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Citizen Journalism, Alternative Media and US Social

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Citizen Journalism, Alternative Media and US Social Blurring the boundaries: Citizen journalism, alternative media and U.S. social movements. An exploration of alt-right citizen journalists’ coverage of the 2017 Berkeley protests. Elizabeth Louise Roberts Master’s Thesis - May 2018 Graduate School of Communication Master’s programme Communication Science Erasmus Mundus Journalism, Media and Globalisation Supervisor: Penny Sheets Thibaut Student ID: 11896663 Abstract This study qualitatively analyses the evolution of citizen journalism in the U.S., which has coincided with the rapid technological development of media tools, the rise of ‘fake news’ and a decline in trust for the mainstream media. In line with these developments, one U.S. social movement in particular has risen to prominence; the so-called ‘alt-right’, which advocates an anti-establishment, anti-globalist and extreme far-right agenda. The convergence of these two developing phenomena in the U.S., the alt-right and citizen journalism, represents the stimulating sample of this study, more specifically, their reportage of the 2017 ‘free speech’ protests which took place in Berkeley, California. Through in-depth qualitative analysis the study found that, despite their varying self-conceptualisations, the alt- right citizen journalists utilised the same journalistic tools and routines, and broadcast the same skewed narrative of events. Ultimately, their striking similarities provides evidence to support the notion that the six citizen journalists in this study were working together within an unofficial alt-right citizen journalist network. The implications of such a digitalised network, for both the mainstream media and the public sphere, are discussed in detail. Word count: 9,812.1 1 In consultation with my supervisor, and given the qualitative and textual nature of the findings, a word limit of 10,000 was agreed upon to reflect the complexity of the movement under study and the rich meanings reflected in the analysed texts. 1 Introduction Since the 2016 U.S. Presidential election brought Donald Trump to office, public trust in the mainstream media has been truly tried and tested in the United States. Partisanship has always been part of the U.S. media landscape, particularly since the 1990s, when the right-wing Fox News Network was launched to rival the liberal media by “the greatest conservative bugbear in modern politics”, Roger Ailes (Wolff, 2018, p.2). Yet, polarization concerning trust in traditional media has grown exponentially since 2015, only increasing after President Trump first decried “Fake News!” in December 2016 (Wendling, 2018a). In 2017, 66 per cent of U.S. respondents believed the news media did not separate fact from fiction effectively—a 24 per cent increase since 1984 (Knight Foundation, 2018). Moreover, 63 per cent found themselves unable to distinguish between real and fake news in 2017 (Edelman, 2018). This divide is even more significant when viewed across partisan lines; according to Pew Research, 87 per cent of Republicans thought the news media favoured one side in 2017, compared to 84 per cent in 2016, whilst 53 per cent of Democrats thought the media favoured one side, a decrease from 64 per cent in 2016 (Barthel & Mitchell, 2017). Due to changes in technology allowing for unfiltered and unverified messages to spread like wildfire through social media (Kurtzleben, 2017), it is now easier than ever for fake news to infiltrate the public sphere. The term ‘fake news’ has two meanings: firstly, denoting news stories which are factually inaccurate, often created by trolls and spread via social media, generating an ‘alternate reality’ of events (Holan, 2017); secondly, and more significantly, fake news has become a buzzword deployed by President Trump, the Republicans and particularly far-right social movements, to smear and delegitimise the mainstream media, as well as debunk any criticism the media launches against them (Kurtzleben, 2017; Holan, 2017; Grove, 2017; Dupuy, 2017). This adds to an already tense media climate in the U.S. In the middle of the 20th century, benefiting from a favourable economic and political environment, the mainstream media thrived, allowing journalists to be surveyors of truth and bearers of objectivity and 2 accuracy (Krause, 2011), fulfilling a cherished watchdog role. Since the 1970s, however, that journalistic autonomy has declined, due in large part to newspaper ownership centralisation, as well as overbearing advertisers (Krause, 2011, Vizcarrondo, 2013). These continuing problems—exacerbated by the rise of the internet and social media—are now coupled with the difficulty of the misuse of the term ‘fake news’, which has been aimed at legitimate media organisations to discredit their practice. As Rose (2017) argues, rather than agreeing on one objective reality, “people are willing to believe incredible stories so long as those stories reinforce their pre-existing world view” (p.557). Due to the polarized political climate, the “post-truth platform” created by President Trump (Harrison, 2017), as well as the ease of access to new technology allowing citizens to create and share their own messages, ‘alternative media’—commonly defined as journalism generated in direct opposition to mainstream media (Harcup, 2005)—have begun to seriously challenge traditional journalism in the U.S. (Herrmann, 2017; Van Zuylen-Wood et al., 2017). These dynamics have facilitated the rise and influence of anti-establishment, and correspondingly anti-mainstream media, social movements, in particular the so-called ‘alt-right’. Short for alternative right, this relatively new movement appeared within the public domain during the 2016 presidential campaign, it is uniquely heterogeneous, “enabled in reach by the connective tools of the social internet”, including men’s rights activists, Libertarians, white nationalists, anti-globalists and self-proclaimed neo-Nazi’s (Van Zuylen- Wood et al., 2017, para. 7). Correlating with one of the core beliefs of the movement— distrust in the mainstream media (McBain, 2017)—the alt-right’s most well-known members are fast becoming their alternative media personalities, their citizen journalists. These individuals have garnered huge online followings, producing podcasts, videos and blogs, as well as livestreaming during their increasingly frequent and riotous public protests (Herrmann, 2017; Evans, 2017; Khandaker, 2017). Indeed, we can see these alt-right citizen journalists as a central force within the movement. Academic research into citizen journalism has demonstrated the progression of the practice from civilians once simply bearing witness to events and sharing their testimonies 3 via the mainstream media (Deuze, Bruns & Nueberger, 2007; Paulussen & Ugille, 2008), to activists reporting on behalf of a cause via their own platforms (Allan, Sonwalkar & Carter, 2007; Robinson & Schwartz, 2014; Pain, 2017). Additionally, the technological advancements allowing citizens to utilise professional media tools have also been frequently explored (Ali & Fahmy, 2013; Lenzner, 2014). However, the use of citizen journalism by activists, as well as the advancements in technology, have both significantly accelerated in recent years, thus their effects merit further study. Moreover, scholars and media professionals have noted the increasing influence of alt-right citizen journalism within the public sphere (Wendling, 2018b; Bridges, 2017; Khandaker, 2017), though academic literature remains relatively limited. Wendling (2018b) argues, “These largely self-taught reporters, while occasionally scoring an occasional scoop due to their mutual friendliness with the White House, were primarily engaged in erasing the line between journalism and activism” (p.127). Whilst Bridges (2017), exploring the role of “alt-lite bloggers” supporting President Trump’s anti-establishment ideology, argues they have developed their own “conservative ecosystem” (p.7) comprised of “an alternative news source for his supporters” (p.17). Nevertheless, the content of these alt-right citizen journalists has seldom been explored through empirical analysis, particularly regarding how they frame events, attempt to drive their ideology through their reporting, and how they conceptualise their own reportage. If we are to better understand this movement and its influence in garnering and promoting support for the ‘post-truth’ politics of the Trump era, we need to investigate the content produced by their notable media figures. Thus, this study shall look at how alt-right citizen journalists reported on the 2017 Berkeley protests, which became both a battle ground and recruitment mechanism for this comparatively new movement. The purpose of this study is to understand how the alt-right comprehends events through citizen journalism; the main research question is therefore: How does the alt-right report, interpret and understand events, via their citizen journalists? 4 Citizen journalism: from witness accounts to activist tools For communication scholars, since the digitalisation of journalism in the early 2000s citizen journalism’s importance has decisively increased, particularly due to its potential to rival traditional media (Scott, 2005; Lewis, Kaufhold & Lasorsa, 2010). The concept isn’t new, and though it has shifted significantly over time no universally agreed upon definition exists. Though, Allan and Thorsen’s (2009) definition of a citizen journalist⎯ as someone who happened to be “caught up in extraordinary events, who felt compelled to adopt the role of a news reporter”⎯ is
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