PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/76770 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-23 and may be subject to change. Controversial Outsiders A cross-national study of Media Attention to the far-right 1986-2004 C OntrOversial Outsiders A cross-nAtionAl study of MediA Attention to the fAr-right 1986-2004 e en wetenschappelijke proeve op het gebied van de sociale Wetenschappen P roefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de radboud universiteit nijmegen op gezag van de rector magnificus prof. mr. s.c.J.J. Kortmann volgens besluit van het college van decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 11 december 2009 om 10.30 uur precies door Petrus Herman Joseph schafraad geboren op 31 juli 1973 te enschede Promotores: Prof. dr. f.P.J. Wester Prof. dr. P.l.h. scheepers commissie: Prof. dr. J.W.J. Beentjes Prof. dr. J. Kleinnijenhuis (Vrije universiteit, Amsterdam) dr. M. lubbers (universiteit utrecht) © Pytrik schafraad isBn/eAn: 978-90-9024679-6 cover design: John Jansen cover picture: rené Wouters lay out: John Jansen Potrait: eva Barends fonts: sabon roman, helvetica neue. Printed by: ipskamp drukkers Additional copies available from the author. Acknowledgements While i was writing my MA thesis in the early months of 2001 i came to like research so much, that i developed the ambition to pursue my academic career after graduation rather than ending it like most students do. so far that plan worked out fine. As you can see, the result of my endeavour so far is this dissertation. it is a very different dissertation than the one i planned on writing back then. different subject, different university, different city, different traditions, different people, different almost everything. Working on that MA thesis inspired me to dive further into theories of social movements and activism and their dynamics in a globalising world. encouraged by geert de Vries (Vrije universiteit Amsterdam) and brainstorming with saskia Polder- vaart, i worked on various versions of a research proposal about ‘the altergloablisation movement’. When our final version was up for competition for funding of the dutch science foundation (nWo), i applied for a Phd position in nijmegen. suddenly i had to make a harsh decision. leaving the uncertain path of competition for funding for a new challenge in nijmegen, or not? in the end, i took up the nijmegen challenge and i have not regretted it, even though i had a lot of ‘what if’ thoughts when the Amsterdam pro- posal received funding ten months later. in nijmegen i soon found out that mass media, content analysis and right-wing (instead of left-wing) movements are equally interesting, fascinating subjects. for almost five years i worked on the project, of which the report lays before you now. i did not do that alone of course. first of all, i was lucky to have two supervisors, with different interests and different perspectives, but the same enthusiasm and dedication to good sci- entific research:f red Wester and Peer scheepers. i must thank them deeply for all their encouragement, advice and criticism. A pilot study for the content analysis was carried out in leuven, early 2005. this would not have been possible without leen d’haenens. for the necessary support in the methodology department i could always rely on Mau- rice Vergeer, Pieter van groenestijn and ruben Konig. in the data collection department Annemarie, Mariska, ottelie, Jana and norma were of great help, and scientifically more important: reliable coders! Moral support and ‘senior’ advise from experience came from gabi schaap and Alexander Pleijter. loads of coffee i drunk with, or in company of, Jelle, Pascale, ivar, Margot, renée, Baldwin, liesbeth, henk, Asia, rod, serena and Judith. of course, i must mention my other colleagues at the department of commu- nication science of the radboud university, as well as my colleagues tonny, Pauwke, Marc, Jiska, susanne, erik, Bernadette, nel, linda, Koen and others at the department of Media and communication of erasmus university where i have been working as well since 2008, when the book was ‘almost done’. last but not least i must pledge my gratitude to my dearests. first mom, then all brothers, sisters, dad, boyfriends of sisters, friends here and there. And she may have missed the beginning and the middle part, but joined me to make a happy ending: eva, it was a pleasure to finish it with you, let’s do tons of other stuff together now! Pytrik Arnhem, september 2009 Tab le of contents chapter one the far-right in the media: introduction, theoretical framework and research questions 11 1.1 The far-right in a comparative perspective 13 1.2 Defining the far-right 14 1.2.1 The socio-genesis of the far-right 1.2.2 Far-right ideologies 1.2.3 Dimensions of variety within the far-right 1.3 Short overview of the far-right in the netherlands, germany and flanders 21 1.4 Media attention to the far-right 23 1.4.1 Findings on the relationship between media attention and far-right voting 1.4.2 The importance of media contents 1.4.3 Media attention: a conceptual elaboration 1.5 Variations in media attention to the far-right: questions 29 1.5.1 Longitudinal changes 1.5.2 Differences and similarities between newspapers 1.5.3 Contextual variation 1.6 Objective of the study 32 1.7 Outline of the book 32 chapter two design and methodology 33 2.1 Systematic-quantitative content analysis 35 2.1.1 The content analysis instrument 2.1.2 Coding instructions 2.1.3 Instrument development 2.2 Sample construction 40 2.2.1 National contexts 2.2.2 Newspaper selection 2.2.3 Research period 2.2.4 News concentration in election periods 2.2.5 Data sources 2.3 Recording 44 2.3.1 Coder training 2.3.2 Coding organisation 2.3.3 Reliability measurement chapter three the dutch press: a progressive nuance of a rigid media image 51 3.1 Introduction 53 3.2 Results 55 3.2.1 Volume attention 3.2.2 Formal attention 3.2.3 Substantial attention 3.2.4 Support attention 3.3 Conclusions and discussion 66 chapter four the german press: dealing with the ‘devil of the past’ 71 4.1 Introduction 73 4.2 Results 76 4.2.1 Volume attention 4.2.2 Formal attention 4.2.3 Substantial attention 4.2.4 Support attention 4.3 Conclusions and discussion 87 chapter five the flemish press: an implicit attribution of an abominable image 93 5.1 Introduction 95 5.2 Results 97 5.2.1 Volume attention 5.2.2 Formal attention 5.2.3 Substantial attention 5.2.4 Support attention 5.3 Conclusions and discussion 109 chapter six summary and discussion: theorising newspaper attention to the far-rigth 113 6.1 Summary and cross-national analysis 115 6.1.1 Media attention for the far-right in three countries 6.1.2 Cross-national trends in media attention for the far-right 6.1.3 Conclusion 6.2 Contrasting relationships between media attention and far-right voting 121 6.2.1 Analysing the relationship between media attention and far-right voting 6.2.2 Patterns in the relationship between media attention and far-right voting 6.2.3 Two possible mechanisms 6.2.4 Theoretical implications: cultural consonance 6.2.5 Conclusion 6.3 Differences between types of newspapers 134 6.3.1 Quality and popular newspapers 6.3.2 Left- and right-leaning newspapers 6.3.3 Theoretical reflections 6.4 Evaluations of the model of four aspects of media attention to the far-right 140 references 145 appendices 155 samenvatting (dutch summary) 187 curriculum vitae 195 cP hA ter one 11 the fAr-right in the MediA: introduction, theoreticAl frAMeWorK And reseArch Questions 12 1. The far-right in the media: introduction, theoretical framework and research questions cP hA ter one the fAr-right in the MediA: introduction, theoreticAl frAMeWorK And reseArch Questions 1.1 the far-right in a comparative perspective in civil society, politics and in academia the developments in the popularity of the far- right, as well as the activities of far-right groups and political parties, have been followed closely ever since the end of World War ii. the main reason for this vigilance was, and is, the fear that the far-right could once again become a relevant faction in the political landscape in West european countries. until the mid-eighties the far-right had never es- tablished a position where it was considered a serious threat. Although far-right parties managed to win sporadic parliamentary seats, they never consolidated their electoral successes. from the mid-eighties onwards, however, the far-right started to gain ground in electoral competition (cole, 2005: 204). By the mid-nineties the state of affairs had become such that the far-right had gained some stable ground in various West european countries like Belgium, italy, denmark and Austria, and lately in the netherlands. in recent years, an increasing amount of research has been dedicated to the success and failure factors of far-right political parties in elections. Academics from disciplines such as sociology, social psychology and political science have found distinct explanations for the varying levels of success of far-right parties in (West) european countries. By now there is fairly clear evidence of the influence of different variables on the level of individual voters, social-structural factors, political and election opportunity structures, historical and – to a lesser extent - cultural factors (for overviews see: Kitchelt, 1997; rydgren, 2005; ignazi, 2006).