Black and Swiss sheep
Column: Populism, Polarization, and the «hostile media phenomenon.».
Column: Populism, Polarization, and the «hostile media phenomenon.» »Only bad news is good news”—that’s what every journalism textbook says. If that’s true, then it should give us pause to consider how much attention the international media has recently devoted to Switzerland, the SVP, and its ill-fated sheep campaign. And so, perhaps it is not so much the election results themselves that provide food for thought in a post-election analysis, but rather what happened during the campaign.
At first, it’s perplexing that in the land of the rebel Wilhelm Tell, a party whose leadership publicly ridicules its own supporters as a flock of sheep should enjoy such high approval ratings. This message—which isn’t even a subtle one—from what is arguably the most controversial poster of the election campaign has apparently not gotten through to Swiss citizens; otherwise, fewer of them would have followed their herd instinct and voted for the SVP at the polls.
On the surface, Switzerland has reached a point in this election campaign—especially after the street clashes in Bern—where other democracies have long since been: in the depths of competitive democracy. There, the clamor of battle during the primary phases, the far-from-gentle treatment of political opponents by one another, and—unfortunately—occasional eruptions of violence are all part of everyday life.
What is widely perceived as polarization, however, has little to do—upon closer inspection—with the left-right framework that traditionally defines political debates. Rather, the moderate parties have maneuvered themselves into the media sidelines; in any case, they have been able to make their voices heard to a comparatively limited extent. A lack of campaign funds and, above all, a lack of compelling ideas may partly explain this. To me, however, the main reason seems to be another: Right-wing populists skillfully play the media—precisely because the media themselves act in a populist manner: Through the way they select, sensationalize, and, above all, personalize news, media populism and SVP populism fuel each other.
And then something emerges that U.S. researchers Robert Vallone, Lee Ross, and Mark Lepper refer to as the «hostile media phenomenon.» When positions harden, the competing camps all perceive the media as «hostile»: the representatives of the moderate parties, because they receive too little attention, and the SVP, because not all journalists who give it (perhaps far too much) attention sympathize with it or fawn over it.
The interplay of political and media populism raises fears that even in Switzerland—which many have regarded as an island of bliss and a bastion of the educated middle class—trends are gaining momentum that could endanger, or even undermine, its hitherto unique democratic and multilingual culture. What is meant here is a culture of cooperation and a willingness to compromise across political camps and language boundaries—a culture that could actually serve as the very best model for a Europe that is growing closer together.
This is undoubtedly bad news, but it’s too complicated for the mass media to convey. At least we can hope that, after this election campaign, a few journalists will lose their innocence and realize: Whenever they point a finger at populists, a finger is usually pointing back at them.
Stephan Russ-Mohl heads the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano.
At first, it’s perplexing that in the land of the rebel Wilhelm Tell, a party whose leadership publicly ridicules its own supporters as a flock of sheep should enjoy such high approval ratings. This message—which isn’t even a subtle one—from what is arguably the most controversial poster of the election campaign has apparently not gotten through to Swiss citizens; otherwise, fewer of them would have followed their herd instinct and voted for the SVP at the polls.
On the surface, Switzerland has reached a point in this election campaign—especially after the street clashes in Bern—where other democracies have long since been: in the depths of competitive democracy. There, the clamor of battle during the primary phases, the far-from-gentle treatment of political opponents by one another, and—unfortunately—occasional eruptions of violence are all part of everyday life.
What is widely perceived as polarization, however, has little to do—upon closer inspection—with the left-right framework that traditionally defines political debates. Rather, the moderate parties have maneuvered themselves into the media sidelines; in any case, they have been able to make their voices heard to a comparatively limited extent. A lack of campaign funds and, above all, a lack of compelling ideas may partly explain this. To me, however, the main reason seems to be another: Right-wing populists skillfully play the media—precisely because the media themselves act in a populist manner: Through the way they select, sensationalize, and, above all, personalize news, media populism and SVP populism fuel each other.
And then something emerges that U.S. researchers Robert Vallone, Lee Ross, and Mark Lepper refer to as the «hostile media phenomenon.» When positions harden, the competing camps all perceive the media as «hostile»: the representatives of the moderate parties, because they receive too little attention, and the SVP, because not all journalists who give it (perhaps far too much) attention sympathize with it or fawn over it.
The interplay of political and media populism raises fears that even in Switzerland—which many have regarded as an island of bliss and a bastion of the educated middle class—trends are gaining momentum that could endanger, or even undermine, its hitherto unique democratic and multilingual culture. What is meant here is a culture of cooperation and a willingness to compromise across political camps and language boundaries—a culture that could actually serve as the very best model for a Europe that is growing closer together.
This is undoubtedly bad news, but it’s too complicated for the mass media to convey. At least we can hope that, after this election campaign, a few journalists will lose their innocence and realize: Whenever they point a finger at populists, a finger is usually pointing back at them.
Stephan Russ-Mohl heads the European Journalism Observatory at the University of Lugano.
