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The Illiberal Turn? News Consumption, Polarization and Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

非自由主义转向？

基本信息

批准号：
ES/S01019X/1
负责人：
Vaclav Stetka
金额：
$ 84.57万
依托单位：
Loughborough University
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2019 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FS01019X%2F1
关键词：
Illiberal Turn News Consumption Polarization

项目摘要

Recent years have seen worrying political developments across both old and new democracies, ranging from the rise of populist leaders and dwindling support for democratic rule to the growing polarization of public opinion, evident in the stark divergence of political attitudes among both political elites and the general electorate. Many of these transformations have been linked to changes in information environments, and specifically to the growth of social media and digital platforms, which have given unprecedented visibility to populist rhetoric and hate speech, facilitated the spreading of misinformation, and allegedly encouraged the formation of ideological 'echo chambers'. According to many commentators, these developments contribute to the erosion of the public sphere, particularly in light of the gradual weakening of the role of professional, legacy news media organizations as primary providers of political information. With the proliferation of various "alternative", hyperpartisan online news sources whose content gets amplified via social media, unverified information, unchecked claims and fringe opinions spread virally and get exploited by populist actors and movements. While these tendencies currently pose challenges to democracies across the world, their impact is particularly detrimental in countries that have a shorter history of democratic development and where democratic institutions are more fragile. This is the case in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), a region that has recently experienced an unprecedented decline in the quality of democracy, a resurgence of illiberal nationalism, and a shift towards authoritarian forms of government. These troublesome developments are arguably threatening to reverse the process of post-1989 transition following the fall of communism. This makes the research into the relationship between media use, political attitudes and behaviour, and popular support for democracy in CEE particularly topical - especially given the fact that systematic research into these issues has so far been limited largely to the U.S. and Western Europe. The ambition of this project is therefore to fill this gap, and to carry out the first-ever systematic, comparative study of news consumption and political polarization in Central and Eastern Europe, at a key point in time when the region is undergoing dramatic changes. This will be achieved by means of a comparative study of news consumption an political attitudes, using a novel multi-method analytical framework that combines survey data, digital tracking of media consumption, as well as media diaries and qualitative interviews with audiences in four CEE countries. While empirically focused on CEE, the project will also make a key contribution to general debates on political polarization, populism, nationalism and related phenomena (a) by clarifying the role of the changing media environment in these phenomena, and (b) by pioneering a new multi-method comparative framework that can be adapted for similar research elsewhere in the world. Given the urgent nature of developments in CEE, the project will also include a significant impact component. We have developed plans for collaboration with several CEE-based and pan-European organizations and associations representing media regulators and journalists, dedicated to the promotion of media literacy, media pluralism and freedom. Through designated activities with these partners we will seek to influence both professional and public debate concerning the political impact of the changing news environment in CEE, and contribute to the development of regulatory frameworks, professional standards and civil society activities designed to counter the growth of media partisanship and the spreading of disinformation and "fake news" via online media channels.

近年来，新旧民主国家都出现了令人担忧的政治事态发展，从民粹主义领导人的崛起和对民主统治的支持率下降，到公众舆论日益两极分化，这从政治精英和普通选民之间的政治态度截然不同可见一斑。其中许多变化与信息环境的变化有关，特别是与社交媒体和数字平台的增长有关，这些平台使民粹主义言论和仇恨言论前所未有地受到关注，为错误信息的传播提供了便利，据称还鼓励了意识形态“回音室”的形成。根据许多评论人士的说法，这些事态发展助长了公共领域的侵蚀，特别是考虑到专业的、传统的新闻媒体组织作为政治信息主要提供者的作用逐渐减弱。随着各种“另类”的激增，内容通过社交媒体被放大的超党派在线新闻来源、未经核实的信息、未经核实的主张和边缘观点迅速传播，并被民粹主义行为者和运动利用。虽然这些趋势目前对世界各地的民主国家构成了挑战，但在民主发展历史较短和民主体制较为脆弱的国家，这些趋势的影响尤其不利。中东欧的情况就是如此，该地区最近经历了民主质量前所未有的下降，非自由主义民族主义的卷土重来，以及向威权形式的政府转变。可以说，这些麻烦的事态发展可能会逆转1989年后共产主义垮台后的过渡进程。这使得对媒体使用、政治态度和行为以及中东欧民众对民主的支持之间的关系的研究尤其具有时代性--特别是考虑到迄今为止对这些问题的系统研究主要局限于美国和西欧。因此，该项目的目标是填补这一空白，并在中东欧地区发生巨大变化的关键时刻，对该地区的新闻消费和政治两极分化进行首次系统的比较研究。这将通过对新闻消费和政治态度的比较研究来实现，利用一种新颖的多方法分析框架，该框架结合了调查数据、媒体消费的数字跟踪以及媒体日记和对四个中东欧国家受众的定性采访。该项目在注重中东欧经验的同时，还将对有关政治两极分化、民粹主义、民族主义和相关现象的一般性辩论作出重要贡献(A)澄清不断变化的媒体环境在这些现象中的作用，(B)开创一个新的多方法比较框架，可适用于世界其他地方的类似研究。鉴于中东欧事态发展的紧迫性，该项目还将包括一个重要的影响部分。我们制定了与几个设在中东欧和泛欧洲的组织和协会合作的计划，这些组织和协会代表媒体监管机构和记者，致力于促进媒体素养、媒体多元化和自由。通过与这些伙伴的指定活动，我们将努力影响关于中东欧不断变化的新闻环境的政治影响的专业和公共辩论，并有助于制定监管框架、专业标准和民间社会活动，以遏制媒体党派色彩的增长以及通过在线媒体渠道传播虚假信息和“假新闻”。