruent with this ‘talk-centric’ vision of democratic governance. Drawing on a unique survey we examine how German citizens view the practice of discussing politics in everyday life, and what determines these attitudes. We find that only a minority appreciates talking about politics. To explain these views, we combine Fishbein and Ajzen’s Expectancy-Value Model of attitudes toward behaviors with perspectives from research on interpersonal communication. Individuals’ interest in politics emerges as the only relevant political disposition for attitudes toward everyday political talk. Its impact is surpassed and conditioned by conflict orientations and other enduring psychological dispositions, as well as contextual circumstances like the closeness of social ties and the amount of disagreement experienced during conversations. The beneficial effect of political interest dwindles under adverse interpersonal conditions. The social dimension of everyday political talk thus appears to outweigh its political dimension.

Selected Peculiarities of English and Georgian Political Talk Shows

The present paper aims to discuss selected peculiarities of English and Georgian political talk shows using the example of BBC | Vote 22 NI, WMUR-TV ‘Granite states Debate’, NBC News-MSNBC Democratic Debate, Choice, The stories of the day and Timely Questions. The analysis is conducted with a view to determining the similarities between the methods and techniques of manipulation in English and Georgian political speeches. It is undertaken to answer the following question: Are the politicians mostly criticizing the opponent’s speech and their ideas or are they simply insulting them? What kind of mood do the guests and the host create in the beginning and during the programme? What kind of similarities and differences can be seen in the structure of English and Georgian political talk shows? In English-language talk shows, political discourse is not as open and obvious as in Georgian ones. The host and the guests do not intend to abuse someone verbally or physically. As a rule, the English-language political discourse has a neutral approach in this regard, while in Georgian, there tends to be a sharp confrontation with the opponent.

Tweeting television between innovation and normalization: How Lebanese television and audiences are making use of Twitter in political talk shows

Traditional media have progressively integrated newer media practices, with the constant emergence of new digital technologies, without abandoning their former ones. The adoption of Twitter by TV channels and by other social actors during political talk shows is a case in point. This article aims to assess whether the hybridization of TV talk shows and Twitter has innovated or normalized existing patterns of communication. In the former case, by enabling more interaction between different actors and space for audience deliberation, or in the latter case, by reproducing a traditional one-way communication and a centralized network of information that remains controlled and oriented by the elite (journalists and politicians). The incorporation of older and emergent media logic has an impact on the construction and distribution of political information as well as on the power relationships between journalists, politicians, and TV audiences. Besides allowing political talk shows to expand their flow of information, and to promote their news online, hybridized practices have not only altered the way citizens consume and engage with political information but also how they counter-frame traditional political media content by producing new ones. The research methodology consists of descriptive, content, and network analyses of tweets collected from three Lebanese local TV political talk show “Sarelwa2et” (MTV), “Btefro’ aa Watan” (Al Jadeed), and “Vision 2030” (LBCI) between February and March 2022. Results revealed that TV talk shows are making use of Twitter as a top-down transmitter of information and resorting poorly to its interactive potential. Some newer media practices of Twitter, such as @mention and replies are being applied but only to interact with politicians and journalists, failing to engage with a larger array of voices and thus, leading to an elite-centric discourse within the network. Also, tweets are mostly used to inform audiences and promote TV programs. In addition, network analyses of talk shows via hashtags demonstrated the central and not monopolized role of politicians and journalists as influencers, bridges, and quick spreaders of information. Finally, content analysis of dual screeners’ tweets (n=6000) indicated very little space in a Habermasian public sphere. The total of subjective opinions, irony, and attack/insult tweets are still higher than the total of the introduction of new issues and counter-frames tweets.

PECULIARITIES OF THE CONCEPTUAL OPPOSITION REALIZATION OF THE CONCEPT “VALUES” (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE DICHOTOMY “US” / “THEM”)

The article is devoted to the specifics of the linquocognitive representation of the concept “VALUES” in Russian and English linguocultures. The purpose of the study is to reveal the special aspects of the conceptual opposition of the concept under study implemented on the ground of the basic dichotomy “US / THEM”. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the definition of the concept “VALUES” as an oppositive components-concept demonstrating the structured specificity of opposition.
 Materials and methods. The materials of the study were the speeches of the famous Russian journalists, historians, political scientists ‒ participants on the political talk show “Who is against?” on the TV channel “Russia-1” in August 2022, as well as the publication of the Australian researcher Peter Harrison. When writing the article, the following methods were used: conceptual analysis including juxtaposition, generalization, interpretation of the representatives of the studied concept, comparison and collation, lexical-semantic analysis of dictionary definitions, contextual analysis.
 Results. As a result of the study, a level (explicit-implicit) representation of opposition of the concept VALUES in the Russian and English language spaces has been established on the example of the basic opposition “US / THEM”.
 Conclusions. In the author’s opinion, the distinctive features of the opposition subjects “US / THEM” regulate their categorical fixing on the ground of the basic evaluation model of this dichotomy.

A BRIEF ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF THE DEARTH OF LABOR MANAGED FIRMS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

The aging workforce and population decline give opportunity to increase the share of labor managed firms in the U.S., such as employee stock ownership plans.  Yet why are labor managed firms not a natural and organic solution to the above workforce and population challenges, instead becoming a contemporary political talking point for the likes of Senator Bernie Sanders?  At a minimum, labor managed firms are economically equal and socially preferable to conventional firms.  Yet labor managed firms exist in far fewer numbers than conventional firms.  Why is this?  Earlier arguments that labor managed firms were less efficient, less productive, and less survivable have been convincingly countered.  So, deduction suggests they are simply created far less frequently than conventional firms.  This author finds three primary hypotheses for why this imbalance exists.  First, that there is broad lack of awareness of labor managed firm options and benefits.  Second, that entrepreneur self-interest shows preference for conventional firms over labor managed firms.  And third, that co-determination complicates labor managed firm creation, in turn promoting conventional firm creation.  This piece follows a logical form to engage a subset of relevant literature in investigation of the dearth of labor managed firms.

Media Communication: Technologies of Application in Screen Discourse

The purpose of the research is to analyze the communicative relationship of screen culture with the viewer, to determine the forms and means of media influence on the audience, to rethink the concept of “media manipulation” and to outline the importance of non-verbal semiotics on television. The research methodology is carried out by analyzing and synthesizing the activities of modern mass media based on: the empirical method, which is manifested in observing and comparing the general trends in the development of media communication processes; the method of theoretical substantiation of the screen arts work, in particular, television, in the context of the manifestation of special forms and means of communicative influence on the viewer; a systematic approach that allows analyzing, specifying, clarifying and generalizing all stages of the technology of using communication in the media. The scientific novelty is due to the identification of strategies and tactics for the use of various manifestations of verbal and non-verbal communicative influence by analyzing specific examples of television programs. The manifestations of wordless communication on television are analyzed in detail, the dialectic of the visual-verbal image on the screen is explained, and modern technologies of manipulation in the screen discourse are formed. Conclusions. In the course of the research, we have studied in detail the technologies of media communication and determined the dependence of typical forms of communication on audience targeting. With the help of deciphering the methods and means of communicative influence, the concept of media manipulation has been explained, and the importance of using NLP and neuromarketing technologies in the domestic media market has been proved. Specific tools of non-verbal semiotics have been revealed in the example of domestic political talk shows and their hosts.

Safe spaces? Grounding political talk in WhatsApp groups

Instant messaging (IM) platforms are believed to foster intimate and controlled conversations within small groups and hence provide safe social settings for political conversations, and yet we know little about how political talk emerges from the everyday social interactions in these environments. To fill the gap, this study examines how sociability within small, private WhatsApp groups shapes the extent and forms of political talk among young adults. Relying on in-depth interviews conducted in the Netherlands, we find that young people perceive politics as personal, offensive, divisive, and depressing, hence unsafe for WhatsApp groups where they find comfort in communicating care and phatic exchanges. Nonetheless, rules, relationship qualities, and strategies enacted in these groups allow some political talk to become temporarily possible. However, they perceive that what makes political talk safer also makes it unproductive. Our findings thus contribute to a finer-grained understanding of political talk in the closed digital spaces.

Comparative analysis of the opening markers of Georgian and American political talk shows

The presented article deals with a comparative analysis of the opening markers of popular Georgian and American political talk shows. Opening signals play an important role in any discourse. These signals vary according to national and cultural characteristics. My goal is to review the following Georgian and American political talk shows: Reaction, Giorgi Targamadze's formula, Imedi live, Politmeter, Sanaya, JUSTICE, RED&BLUE, All in with Chris Hayes, REPORTS, PRIMTIME WITH JOHN DICKERSON, and after studying the structure of the programs’ introduction and linguistic realization, identify specific markers: Which opening signals are used in Georgian and American political talk shows?  How identical is the length of the monologue? Are there any differences in guest introduction? etc.

Expanding public debate? Examining the impact of India’s top English language political talk shows

As a genre, current affairs talk shows occupy a distinct space within the Indian television universe. Typically built around a single host and invited guests, talk shows constitute a relatively inexpensive format that most news channels deploy to market themselves. Although the extent to which such shows enhance the potential of rational-critical debate has been widely investigated in Western contexts, their implication for public deliberation remains unclear, at least in the case of India. Through an ethnographic content analysis (ECA) of such shows as represented by Newshour aired on Times Now and The Debate aired on Republic TV, this article explores the presentation styles adopted by these programs and their content both in terms of the participants invited and the range of topics discussed. This research found that instead of enabling meaningful deliberation on a variety of important civic issues, television talk shows in India were fixated on promoting religious majoritarianism, defending the policies of the Modi government, and advocating hyper-nationalism. Further, employing a combative style and polarizing tone, talk show hosts were found to stifle dissenting voices and forestall free expression. Ramifications of such blatant partisanship among current affairs talk shows for the Indian public sphere are discussed.

Talking politics: Building and validating data-driven lexica to measure political discussion quality

Social media data offers computational social scientists the opportunity to understand how ordinary citizens engage in political activities, such as expressing their ideological stances and engaging in policy discussions. This study curates and develops discussion quality lexica from the Corpus for the Linguistic Analysis of Political Talk ONline (CLAPTON). Supervised machine learning classifiers to characterize political talk are evaluated for out-of-sample label prediction and generalizability to new contexts. The approach yields data-driven lexica, or dictionaries, that can be applied to measure the constructiveness, justification, relevance, reciprocity, empathy, and incivility of political discussions. In addition, the findings illustrate how the choices made in training such classifiers, such as the heterogeneity of the data, the feature sets used to train classifiers, and the classification approach, affect their generalizability. The article concludes by summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of applying machine learning methods to social media posts and theoretical insights into the quality and structure of online political discussions.

Name(ing) norms: Mispronunciations and ethnic categories in political talk

AbstractThis article investigates the situated orientation to and production of social and political norms related to the pronunciation of person names in the context of announcing next speakers during a political meeting. Through a detailed multimodal analysis of naturally occurring interaction, the article discusses how participants to a political party's congress in Sweden treat the chairpersons’ pronunciation of person names as rendering them (non)normative and as relating them to ethnic categories. In associating specific prosodic realizations of person names with ‘(non)Swedish-ness’ and orienting to this as inacceptable, the participants reflexively establish these membership categories as (non)normative and, moreover, as unequal. In this way, the article contributes to our understanding of normative aspects regarding public announcements of next speakers as a turn-taking procedure in political interaction and how names are invoked and established as related to (non)normative ethnic categories by virtue of the formal properties of their production. (Conversation analysis, ethnomethodology, person names, political interaction, turn-taking, ethnicity, prosody)*

Unfriending effects: Testing contrasting indirect-effects relationships between exposure to hate speech on political talk via social media unfriending

This study explores the antecedents and consequences of unfriending in social media settings. Employing an online panel survey (N = 990), this study investigates how exposure to hate speech is associated with political talk through social media unfriending. Findings suggest that social media users who are often exposed to hate speech towards specific groups and relevant issues are more likely to unfriend others (i.e., blocking and unfollowing) in social media. Those who unfriend others are less likely to talk about public and political agendas with those with cross-cutting views but tend to often engage in like-minded political talk. In addition, this study found indirect-effects associations, indicating that social media users who are exposed to hate speech are less likely to engage in cross-cutting talk but more likely to participate in like-minded talk via unfriending other users in social media.

Bodies in Public Spaces: Questioning the Boundary Between the Public and the Private

ABSTRACT This paper examines the connection between politics and public space at a time when photography and the new media have put the classical distinction between the public and the private into question. My focus is on the body which, according to Hannah Arendt and the classical philosophers, is the most private thing there is. Drawing on the work of Weimar photojournalist Erich Salomon – who was among the first to infiltrate the spaces where political talks were held and decisions taken – I argue for an understanding of the body as an aesthetic object and a site where public and private criss-cross and intersect. The body in photography leads me to the final part of the paper where I trace the figuring of the body in the texts of Plato, Aristotle and the Stoics, and argue that far from being a recent phenomenon, the aestheticisation of politics is already at work in the tradition that celebrates deliberation and the public use of reason.

Code-switching candidates: strategic communication, podcasts, and cultural and racial politics

ABSTRACT While agenda building and framing are commonly examined in the strategic communication literature, the concept of code-switching remains underexplored in the field. Similarly, the incredible rise of podcasting remains less examined as a strategic communication tool. Bridging these gaps, this study qualitatively examined U.S. presidential candidate interviews on podcasts during the 2020 primary cycle. Insights about code-switching and attribute and topic selection emerged, demonstrating podcasts could be a critical media platform for lesser-known candidates of public office. Further, this study finds podcasts to be a prime arena for candidates who want to deviate from traditional political talking points and who want to access diverse and niche audiences. A call is made to further examine this intersectionality in the strategic communication literature.