The election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 seemed to catch the world napping. Like the vote for Brexit in the UK, there seemed to be a new de-synchronicity – a huge reality gap – between the unfolding of history and the mainstream news media’s interpretations of and reporting of contemporary events. Through a series of short, sharp interventions from academics and journalists, this book interrogates the emergent media war around Donald Trump. A series of interconnected themes are used to set an agenda for exploration of Trump as the lynch-pin in the fall of the liberal mainstream and the rise of the right media mainstream in the USA. By exploring topics such as Trump’s television celebrity, his presidential candidacy and data-driven election campaign, his use of social media, his press conferences and combative relationship with the mainstream media, and the question of ‘fake news’ and his administration’s defence of ‘alternative facts’, the contributors rally together to map the parallels of the seemingly momentous and continuing shifts in the wider relationship between media and politics.
The election of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 seemed to catch the world napping. Like the vote for Brexit in the UK, there seemed to be a new de-synchronicity – a huge reality gap – between the unfolding of history and the mainstream news media’s interpretations of and reporting of contemporary events. Through a series of short, sharp interventions from academics and journalists, this book interrogates the emergent media war around Donald Trump. A series of interconnected themes are used to set an agenda for exploration of Trump as the lynch-pin in the fall of the liberal mainstream and the rise of the right media mainstream in the USA. By exploring topics such as Trump’s television celebrity, his presidential candidacy and data-driven election campaign, his use of social media, his press conferences and combative relationship with the mainstream media, and the question of ‘fake news’ and his administration’s defence of ‘alternative facts’, the contributors rally together to map the parallels of the seemingly momentous and continuing shifts in the wider relationship between media and politics.
Features short, sharp contributions from both academics and journalists, two of whom were on the Trump campaign trail Extremely topical and addresses current issues related to Trump, such as his celebrity persona, election campaign, press conferences and relationship with the mainstream media Looks at the political use of Twitter, social media and the internet in general
Catherine Happer
Donald Trump Trump Alt-right Fake news Facebook Brexit US election US president Twitter Troll politics Jeff Jarvis Paul Levinson Peter Geoghegan David Torrence us politics
“As the first US president to openly defy long-accepted journalistic norms, Donald Trump has provoked fury, frustration and occasionally admiration. This eminently readable collection of essays from a variety of distinguished commentators and academics offers some very stimulating reflections on a digital media phenomenon who, whether we like it or not, is rewriting the rules of political communication. Highly recommended for students and anyone interested in journalism, politics, media or contemporary culture.” (Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications, University of Westminster, UK)
“Trump and the media are a paradox: On the one hand, Trump makes use of Twitter like no other president, on the other hand, he positions himself sharper than ever against critical media. In a highly sophisticated way, the contributions in this volume open the eyes to this media paradox of Trump’s presidency.” (Andreas Hepp, Professor, ZeMKI, University of Bremen, Germany)