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Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 15:4 (2016) ► pp.399–421

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The media of the ultra-right

Discourse and audience activism online

 | Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.15.4.02pad
Abstract
In light of the rise of ultra-right ideologies in Europe, this article offers an in-depth analysis of the discourse on immigration presented by CasaPound Italia (CPI), a self-defined fascist organization in Italy. This case study illustrates the importance of media and communication activism for the promotion of contemporary ultra-right movements. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how CPI reported one of the first widely covered immigration-related disaster in the Mediterranean, on 3 October 2013, and on the audience interactions that followed on the organisation’s website. In this article, I argue that CasaPound Italia’s online communiqué and its members’ comments need to be considered as one discursive event in which the encoding/decoding processes at play can be explored in detail. The examination, which draws from critical discourse studies, reveals audiences’ contributions in unpacking the implicit message contained in the original communiqué and underlines the active role that “rank and file” members play in the promotion of ultra-right ideologies.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Active audiences and double-speaking
  • 3.Definitions of the Ultra-right
  • 4.The ultra-right and mainstream media
  • 5.The media of the ultra-right
    • 5.1The ultra-right media in the age of interactivity
  • 6.CasaPound Italia
    • 6.1CPI’s media
  • 7.Methodology
  • 8.The schematic structure
  • 9.Global meanings
  • 10.Local meanings
    • 10.1CPI’s journalistic style
    • 10.2The immigrationists
    • 10.3The victims
  • 11.The “Elephant in the room” (macrostrategy)
  • 12.CPI audiences
    • 12.1Decoding Fascism: The activism of ultra-right media audiences
    • 12.2“We”, the courageous
    • 12.3“Them,” a heterogeneous out-group
      • 12.3.1All our enemies
    • 12.4What needs to be done
    • 12.5Five functions of audience activism online
  • 13.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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